February 20, 2026 • 38 mins
This Black father & son duo ran some of the first fancy restaurants in America – and had a stop on the Underground Railroad in their cellar. Anney and Lauren explore the story of Thomas G. Downing and George T. Downing.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Savor Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm any
Retiar and.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about Thomas and George Downing.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, any particular reason that this topic was on your mind, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, it is Black History Month here in the United States,
and generally on this show, even outside of February, we
like to talk about that important part of our shared history.
And these are a pair of restauranteurs and social activists
from history. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but
(00:44):
here we are who were just super interesting, cool human people.
And I had not heard their story before, and I
was googling and found a reference to them, and I
was like, yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, it's a It's a really great story and definitely
deserves a mini series or something.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Oh my goodness, I want a TV series about this,
about them so hard right now? Somebody, somebody call us.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
They should call us.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Oh well, no, not to make a TV series, clearly,
but I've got but I've got like the pitch to
send to someone capable.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I see, I see, okay, yes, yeah, call us. We'll
wait eagerly.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Oh yeah, yes, yes, Well this was a really fun one,
and it's gonna be interesting because it kind of unfolded
differently than we normally do our episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
But those biography episodes are kind of like that, yeah yeah, yeah,
But it's gonna be cool because it is a really
it's a interesting history. So excited to share four past episodes.
I would say you could see other biography episodes perhaps
and oysters.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Definitely Oysters, also turtle soup maybe aspects. I don't think
we really mention it in the outline, but just in
terms of like dishes that were considered very fancy and
cool in the eighteen hundredsish in America. Also our French
cuisine episodes to talk about like how restaurants sort of
(02:37):
came to be.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yes, there is a lot time back in this one,
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
But oh yeah oo yeah where yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
And we're going to do our best, yes, But that
brings us to our question the Downings. Who are they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well? Thomas and George Downing were father and son black
American oysterman restaurateurs and social activists working during the tumultuous
eighteen hundreds. They ran high end commercial dining rooms when
that was a new thing.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
In the US.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
They made a lot of powerful connections and friends, and
they used that influence to help improve the lives and
social standing of Black Americans at a time when enslavement
was not yet in the rear view. Thomas Downing was
known as the Oyster King of New York when the
city was basically the oyster capital of the world. And
(03:45):
his son ran the restaurant at the House of Representatives
for a number of years, and they both worked like
above ground with mutual aid and abolitionist groups and also lawmakers.
But furthermore ran a stop on the under ground railroad
like yeah, in the basement of their oyster restaurant where
(04:06):
every Wall Street mogul brought their families for a fancy meal.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yep, sure did, sure did? Uh? Well, what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Do not eat historical pillars of the community? Learning about
them is probably metaphorically nutriented though.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, good for your brain.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I have kind of a number for you.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
We'll cover a couple of numbers in the history section,
which is, as always with our biographies, the longest section
of this episode. But just for example, Thomas Downing was
the equivalent of a millionaire in his time. He once
catered an event for Charles Dickens that had like two
to three thousand guests. It was something like one hundred
(04:56):
thousand dollars dinner in today's money.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Wow, huh. I don't know if I'll ever get an
invitation like.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That, And that's okay. I wouldn't know what to do
with myself at a party like that. I barely know
what to do with myself at any party.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah. Half the times I come home when I kind
of cry a little, I don't know what to make
of that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I a little bit before and a little bit after.
That's fine, right, that's normal.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
No, We're totally fine and normal over here. That's what
everyone says about us. It's true everyone. You could ask anybody.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's why we do biography episodes and other people don't
do biography episodes about us.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I would not want to hear what they would put
in that episode on me.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Anyway, anyway, this is not about us, no, no, but
we do have quite a bit of history to go over.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Oh my goodness, we do, and we are going to
get into it as soon as we get back from
a quick break. For word from our sponsors and our
back thank you. Sponsors, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay, So there's a lot of myth and legend behind
the Downing stories, so keep that in mind as we
go over the history. Also, there's a lot of confusion,
as Lauren and I we're discussing.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of both modern and contemporary sources
tend to mix up which Downing was doing what at
what time. And they were both working for like a
large overlapping number of years on similar projects and in
similar spaces. So yeah, it was an interesting one to
(07:03):
try to detangle. And we can't promise, like we're not historians,
we can't promise that we have done a perfect job
of it, but we feel I feel fairly confident.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I do as well. I do as well, Yeah, because
we really had to work this one out, and that
is what I'll say. Yeah, yes, So beginning with Thomas Downing.
