Cranberry Story (1940)

[Music] the sand dunes of Cape Cod haven't changed much in the last few centuries they look about the same now as they did 300 years ago when the first pilgrims Having learned of the delightful uses of cranberries from their Indian friends used to chus it Shore today cranberries are grown as a crop in many parts of the including new Wisconsin Washington and Oregon and Cape Cod grew they were here long before the Mayflower landed and it is still Cape Cod that furnishes the major share of the nation's crop for cranberries as these early Americans came to know are not only good to eat they're good for you too taught them how to pound the berries together with deer hin a reserve still used by explorers later when their men began to ply the seven seas and Clippers ships they learned that cranberries could keep Sailors free from scurvy so they picked them to send on the long sea voyage AG es but mostly they use them because they taste good they were the very first American fruit greatly appreciated then even more appreciated now the passing of 300 years has made some big differences today's cultivated Vines are thick and Lush the berries plump and juicy most of the crop is still picked by hand but the modern cranberry scoop has replaced the bare fingers andarge large groups of experienced Pickers are needed to reap the Harvest quickly when it's just at its prime about 100 years there were no cultivated berries they they were in 1816 an observing citizen named Henry Hall notice the difference between the berries that grew on bare ground like this bigger one that grew is based the technology of modern cranberry cultivation and the fascinating story of a modern this is how the side is chosen with plenty of water for flooding and the right kind of acid Peach soil first move is to take out the trees then ditches a dug and dkes are built so the bug next the site is flooded left underwater a year or so to kill the stumps and Roots make it easier to clear the land and work the soil down until it is as smooth and level as a tabletop finally set sand is put on the same clean white sand that Henry Hall observed but instead of waiting for the wind to blow it where the plants are now we can use modern machines to work it down to an even 3-in layer of P then planting can begin cuttings from good plants taken AG are used to start the new bog two or three are put in each Hill the hills are spaced 12 in apart roots are pushed through land with a Dibble to reach the Pete soil below [Music] during the first year of growth the new plants will begin to put out Runners which in time will cover the whole [Music] surface at the end of 2 years the new bug looks like this the runners have a good start now and another here will see the ground well covered in time the endless process of weeding has begun a process that goes on while the plants grow into mature bearing Vines like these and continued from then on four years have gone by since bog was begun years of constant effort and expense that must precede the harvesting of the first crop a cranberry bog has to spend a lot of time underwater after the crop is harvested in the fall after the plants have become dormant the gates are opened water from the reservoir floods into the to the bogs and old plants it will remain there all winter long and will protect the vines from the icy winds which would otherwise dry them out frozen they wouldn't be able to replace their lost moisture or will protect the plants just as a blanket of wool would protect you or me in Cranberry country the first real sign of spring is the draining of the bods the Winter's water this is how the newly drained bog looks and this is the time when anxious Growers can be seen looking things over wondering how the plants came through the winter during the first few weeks after the BG is drained as the sap rises in the plants and they change from the dark brown of winter to the fresh green of spring they are very easily damaged by sudden frosts floting with water is the best protection so an essential part of a cranberry Plantation is a reservoir which can furnish this protective water at a moment's notice cover the plants quickly when a frost warning comes for a light frost only the ditches would need to be filled enough steam would rise from the water for protection but if a heavy one is on the way the water is allowed to come up around the plants themselves here's another sure sign of spring this grower is getting his bird houses ready for the swallows soon to arrive swallows wage war relentlessly on insects they're keeping the bars free of these pests and so it pays the grower to make them welcome invite them to move in and raise a family to keep themselves and the kids at home well and properly fed a swallow has to catch its own weight and insects every day so it's many a trip they make from the house to the bog and Back Again from early in May right on through the growing season this is a common sight on any well-run bog sweeping to make certain no harmful parasites get a start Growers use an insect net swinging it back and forth close to the plants after 50 measured sweeps the net is turned inside out and examined carefully according to the number caught if any and the kind the grower can decide whether or not to use treatment and what kind will be [Music] effective if crop dusting is indicated they usually call out the helicopter the powerful downward Air Blast where it can do the most good an indispensable part of cranberry raising is the ordinary honey bee so just as the blossoms are about to open beehive lives are spotted along the BG's Edge and the bees liberated to begin their work of pollinating the blossoms without little creatures there'd be no berries when the bug is in full bloom a bee will gather all the nectar can carry back to The Hive in about four or 5 minutes in that short time he'll visit about 50 blossoms Gathering a little nectar from each and spreading pollen as he goes in one day's work he will thus pollinate perhaps 5,000 or more blossoms one version of how cranberries got their name is that the Bloss of a crane hence crane berries which in time became cranberries look in the upper right hand corner of the picture and you'll see how this might have [Music] happened the pleasant result of the bee's arduous labor is is that each of these blossoms will eventually be replaced by a young cranberry another few weeks soon speed by and the green of the young barriers gives way to the deeper Hue of the ripening bog and now you can begin to see The