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Watertown Stuffed Geese
1906
Watertown Leader, 12 13 1909
Talk about stuffed
geese - well, the Leader never saw
stuffed geese until yesterday. Happening to go into the office of Ex-Mayor
Wertheimer, the head quarters of the stuffed geese trade, he was shown the
largest goose he ever saw. It weighed 34 pounds and netted the farmer who
brought it to market just $11.56. He also saw 60 geese which averaged 25 1/2
pounds which gives some idea of the value of the business. Mr. Wertheimer has
purchased thousand upon thousands of pounds of geese the past few days and the
end is not yet.
He ships geese to
about every city in the United States and is rushed to fill the orders that
pile in upon him. As has already been said in the Leader, few realize the
extent of the business and the large amount of money which it brings to the
farmers in the vicinity of Watertown. It is simply immense and growing larger
each year as the demand becomes greater.
The art of noodling geese, which many years
ago put Watertown on the map, has completely faded out of the picture within
the past several years. The last family in Watertown to carry on this practice
was Mr. and Mrs. Fred Rumler of
I remember the Rumler
family on North Church. I knew them causally as they were members of my church.
Their home went all the way down to the river and they had their geese
there. My grandmother made Grieben
Schmaltz (lard) from geese. (Contributed memory)
Watertown
Daily Times,
12 22 1953
One hundred and sixty genuine Watertown
stuffed geese will find their way to market this Christmas. The entire supply
of 160 birds is being provided by Fred Rumler of
Watertown
Daily Times,
12 10 1954
The famous Watertown
stuffed goose - the genuine article, but less in number than in any year since
the art of stuffing geese - was carrying the name of Watertown to New York
again this Christmas season.
What was once a flourishing business
in Watertown and farms surrounding Watertown has dwindled to one lone
practitioner.
The only supply of the famous stuffed
geese will come from the Fred Rumler flock at
J. O. Brunelle of Kerr's Poultry and
Egg House at
Practically all of the geese have been
purchased by Luchow's famous German restaurant in New York which has expressed
a desire to take all it can get. But the available supply is far below what the
restaurant would take if it could get them.
Mrs. Rumler was among
the last practitioners of the art of stuffing geese, having been taught by her
parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Scheel, who prepared stuffed geese for
market for 25 years. The Rumlers had been stuffing geese for 30 years, retiring
from this trade just a short time ago.
Years ago when people
visited large cities south or east of Chicago during the poultry season, the
eye would catch the sign, 'Watertown Stuffed Geese." When traveling by train, on the menu card of
the diner would be found, "Watertown Goose.”
The most prized part
of stuffed geese has been the liver which becomes greatly enlarged because of
the “forced feeding." It is used in
pate defoie gras. The neck, feet and wings were used for making
dishes known as "Ganse Klein"
and the skin, which was toasted, was known as "Ganse Grieben.” This was a
favorite dish at Christmas time in wealthy Jewish households.
For many years the
late Fred Albrecht was the "Goose King" of this area, being among the
most successful and largest of raisers dealing in stuffed geese.
The geese that were
raised and prepared for market in this area found their way to tables of
wealthy people in the east, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other eastern
points which usually purchased the bulk of them. Commission men had a difficult
time supplying all the requirements. Orders were placed weeks and even months
in advance and some wealthy families had standing orders from year to year to
be certain of getting them.
After 1930, when the
stuffing practice began to wane, some of the limited number of stuffed geese
were sent to a number of customers in California, among them persons prominent
in the motion picture industry.
The principal reason
for stopping the process was that the federal government would no longer permit
interstate shipment of the birds unless a government inspector was present when
they are slaughtered, Since there was never a central slaughtering point for
stuffed geese In Watertown, and since each farm family which engaged in raising
and preparing of the stuffed geese for market did its own slaughtering, it
would be impossible to engage an inspector for each one of the farms.
However, the decline
began to set in prior to that time because preparing such geese for market
entails long hours and is most tedious work, and each year fewer and fewer
farmers engaged in raising them. Two and three generations ago families were
still willing to put in the time and effort but as their children grew up and
either left the farms or took over the farms, most were no longer willing to do
such work.