Thomas Downing was born in Virginia in seventeen ninety one.
While a lot of his early history is lost, his
parents were formally enslaved and gained freedom sometime before seventeen
(07:35):
eighty three. His parents were able to purchase land near
the Chesapeake Bay, and because of that, Downing grew up
near fishermen and oystermen, and through this he picked up
some real knowledge around things like the harvest of oysters
and clams. It was something that he did on his
own when he had the time.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Also, his parents worked at a Methodist church that wealthy
and influential families in the area attended, and who the
Downings often had his guests after services. So really, very
early in life, Thomas had access to two critical prongs
of his future business, oystering and these prominent connections.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yes, so Thomas moved to Philadelphia during the War of
eighteen twelve. It's unclear if he joined the war effort
or just followed the troops north, and he spent several
years there, and during that time met and married his wife,
Rebecca West. We don't have much to go off of
when it comes to their time in Philadelphia, but historians
(08:38):
do know that there was a lot of black involvement
in the cuisine happening in the city at the time,
so it's likely that Thomas was soaking all of that up.
A couple of years later, in eighteen nineteen, he and
his wife packed up and moved to New York City again.
The reasoning is a little fuzzy here about the move,
but it was probably several things. One of those things
(09:00):
might have been that New York was just a really
growing state. The city especially was really growing. Another possible
influencer was that there was an eighteen seventeen New York
state mandate that all enslaved New Yorkers were to be
freed by eighteen twenty seven, So that might have been
another reason. The pair would go on to have five children,
(09:23):
including George.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, George was their oldest, born in eighteen nineteen. After
they arrived in New York.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Sometime around the start of the eighteen twenties, Thomas was
running an oyster stand, and by eighteen twenty five he
had opened an oyster refectory, a place of food, drink,
and oysters, often located in cellars.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, and I wasn't familiar with the term refectory. It
just means like a communal dining room. And I'm pretty
sure it was just like the term used for restaurants
before restaurants was the term.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I think so. Around this time, New York was
starting to get a reputation for the size and quality
of the oysters coming out of the Hudson Bay and
they were plentiful. Then again see our oyster episode, so
they weren't that expensive. A lot of the people involved
in the oyster industry in York at the time were
(10:15):
black folks, and Downing was involved in both harvesting his
own oysters as an oyster vendor and going to the
docks to purchase the best catch from other oystermen as
a restauranteur.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, as a restauranteur, going down to the docks or
even out on the water to meet oystermen before any
other buyer could get to them, possibly to get the
best product and possibly to help drive up the price
a little bit for these hardworking fellows.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yes, and the story goes that he formed a lot
of connections this way. Downing fostered a well off set
of white patrons through this. The dining scene in York
was really growing and changing, and the city was a
magnet for all kinds of influential folks. Downing had the
advantage of being in a prime location his restaurant in
(11:07):
the business district, so he was getting all kinds of
wealthy clientele. By eighteen thirty five, he had done well
enough for himself to expand. Yeah, he was renting space
in this building near the corner of Broad and Wall Streets,
at first at number five Broad and then the surrounding
three and seven spaces as well. And one of these
(11:27):
had a deep cellar with an underground stream running through it. Yes,
and this allowed him to construct his own oyster vault
so he could keep the oysters fresh until they were ordered,
whatever which way customers wanted. Scalloped oysters, roasted oysters on
an iron over oak shavings, by the way, oyster pie,
(11:50):
oyster stuffed turkey, Oh yes, so intrigued.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right man, and other posh dishes like turtle soup were
also on the menu.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
He was also a pretty business savvy person when it
came to advertising, running ads in major New York publications.
