As American as Apple… Cider?

Hishtory

When I was in elementary school we were told the stories of the great American folk heroes that helped explore, settle, and exploit the American frontier. Some of you are old enough to remember the guys I’m talking about- Walt Disney made them famous back in the 1950’s. They actually showed us the cartoons in the classroom. There was Paul Bunyan with his Blue Ox, Babe, who conquered the north woods by chopping down and clearing out millions of acres of pine trees from Maine to Minnesota. And the steel driving man, John Henry, who could drive a rock drill with a sledgehammer faster than a steam powered machine, cutting tunnels through the Appalachian Mountains for the expanding railroads across the country. And Pecos Bill who was raised by coyotes on the high plains of Texas, used a rattlesnake as a lasso, once roped a tornado and rode it into submission, and scared all of the war paint of them Injuns, which made the painted desert. Yeah, kind of gave all of us in elementary school back then a warped sense of history, being that some of our greatest American heroes were completely made up bullshit. But, there was one of Disney’s American Legends that was an actual person; Johnny Appleseed. And according to Disney, he may have been the most IMPORTANT of all American frontiersmen. Johnny Appleseed Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=484AJlOnOnc According to old Walt’s cartoon, Johnny Appleseed’s story was told by an old settler who knew him well (more on that guy later). Armed with only a Bible, a bag of apple seeds, and a tin pot for a hat, Johnny was encouraged by his VERY own guardian angel to go west and plant orchard after orchard of apple trees from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, over the Appalachian frontier into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, so the settlers across this growing land could have tasty apples to make Apple Tarts, Apple Cobbler, Apple Sauce, Apple Butter, Apple Fritters, Apple Cake, and, on and on and on. We were all taught that only because of Johnny Appleseed and his dedication to spreading the apple across our nation, we have that most American of foods, Apple Pie. But, there was one thing that Disney didn’t really explain; John Chapman, (his real name) wasn’t growing apples for Apple Pie. He was growing them for cider. And not the kind of cider that we let the kids drink on Halloween. No, John Chapman was cultivating orchards and nurseries of apples for one purpose; hard cider, Early America’s favorite alcoholic beverage.