Growers on the prowl watching and waiting for the berries to get ripe enough to harvest the berries in the lower part of these Vines are are still a little green but soon they too will be red and ripe it's almost time to send out a call for the [Music] pickers Harvest time is a time for old friends to get together a typical fine October morning they congregate like this on the shore of a ripe bu they're waiting for the boss to give the go ahead he has to decide when the Dew is off the plants and the vines are dry enough for picking to begin many of these people turn out every year they come from families that have been cranberry Pickers for Generations they know just how to dress for their work too although no two would agree on the details they keep coming year after year because they enjoy the social contacts they like to earn the extra money for Christmas and because they like the work beautiful skies and a warm sun overhead make a cranberry BG a mighty Pleasant place to be on a fine fall day and the rhythmic swish of the Scoops the rattle of the berries these are sweet music in the ears of those who know them after the pickers get started they Advance across the bug in a diagonal line so that each one can overlap the area picked by the one ahead the tradition carefully made by hand has long wooden teeth that comb the berries out of the vines the skill of the Picker adjusts the motion of the scoop to irregularities in ground and Vines avoids damaging the plants after years of use the Scoops acquire a fine satiny Sheen the result of constant pols and waxy berries one of the features of cranberries that has made them so useful unpopular is the glossy coating of waxes that nature provides to protect each Berry makes for fine keeping quality and keeps them looking lustrous and fresh long after they're picked behind the picking lines the helpers keep the empty boxes spotted so the pickers can reach them take away the full ones load the special Li Bill barrows in which the full boxes are carried to the shore of the bug these pictures have shown how berries a picked on Cape Cod other parts of the country use other methods depending on local climate and conditions in Wisconsin for instance they flood the bogs to make the berries float then scoop them out of the water this method has the advantage of leaving fewer berries behind but can only be used in climates where the air is crisp and dry enough to evaporate the water quickly from the freshly picked BS fled provides a handy way to get the crop to the shore as in any other industry there is a constant effort to realize greater economy by the use of machines this is one of resulting mechanical Pickers it has just like those of a scoop to comb the berries from Vines and rubber fingers to carry them back to a basket when the nature of the ground and the vines is such as to permit its use this machine does a good job and is finding increasing applic in Washington and AR many cranberry Growers have designed and built their own vacuum Pickers except for size they operate exactly like a household vacuum cleaner the air rushing into the nozzle M carries the berries along with it taking them back to the machine and dropping them gently in a sponge rubber lined Hopper from which they are intervals cranberry harvesting is always a colorful site and attracts lots of visitors to the bogs one eastn grower has even gone so far as to install a Narrow Gauge Railroad which carries many a sightseeing trainload of visitors through his bugs the road has a serious purpose too and Carries workers supplies and newly picked crops to and from the bogs and so the ripe red Harvest is brought in from thousands of bogs Coast to Coast each in its own way making its contribution of good health good taste and gracious living to the American dinner table before any of the crop can get to Market every single Berry has to meet exacting standards of excellence first they are put through the winwing machine to blow out all the cha then they separator this ingenious machine developed by cranberry Growers makes use of a characteristic unique among fruits good cranberries will bounce bad ones won't Barry gets seven chances to bounce over a 4-in wooden barrier the Lively ones that make the grade go directly to the screening tables the canvas belt that carries the barriers moves slowly enough so that the trained eyes of these expert screeners can detect and discard every imperfect Berry this grading Machinery like all the equipment and the plants that pack and process cranberries is owned by the people who actually grow them through their cooperatives the berries still Belong To The Growers and will be marketed under the Grower's own brand names that part of the crop which is to be canned goes to directly from the screening tables to this big white tile the paddle wheels keep the berries on the Move in the Ever Changing water keep washing them toward the elevator on their way up the washed berries are thoroughly rinsed seven times by seven sets of High Press water [Music] jets the only difference between cooking cranberry sauce in your own home is the quantity each of these kettles holds enough fresh berries to make 500 lb of jellied sauce stirred gently by a big agitator the berries are cooked in water for a matter of 10 minutes or so or until then after being carefully strained to remove seeds and skins the resulting puree goes to another Kettle for the second [Music] cooking this [Music] time and that completes the simple Ocean Spray recipe cranberries water and sugar for as any housewife knows cranberries are rich in natural fruit pectin need nothing more than to be brought to a fast well and held there until the temperature rises to the point which from experience we know will make the sauce gel just right this point is 216 12° but the the weather the humidity and the barometric pressure all have an effect on the behavior of the jelly too so a good cook always double checks in the good oldfashioned way just to be sure when the sauce sheets off the ladle like this it is cooked just enough ready to be sent down to the canning [Music] machines here's where speed means economy economy that is reflected in lower costs 280 a minute the sterilized enamel lined cans swing into the filling machine tally Made ruby red sauce and swing out again on their way to be capped and sealed the sauce is still hot from that's the job of this remarkable machine which keeps every can spinning in a bath of Swift running cold water the temperature goes down 100° in 5 5 minutes once we had