In those ads, he touted up the superior quality and
flavor of his oysters and promised that they could deliver
quickly to wherever you were in New York. In New
(12:22):
York City, they could get the oysters to you. And
he really built it up too, with phrases like served
up in my usual superior style. And as you can imagine,
all of this earned him somewhat of a reputation, especially
when it came to oysters. It kind of changed how
(12:43):
people viewed oysters too, not as just the street snack
or a cheap item at a dive, but as a
fine food.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Over the next few decades, those oyster sellers around New
York City may in fact have helped give rise to
the slang term dive bar like literally meaning a place
you have to go down from the street level to enter,
and also right like a rough around the edges kind
of establishment. But that was not what Downing's oyster House was.
(13:15):
Think like a shimmering chandelier and damss curtains and nice
carpets and mirrors on the walls. Notably like Delmonico's, the
famous upscale steakhouse in New York City didn't open until
two years after Downing's oyster House.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Right, and an eighteen forty five article from The New
York Tribune listed Downing's Oyster House as the first of
thirteen pioneering restaurants in New York. Thomas's connections continued to grow. Politicians,
the media, celebrities. Some credit his restaurant as the first
(13:52):
to offer fine dining in New York City. It was
the go to oyster spot, and it was a place
people could take their families or go on dates. Because, yes,
many oyster houses didn't allow women back then.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
However, Downing's oyster house did not serve black patrons. This
was a complicated time.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yes. On top of restaurant touring, Downing also exported oysters
fresh and pickled, and catered events. Some of the events
were pretty big too. Yes. When author Charles Dickens was
a guest at Park Theater in eighteen forty two, Thomas
catered that event, and sources claim that about two five
(14:38):
hundred attendees at the event went through about twenty five
thousand oysters.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I don't know. I read three thousand attendees. I read
twice that number of oysters, plus ten thousand sandwiches, forty hams,
fifty six beef tongues, fifty rounds of beef, fifty jellied turkeys,
fifty pairs of chicken, twenty five of duck, and two
thousand mutton chops.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah. I probably would have cried after that. I might
have had a grand old time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
I couldn't confirm any of that, but I was entertained.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Jelly turkeys was something we were descibed.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Oh yeah, yeah, That's why I had to mention the
aspects at any rate. One add the Downing placed in
eighteen fifty six for his Christmas catering of boned turkeys
and pickled oysters, ended with ladies will save money as
well as time and trouble by sending their orders to
Downing number three Broad Street, who will furnish them with
(15:39):
something to make their guests, if they have any taste,
go into ecstasies.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Into ecstasies right. Oh. The burgeoning railways in the United
States and industrialization with things like steamboats allow Downing to
transport his oysters to more places in the US and also.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Globally like there ares stories of wealthy Americans setting up
overseas in Paris and throwing parties to impress and ordering
oysters from Downing to be fried up on site, and
that being a huge hit with the folks.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Does sound good. One of those global locations was England,
and according to Thomas's family, after sending a box of
his fanciest oysters to Queen Victoria, she sent him a
gold chronometer in return. It's like a much loved family
heirloom from what I understand. By eighteen fifty seven, Thomas
(16:42):
was one of the wealthiest black men in New York City.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Meanwhile, the Downing Sun George had been making a name
for himself in the restaurant industry as well. By eighteen
forty five, at the age of twenty four, he had
opened his own catering establishment in New York City near
Forth and Broadway. He had also married another well to
do New Yorker, one Serena Leonora de Grass, whose father
was from India and mother was from Germany. Did go
(17:08):
on to have nine children together, though I think only
five made.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
It to adulthood.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Through his wealthy customer connections, in eighteen forty six, George
moved his family to Rhode Island and became part of
the booming summer tourism industry there. He even built the
Seagirt House, which was this five story hotel restaurant catering
operation in Newport in eighteen fifty five.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yes, and as mentioned, both Downings were also involved in
political activism and abolitionism. When Thomas was living in New York,
most black people in the city didn't have access to
as many opportunities in housing, employment, or education as white
people did. There were riots against black homes and establishments
(17:57):
to Thomas Downing organizations and efforts to combat this and
uplift black people in general. He went to the first
Annual Convention for the Improvement of Free People of Color
held in Philadelphia in eighteen thirty. He was one of
forty delegates, and they had to meet in secret before
the event due to the threat of violence. He was
(18:20):
heavily involved in education as well. He was a trustee
of an organization that ended up creating the city's first
high school for black students and two elementary schools. He
was involved in the founding of the all black New
York City Anti Slavery Society in the eighteen thirties. And
not only that, his restaurant, Downing's Oyster House, was a
(18:42):
stop on the Underground Railroad.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Remember that at this time, people seeking freedom from enslavement
in states where that was still legal could be hunted
down for bounty, even in free states. And growing up,
George clearly absorbed the activist work that his father was
involved in. I think that he was arrested as a
(19:07):
teenager for work with the underground Railroad. There's a possibility
it's one of his brothers, but I think it was him.