The William Schmidt
family, which was located on a farm southwest of Watertown, was also active in
stuffing geese. One year alone 130 geese were stuffed by the Schmidts. Schmidt
practiced the art of noodling geese for 30 years. The geese in later years were
prepared by his three sons, Edwin, Erwin and Rudolph.
The art of noodling
geese was brought to Johnson Creek and Watertown by a family named Stiehm.
Because most of the geese so prepared were marketed through Watertown, this
city acquired its name of "Goose City."
Back in 1921, 50,000
pounds of stuffed geese were shipped from Watertown annually. It is said that
10 years prior to that time shipments were three times as great.
The goose industry
was highly specialized. Three breeds of geese were raised, Toulouse, Emden and
African. The Toulouse and African both had slate-colored backs and white
bodies. The Emden was pure white. The African differs from the Toulouse in
having a black bill.
Early in the spring
the largest eggs were selected and placed under hens for incubation. Most of
the goslings were hatched in April or early May. Clean quarters and a pond in
which to swim was provided.
Experienced farmers
carefully selected their stock and fed them all the corn they wanted long
before the stuffing season. They took every precaution to keep them contented
and tame and to teach them to feed from the hand. A few days before starting
the stuffing, the birds are handled frequently and become well acquainted with
those who are to feed them. The birds must be tame and used to handling, as a
vicious, timid or nervous fowl could not be fattened successfully.
Throughout the summer
the young geese glean much of their own food from the pastures but are fed a
little mash and grain. About November 1st the larger geese are selected and
placed in stalls and sometimes in boxes, and the process of forcible feeding is
begun.
Only males were used
for stuffing because they are hardier than the females.
The making of the
noodles for the fattening process is the key. Three of four grains, barley, rye
and wheat are mixed into a paste that looks like "putty." By the use
of an old sausage stuffer or some hand-made invention, this pastry substance is
molded into strings about the size of small wienerwursts, an inch in diameter
and four inches in length. The noodle
are cooked in a wash boiler, drained by a boiler sieve, cooled by immersion in
cold water to prevent crumbling and then put into a cold place until ready for
use.
All is now ready for
the feeding. With a bucket of noodles and a pail of hot water, the farmer goes
to the stalls. Sitting on a box, he takes a goose between his legs and after
dipping the noodles into the hot water holds the goose’s head in one hand and
with the other introduces the noodle into the fowl's mouth and gently pushes it
down. During the first few days three noodles are fed every four hours. Some
member of the family had to be awakened at night to attend to the feeding. Two
or three weeks later a goose would be able to eat from 30 to 36 noodles.
The feeder wears
heavy gloves to protect his hand from the razor sharp teeth which line the
goose's mouth.
The goose helps by
gulping, and then there is another, and so on until the goose is full. The
feeder knew when the goose was full because his neck was completely filled with
noodles, literally to the top of his throat. Occasionally a goose, shaking his
head violently, will toss out a noodle. A good long goose neck will hold some
seven or eight noodles weighing about a pound.
Feeding the noodles
to the geese makes them thirsty and gallons of water were drunk by them. A 25
pound goose would drink two gallons daily. It requires from three weeks to 25
days before the "stuffed" bird is “ripe” for killing. After the
second week the geese are too heavy to walk and sit near the drinking trough
until the next feeding.
Most of these stuffed
birds weigh from 25 to 35 pounds each when prepared for market. Within a period
of from three to 25 days they will have gained from 10 to 12 pounds in weight.
Preparing the bird
for market, also took a great deal of care.
A sharp knife was
inserted at the base of the bird's skull for the purpose of execution. The
feathers could not be removed from the tender skin by either picking the
feathers dry or removing them by scalding. The birds were placed in cloths
above a steaming boiler and kept there until the feathers would come off
without abrading the skin.
The bodies are singed
over by an alcohol flame and then hung up in a cool place until the following
morning, when they are ready to be packed in barrels or boxes for shipment.
Because of the value
of the liver, these were often removed and placed in sealed glass jars for
shipment.
Over the years,
especially in the 1930s, various humane organizations condemned the practice of
“forced feeding" of such geese to produce the extra large livers. For
several years a California woman, having read about the stuffing of geese here,
wrote a letter to the Daily Times
each December condemning the practice and called for abolishing what she called
"the most inhuman thing.”