to let the cans cool slowly in the air now as a result of this quick chilling we get a considerable Improvement in the texture and quality of the finished [Music] jelly now the fast rolling cans are ready for labels here's how it's done keep right on rolling over a stack of snatching one from the pot as it goes by and in only a few minutes from the time the empty can entered the plant it's filled schooled labeled inspected and packed ready to take inside all the other forms of this Grand fruit the whole sauce and the juice and the full ripe Prime fresh [Music] berries one of the nice things about cranberries is that the dishes you can make with them are as simple as they are delightful greatest all-time favorite is the 10-minute sauce and it's easiest of all to fix here's all you need fresh cranberries water and sugar one lb or four cups of fresh berries makes 2 and 1/2 lb of whole Berry sauce after combining the water and sugar in a saucepan you bring them to a good fast boil and cook them for 5 minutes then you add the berries to the hot syrup make sure they all get covered but don't stir them let them boil without stirring until the berries are tender you'll know when they're done by the way the Skins pop open one after another in about 5 minutes they'll all have popped and the sauce is done set it aside side to cool in the pan still without stirring so the berries will absorb the juice and remain plumo then they'll look their very best when you serve them as full of Tang and flavor as they are bright and colorful and mighty good eating with any kind of meat or fish or poultry including of course the noble roast [Music] turkey fresh cranberries are as good r as they are cooked one of the most unusual recipes ever developed is its famous cranberry orange relish one reason it's such a favorite is because there's no cooking all you have to do is cut two whole oranges into quarters put them through the food chopper skins and all and follow through with four cups of fresh whole cranberries [Music] finally add two cups of sugar to the chopped fruit and mix it well a few hours of chilling will allow the zip of The Cranberries the Tang of the oranges and the sweetness of the sugar to blend into a flavor and texture so delightful that only tasting it can tell you what it's like your favorite molded salad recipe becomes Something Rich cranberries are included their crisp tartness is just what it takes to bring out the full flavor of the nuts celery and other fruits the bright red berries shimmering in the gelatin make the finished salad look downright glamorous you can easily see why we call this our Christmas salad but believe me it's good anytime any place with any meal everybody likes pie men especially go for the oldfashioned crisscross kind like this one made of cranberries and apples combining the best of the two in a hearty and Delicious Pie that's easy to make the filling is precooked to dissolve the sugar and soften the fruit the shell can be your favorite recipe or mix the result is a pie so good to look at so good to eat that you'll serve it with pride and find that you'll be called on for many a Repeat Performance one that your family will clamor for again and again well these are only a few of the ways you can use this favorite American fruit to add color and zest to your table all through the fresh Berry but there is no season for cranberries and cans through their use you can enjoy them all year round and in many forms most popular and versatile is the jellied sauce here's a trick worth knowing about getting the sauce out of the can in good shape first punch a hole in one end then remove the entire lid from the other [Music] end now lift gently the hole in the top end will let the air in and the shimmering mold of Ruby sauce will emerge whole and perfect ready to cut into plump delicious slices that make a perfect taste compliment for almost any dish not only for the traditional turkey but chicken too chicken all of its many forms like fashion Cape Cod chicken pie or this springy looking twin salad chanberry orange salad in another golden brown Fried Chicken tastes twice as good when served with cranberry chicks cut from the same Ocean Spray slices and it's easy to do with this plastic cutter specially designed for the purpose the trimmings are put aside for later use as a delicious spread for toast or bread are only one of whole family of fancy shapes another one is used to make this crisp and tulip salad P cream cheese and a cranberry tulip perched on top for other occasions there are cranberry hearts for showers and Valentine's bunnies for birthdays or Easter turkeys for Thanksgiving and trees for Christmas with the aid of Ocean Spray sauce you can make new and exciting variations on lots of old favorites like this Sally Lun topped with Jewel like cubes of jellied sauce which although they won't melt in the oven will surely melt in your [Music] mouth here's another one that'll melt in your mouth cranberry F pie delicate in texture and flavor delightful to The Taste and beautiful to behold for those who like cranberry in its oldfashioned form there is the canned whole sauce made exactly like mother used to make it the natural fruit pectin of the berries often makes the sauce gel a little in the can just stirring a few moments will liquefy the juice that is yelled the whole sauce makes a perfect topping for this cranberry log the mied with ground orange and jell the Bland smoothness of the cream cheese filling is a perfect compliment to the stimulating Taste of the fruit in the topping an old favorite wherever cranberry people get together is the cranberry sundae it's nothing but plain ice cream covered with whole sauce just as it comes from the can makes a dessert that goes down Mighty easy after any meal or between times well there's no end to the good things you can make with cranberries in or out of season fresh or canned they bring out the best in any food you serve them with their color Delights the eye as much as their flavor pleases the pallet and through Modern packing processing and distribution you can enjoy them the whole year round not only in the fall of the year when the Harvest is coming in and the fresh fruit is on the market but in the spring when the bugs look like green velvet carpets and growth is just beginning and in the middle of summer when a million blossoms forell a million ripe berries to come and in the dead of winter too when a white mantle of snow covers the sleeping bogs safeguarding and protecting the Harvest of years to come [Music]