He joined the Anti Slavery Society as well and helped
organize to protest the bounty hunting of a freedom seekers.
Both Downings also worked to abolish a poll tax of
sorts of the time. New York State required black men
(19:30):
to own a certain value of real estate in order
to vote, but there was no such rule for white
men in New York after eighteen twenty one.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yes, and ultimately their goal wasn't achieved, but they brought
more attention to the issue.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah. It was up for vote three times from eighteen
forty six through eighteen sixty nine and failed each time
due to white voters opposition. It took the Fifteenth Amendment
to the Constitution in eighteen seventy and it's national scope
of voting rights for men to bring this New York
state rule down.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Right. And through Thomas's involvement in all of these organizations
and associations, as well as his success as an oyster man,
he really did make a name for himself. More than
once he refused to leave a white segregated trolley car,
and one time it resulted in injuries to himself.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, which he was able to sue the trolley company
over because the assailant was the trolley driver. The company
did fire the driver for use of force, but in court,
the white jury ruled in favor of the company. This
was part of a larger effort to desegregate the New
York City trolleys, which did succeed over the next couple
of decades. And I will say that another time that
(20:52):
Thomas Downing refused to leave a trolley car and the
driver stopped the trolley to try to force Thomas off.
A bunch of people pushed the trolley car onward until
the driver gave up and just let him stay on.
I'm not sure whether this was like an organized response
or whether it was Rando's being like, is that our
(21:15):
favorite oyster dude, Let our favorite oyster dude stay.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
On the trolley? I don't know, Yeah, yeah, hard to say.
Thomas also allegedly sued clients who didn't pay up on
their catering bills, and he would take those that didn't
pay their bills to court.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Which right was something that a lot of black people
at the time would not have had access to if
they were being cheated by clients. He had the money
to throw around. One of the tales told about Thomas
Downing is that when the head of the New York
Herald newspaper at the time, Won James Gordon Bennett Senior,
(21:55):
kind of slumped into the Oyster House for a sympathetic
ear about his failure paper one day, Downing loaned him
a cool ten grand on the spot. WHOA, that would
be a lot today.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
That'd be a lot today.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yes, but yeah, Thomas's like public facing, relatively polite activism
and philanthropy through all of the organizations that Annie mentioned
a minute ago, plus you know, like his church and
the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows and local orphanages. It
(22:35):
all let him keep a very good reputation in like
white capitalist society. In eighteen sixty two, he was written
about in the conservative white press as essentially like one
of the good ones in terms of his activism, which
(22:57):
which is both a horribly racist sentiment and also makes
me downright gleeful in that they apparently had no idea
what all he was up to regarding the underground railroad.
