Title: Fudge in Wisconsin Winter
General Information about Item:
- Verbal Folklore
- English
- United States
Informant Data:
- Karen Theurer-Pinkerton, collected November 5th, 2017 via telephone. Karen grew up in central Wisconsin.
Contextual Data:
- This story is often told around Christmas time, especially at large family meals.
- This is a short and simple example of life after arrival in the United States for a family of German immigrants.
Item:
- “It was during early winter, if I remember. Their parents had left for some sort of event in town, leaving the four older children in charge of the youngest, who had been put to bed. One of the older kids wanted fudge, and since there was no adult there to tell them not to make fudge late at night, one of the sisters, Catherine, started making a batch. Paul, the youngest of the oldest (I think he was about 12) was put in charge of watching for their parents—they figured they’d probably get in trouble if they were caught making the fudge. By the time Catherine finished mixing everything and was just waiting for it to set, the other two were all watching the pot with very hungry eyes. But then Paul called to others to say their parents were coming back. Naturally, they decided the best place to hide the fudge was outside in the snow. So the parents came back to a clean kitchen and a few suspicious looking children, but decided not to question it. Until, that is, the father noticed the dog attacking something outside with rather too much joy to be ignored. Catherine, seeing what her father was staring at, told him that it was only some grease she had thrown out after supper. Now, her father had a look that could pin a fly to wall, but Catherine was used to it. She stared right back until her father decided it was too late to investigate. Unfortunately for the kids, the truth came out the next morning when their mother got up only to discover a very sick dog in the kitchen.”
Informant’s Comments:
- Karen first heard this story from her aunt, Sister Catherine Theurer, who was the Catherine from the story. Her father, Paul, was the “youngest of the oldest” on lookout for the others. It took place in Wisconsin shortly after the family had moved there from Nebraska, were the Theurers had originally settled after emigrating from Germany.
Collector’s Comments:
- This story is one of my favorites because Paul was my grandfather, and it’s fun to imagine him as a child in search of fudge.
Collector’s Name: Hannah Pinkerton ‘19
Tags/Keywords: Immigration, Germany, United States, Wisconsin, fudge