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The Civil War: Lack of Coffee Lead to Many Ersatz Substitutes

By Capper's Staff
Published on December 10, 2012

Grandmother was a young lady of 16
in 1861. She passed along memories of those traumatic times to her youngest
son. Grandmother told about the many things they experimented with as coffee
substitutes. Coffee was scarce, and when it was available, it was too expensive.
They parched corn or other grains and baked them until nearly black before the
grains were ground and boiled for ersatz coffee. They even tried roasted
acorns, but those needed much soaking and leaching to remove the bitter acids
from the final drink.

She mentioned the lack of good
flour. The best flour was sent to the Army. They struggled to make edible
breads from less desirable grains. Corn pones or journey cake made with coarse
cornmeal, water and no leavening was a mainstay in their daily fare.

She told of a star formation that
appeared as a great “W” in the sky. In those days, people were very
superstitious. It is likely they saw what they wanted to see. Everyone took it
as a sign that a great war threat hung over the land.

Many community young men were
leaving to join the Union forces. Their young friends decided to have a last
“play party” to honor them. The girls made great preparations,
combining all the goodies they could manage to hoard for gingerbreads, corn
cakes, molasses and sugar cookies, and vinegar sling to drink.

They held their party at the
largest home available, where they sang and danced to old-time folk tunes and
sing-song games. A zealous minister heard about the party and broke it up with
exhortations against their sinful playing. Because of that, Great-Grandfather
vowed never to attend that church again.

Grandmother was an expert stocking
and mitten knitter. She made countless pairs to send to friends and relatives
in the Army. Her clothing was all stitched by hand, and all worn garments were
taken apart, turned wrong side out and re-sewn to look newer.

The best parts of worn clothing were cut up and stitched
again into children’s clothes or into quilts. New fabrics were so scarce and
very expensive during the Civil War, so Grandmother learned to save the
smallest scraps and piece them together to finish one tiny quilt patch.

A young man from the neighborhood
was badly wounded on the Chickamauga
battlefield. He found shelter in a brush patch and waited for several days to
be found and given medical attention.

A treasured memento of those
agonizing days was a ring he had whittled from a root to while away the long
painful hours of dreary waiting.

Jean Kristiansen
Nashua, Iowa


Back in 1955 a call
went out from the editors of the then
CAPPER’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of
letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in
their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell.
So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and
in 1956, the first
My Folks title – My
Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the
shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the
My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true
tales from CAPPER’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available
to our growing online community.