Indeed makes me really sad that he had to hide it,
(23:18):
but really glad that he was able to get away
with it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Yes, yes, absolutely a new landlord purchased the original location
of Downing's restaurant in eighteen sixty three, and it closed,
but Thomas kept going at a nearby location with the
help of friends for a while, but soon retired as
he was getting older, and his son stepped in to
(23:42):
take over the operation.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
When Downing announced his retirement and a party to go
along with it, the New York Herald ran an announcement
that began Downing, the Great Oyster Man, and who has
not heard of him, retires from business this spring.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Oh In eighteen sixty six, the day after the passing
of the Civil Rights Act, Thomas Downing died at the
age of seventy five. The New York Chamber of Commerce
closed the day of his funeral. His son, George, kept
the Oyster House in operation until eighteen seventy one.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
For the record, the way, I don't know that much
about the New York Chamber of Commerce, but from what
I understand, that had never happened.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, it was like a bear.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And never happens. But yeah, like everyone came out, everyone
came out. George, meanwhile, had been busy over in Rhode Island,
where he had been fighting to get public schools desegregated
through actions like lobbying and like straight refusing to back
liberal political candidates who didn't support this change. The Seagirt
(24:56):
House burned down under suspicious circumstances in six but he
did rebuild an even larger structure on the site, known
as the Downing Block. Rhode Island would end school segregation
after the Civil War in eighteen sixty six. George Downing
also got involved directly in Washington, d c. And kept
(25:16):
a residence on Capitol Hill. He helped the first black
ambassador for the United States, one Edward Bassett, get appointed.
A Bassett conducted diplomacy for the US with Haiti, and
as I said in our intro, George ran the official
cafe restaurant of the US House of Representatives that the
members dining room from eighteen sixty five through eighteen seventy seven.
(25:41):
It was at the time strictly only for House members
and their guests, and by this point in history was
like a very well appointed restaurant under Downing's control. It
was written about in the press as one of the
best restaurants in the Union. That's a direct quote. And
reportedly Downing made dang sure that black guests were served
(26:06):
there in the same dining room as white guests, and
reportedly might have lost his commission of that restaurant over
the issue. He also very famously through an integrated party
in his Capitol Hill home in eighteen sixty nine for
Ulysses S. Grant's first inauguration, with the white senators and
(26:30):
judges and diplomats that he knew, rubbing elbows with black
social elites, some of the former, apparently for the first time.
It made a big splash in the press. George retired
in eighteen seventy nine, and I don't have a lot
about what he got up to in his retirement. I
(26:54):
imagine family stuff, hanging out in Rhode Island, stirring up
some good trouble. I'm not sure, but fun side fact,
one of his sons, Philip Bell Downing, was an inventor
who helped create the USPS letter collection boxes. Like if
you're gonna go mail a letter and there's a blue
(27:15):
box on the sidewalk, you go put your letter in.
He helped design those. Part of his design is what
went into the box that we still use today. He
also invented a mechanism that will allow a rail car
to operate a railway switch and thus switch tracks from
(27:35):
the car's platform, like the brass arm on the cars
platform that will let the car switch tracks. These were
both patented in the eighteen nineties. Thought it was cool.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
That is cool. Some people, really, they really get up
to some stuff in their life. We do.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah. George would pass in nineteen oh three. His daughter,
Serena Anne Miller Washington published a short biography of him
in nineteen ten, which, if you're interested in reading, is
goes into a lot of kind of gosspey details and
(28:15):
is really fun. She ended this biography with a toast
that was written for George Downing for his eighty second
birthday in nineteen hundred. It's a little bit long, but
it began. Here's health to one whose heart is true
as steel, whose years have passed in freedom's holy cause,
(28:37):
in caring for a brother's woe, a brother's weal, in
fighting direful wrong and baneful laws. Here's health to one
who's lofty, mean and brow bespeak the noble mind, the
spirit proud that fearth not the tyrant bold I trow
that cringeth not when traders thunder loud.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, and today like as of February of twenty twenty six,
a black history organization in Rhode Island is trying to
raise funds to get this eight foot bronze statue of
George Downing constructed and installed across the street from the
(29:22):
original site of the seagert in Newport. They're going to
be debuting a maquette of the planned statue at this
oyster reception at the Newport Art Museum on February twenty eighth,
which is soon as we're recording this episode, along with
the speakers about Downing's life and the design of the statue. Listeners,
(29:48):
Oh my goodness, if any of you can go, I
think it's like fifty five bucks for a ticket, but
it sounds it sounds like a really nice party.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
You probably won't after it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
You might, I mean, I don't know. I don't know
your life.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
That's true. It sounds good. Though, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
It's time, you know. If you do a little bit
of crying, it's fine. But oh my goodness, no, no, no,
If if anyone has the opportunity to go, we would
so much love to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
We absolutely would, And for anybody who has any information
or stories that we might have missed in this. I
know you can still visit the site of the original restaurant.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, it's not like I believe the building was torn
down at some point, but yeah, I mean Broad, Broad
and Wall are just like right over there. You can
just yeah you can. You can go to there.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Yeah, you can go to there, and then you can
tell us about it. Yeah, we would love to hear
about it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Yeah. Yeah, and the block the block in Rhode Island
as well in Newport.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, so please listeners, let us know.