Local Stuffed Goose on Display at Bank Here
Watertown
Daily Times, 04 09 1970
An attractive and
unusual display of a genuine Watertown Stuffed Goose: has been placed in the
Merchant’s National Bank. It is a joint
project of Watertown’s Arts Council and Historical Society in an effort to bring
before the public a bit of this community’s early history. On display with the immense 25 pound goose
are also a cast model of its enlarged liver, four pounds, beside that of a
normal goose. Completing the display is
a sample of the “noodles” used in the forced feeding process and the historical
legend which reads:
Watertown Stuffed
Goose, found on the menus of gourmet restaurants across the nation, derives its
name from the highly specialized old-world vocation brought to the Watertown
area by German immigrants in the 1850’s.
The geese, and
especially their livers from which the delicacy Pate de foie gras is made, were developed to enormous size by a
stuffing process of forced feeding. A
patsy mixture of barley, rye and wheat, rolled in the form of noodles, was
forced down the fowl’s throat every four hours to hasten the fattening. Often a goose so treated would attain a
weight of 30 pounds with a four pound liver.
At the height of the
industry here, about 1920, 150,000 pounds of stuffed goose were shipped from
Watertown annually. Today there remains
only one grower, but the name “Watertown Stuffed Goose” endures.
Christmas 1968 marked
the year this African-Toulouse goose was noodled especially for the Watertown
Historical Society and prepared under the auspices of the donor, the Watertown
Arts Council, for this exhibit of a by-gone industry which made this community
famous.
A four-page detailed
story is available at the Octagon House souvenir center.
The display will be
on view in the Merchant’s Bank until May 1 when it will be returned to the
Octagon House museum for the opening of the tour season there from May 1 to
Nov. 1.
Credit for the
project goes to Joseph Darcey, Arts Council board member who arranged the
display in the bank, and to Mrs. Ralph Ebert, arts council board member and
Historical Society lifetime member, who first saw the desirability of the
city’s acquiring such a unique and artistic testament of its heritage.
Mrs, Ebert also made
the arrangements in 1968 with Fred Rummler, Watertown, to noodle the goose,
Walter Pelzer, Milwaukee Museum taxidermist to mount it, and the Watertown Arts
Council to finance and donate it to the Historical Society. The Merchant’s National Bank is proud to have
this display and invites the public to come view it.
The earliest use of the word “gosling” when referring to Watertown High School students is believed to be in
the August 7, 1885 issue of the Watertown
Gazette. “A raid by the Marshal on
the steps of Union School house No. 2 some evening about 9 o’clock would create
a panic among the young “goslings” which congregate there. It has become quite a resort for young ladies
and gentlemen of late after dark.”
Among the last evidence of Watertown's reign as America's goose capital
comes from its high school sports teams - the Watertown
Goslings. The local radio station
is “1580, The Goose” and a popular polka band was known as “The Goosetown
Dutchmen.”
Cross-References:
No.
1: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on (11 26 1998) same topic
No.
2: Watertown Daily Times column on topic
No.
3: Watertown Daily Times column on topic [WHS_005_235]. Many of the orders were sent to William
Beurhaus,
No.
4: San Francisco Chronicle article, “Plagued by activists, foie
gras chef changes tune”
No. 5: In addition to its reputation for
stuffed geese, Watertown was famous as a national market for squab
No. 6: Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel story (08 21 2006) on foie
gras
No. 7: Hartig Goose Brand Beer. Cross reference to Hartig Brewery
No. 8: Rumler designed rope-making machine WDT
07 14 2008
Foie gras removed from Puck
restaurants, AP, 03 23
2007
LOS
ANGELES - As part of a new initiative to fight animal cruelty, celebrity chef
Wolfgang Puck said he will no longer serve foie
gras, the fatty liver produced by overfeeding ducks and geese. Puck [14 fine-dining restaurants, more than
80 fast-casual eateries and 43 catering venues] worked with the Humane Society
on the new initiative. He said he wasn't responding to pressure from animal
welfare advocates, but instead believes the best-tasting food comes from
animals that have been treated humanely.
California has decided to ban the production and sale of foie gras starting in 2012. Chicago
imposed a ban last year, and bans are being promoted in Illinois, New Jersey
and New York.