We love hearing from you. But that is what we
have to say about the downings for now.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
It is. We do already have some listenermail for you, though,
and we're going to get into that as soon as
we get back from one more quick break for a
word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listen.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Mail.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Yes, so I was telling Lauren, this Savor email is
a little wonky right now, but I'm working on it
and it's fine, but a lot I didn't know, but
some of your emails were going into the junk email.
So I'm working on it.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
We do not think you're junk. Annie is working on
unrectifying the issue.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yes, yeah, we think you're the best. Yeah, you're wonderful.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Yes. If you think that we've missed something, feel free
to resend.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yes. Yes, but anyway, because of that, we're just going
to split this message for today while I tame the chaos.
But I do think it is appropriate because Lunar New
Year just happened.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Happy, Yeah, I had a really good I got to
hang out with a friend and we had delicious food.
Oh yeah yes, so uh I thought we would just
share this email. Jane wrote, Hello, I've never tried Taiwanese
pineapple cakes, but they sounded lovely, And while listening to
(32:50):
the episode, I remembered that I had a couple of
only slightly expired cans of crushed pineapple in my cold
room and thought, why not I used a recipe from
the Food Network. I selected that recipe in particular because
I had most of the ingredients. The exception was custard powder,
(33:11):
but the Internet saved me again with instructions on how
to make it from ingredients that I did have on hand.
Who knew it was just two hundred and fifty milliliters
of skimmed milk powder sifted with one hundred and twenty
five milliliters of corn starch.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Jane continues Anyway, I made the pineapple filling, which was easy,
and when it was completely chilled, I made the pastry,
also very easy. Putting them together was more challenging. The
pastry from this recipe is very short and kept cracking
as I tried to fold it around the filling. I
didn't have the traditional square mold, so I put them
in muffin tins, but I couldn't squash them without breaking
(33:48):
open the pastry. It's not like they rise much or anything.
I could have just put them on a cookie sheet.
I'm pretty sure the tins are just so you can
press them into a decorative shape. They may not be
as pretty as the one I saw online, but they
are delicious and I'll definitely make them again. I'm interested
to try the same recipe with some other kind of
fruit filling. Rhubarb might be nice, Oh, rubarb, Yes, Oh,
(34:12):
I love a rhubarb.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I think rubarb would.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Be nice and yes, included as a photograph. And they
are not the most decorative pastries I've ever seen, but
all the time I am. I am a it doesn't
look pretty, but eat it. It's great kind of cook
So I really feel that.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Oh I'm the same. If the taste is good, I
get why you want the presentation angle.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Oh of course I love a human who's capable of
a nice presentation.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
But I'm like, that's not me. Sorry, it's not me either.
And sometimes I'm just you know what, I made this.
The taste is good, let's go. That's it. That's all
I need. Yeah. Yeah, but I I love hearing this
when listeners listen to an episode try to make the thing.
(35:06):
Uh yeah, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah. Also, absolutely nothing wrong with slightly expired cans of
crushed pineapple.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
No. Also, I love that I've never heard of custard potters.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
This is a very this is a very European ingredient.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I'm glad that the Internet was able to give you
a substitute that works. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah, the oh gosh, I guess. I guess the vague
equivalent in the US would be like like instant pudding.
Oh okay, yeah, I can see that. Yeah yeah, and right,
and like a nice home corn starch pudding recipe which
(35:55):
I've used recently as I have a dear family friend
who cannot have dairy or eggs or gluten and always
asks me to bring the dessert. And I'm like, that's
what dessert is made of. That's what dessert is made of.
I don't know what to do for.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
You, but.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
A nice corn starch pudding with a dairy free milk
absolutely works. So that's something I'm very familiar with. Right now.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I'm glad.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I'm glad the internet. Yes, exactly what, and he said
glad the internet came through.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Yes, yes, and very very happy that this worked out
and that you now have future aspirations for perhaps rubarb.
I think that would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, oh goodness. I always feel free to send us
photographs of pies.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yes, absolutely, and just update this. We always were. We're
like keeping tabs on your life in the non creepy way.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, right, in the first friendly way.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah. I just like hearing updates on what projects people are, yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Or otherwise up to man, it's getting to be springtime
if anyone is starting a garden.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yes, oh, I got really excited by that idea. That
is like my thing that I wish I had that
I don't. Oh, yeah, it's a garden.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yeah that apart living Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Vicariously through you listeners, please, oh but thank you so
much to this listener for writing in. If you would
like to write to us, you can our emails hello
at saborpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Blue Sky and Instagram at saber pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(38:08):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way
Hello, and welcome to Savor Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm any
Retiar and.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about Thomas and George Downing.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, any particular reason that this topic was on your mind, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, it is Black History Month here in the United States,
and generally on this show, even outside of February, we
like to talk about that important part of our shared history.
And these are a pair of restauranteurs and social activists
from history. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but
(00:44):
here we are who were just super interesting, cool human people.
And I had not heard their story before, and I
was googling and found a reference to them, and I
was like, yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, it's a It's a really great story and definitely
deserves a mini series or something.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Oh my goodness, I want a TV series about this,
about them so hard right now? Somebody, somebody call us.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
They should call us.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Oh well, no, not to make a TV series, clearly,
but I've got but I've got like the pitch to
send to someone capable.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I see, I see, okay, yes, yeah, call us. We'll
wait eagerly.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Oh yeah, yes, yes, Well this was a really fun one,
and it's gonna be interesting because it kind of unfolded
differently than we normally do our episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
But those biography episodes are kind of like that, yeah yeah, yeah,
But it's gonna be cool because it is a really
it's a interesting history. So excited to share four past episodes.
I would say you could see other biography episodes perhaps
and oysters.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Definitely Oysters, also turtle soup maybe aspects. I don't think
we really mention it in the outline, but just in
terms of like dishes that were considered very fancy and
cool in the eighteen hundredsish in America. Also our French
cuisine episodes to talk about like how restaurants sort of
(02:37):
came to be.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yes, there is a lot time back in this one,
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
But oh yeah oo yeah where yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
And we're going to do our best, yes, But that
brings us to our question the Downings. Who are they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well? Thomas and George Downing were father and son black
American oysterman restaurateurs and social activists working during the tumultuous
eighteen hundreds. They ran high end commercial dining rooms when
that was a new thing.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
In the US.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
They made a lot of powerful connections and friends, and
they used that influence to help improve the lives and
social standing of Black Americans at a time when enslavement
was not yet in the rear view. Thomas Downing was
known as the Oyster King of New York when the
city was basically the oyster capital of the world. And
(03:45):
his son ran the restaurant at the House of Representatives
for a number of years, and they both worked like
above ground with mutual aid and abolitionist groups and also lawmakers.
But furthermore ran a stop on the under ground railroad
like yeah, in the basement of their oyster restaurant where
(04:06):
every Wall Street mogul brought their families for a fancy meal.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yep, sure did, sure did? Uh? Well, what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Do not eat historical pillars of the community? Learning about
them is probably metaphorically nutriented though.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, good for your brain.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I have kind of a number for you.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
We'll cover a couple of numbers in the history section,
which is, as always with our biographies, the longest section
of this episode. But just for example, Thomas Downing was
the equivalent of a millionaire in his time. He once
catered an event for Charles Dickens that had like two
to three thousand guests. It was something like one hundred
(04:56):
thousand dollars dinner in today's money.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Wow, huh. I don't know if I'll ever get an
invitation like.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That, And that's okay. I wouldn't know what to do
with myself at a party like that. I barely know
what to do with myself at any party.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah. Half the times I come home when I kind
of cry a little, I don't know what to make
of that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I a little bit before and a little bit after.
That's fine, right, that's normal.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
No, We're totally fine and normal over here. That's what
everyone says about us. It's true everyone. You could ask anybody.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's why we do biography episodes and other people don't
do biography episodes about us.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I would not want to hear what they would put
in that episode on me.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Anyway, anyway, this is not about us, no, no, but
we do have quite a bit of history to go over.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Oh my goodness, we do, and we are going to
get into it as soon as we get back from
a quick break. For word from our sponsors and our
back thank you. Sponsors, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay, So there's a lot of myth and legend behind
the Downing stories, so keep that in mind as we
go over the history. Also, there's a lot of confusion,
as Lauren and I we're discussing.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of both modern and contemporary sources
tend to mix up which Downing was doing what at
what time. And they were both working for like a
large overlapping number of years on similar projects and in
similar spaces. So yeah, it was an interesting one to
(07:03):
try to detangle. And we can't promise, like we're not historians,
we can't promise that we have done a perfect job
of it, but we feel I feel fairly confident.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I do as well. I do as well, Yeah, because
we really had to work this one out, and that
is what I'll say. Yeah, yes, So beginning with Thomas Downing.
Thomas Downing was born in Virginia in seventeen ninety one.
While a lot of his early history is lost, his
parents were formally enslaved and gained freedom sometime before seventeen
(07:35):
eighty three. His parents were able to purchase land near
the Chesapeake Bay, and because of that, Downing grew up
near fishermen and oystermen, and through this he picked up
some real knowledge around things like the harvest of oysters
and clams. It was something that he did on his
own when he had the time.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Also, his parents worked at a Methodist church that wealthy
and influential families in the area attended, and who the
Downings often had his guests after services. So really, very
early in life, Thomas had access to two critical prongs
of his future business, oystering and these prominent connections.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yes, so Thomas moved to Philadelphia during the War of
eighteen twelve. It's unclear if he joined the war effort
or just followed the troops north, and he spent several
years there, and during that time met and married his wife,
Rebecca West. We don't have much to go off of
when it comes to their time in Philadelphia, but historians
(08:38):
do know that there was a lot of black involvement
in the cuisine happening in the city at the time,
so it's likely that Thomas was soaking all of that up.
A couple of years later, in eighteen nineteen, he and
his wife packed up and moved to New York City again.
The reasoning is a little fuzzy here about the move,
but it was probably several things. One of those things
(09:00):
might have been that New York was just a really
growing state. The city especially was really growing. Another possible
influencer was that there was an eighteen seventeen New York
state mandate that all enslaved New Yorkers were to be
freed by eighteen twenty seven, So that might have been
another reason. The pair would go on to have five children,
(09:23):
including George.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, George was their oldest, born in eighteen nineteen. After
they arrived in New York.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Sometime around the start of the eighteen twenties, Thomas was
running an oyster stand, and by eighteen twenty five he
had opened an oyster refectory, a place of food, drink,
and oysters, often located in cellars.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, and I wasn't familiar with the term refectory. It
just means like a communal dining room. And I'm pretty
sure it was just like the term used for restaurants
before restaurants was the term.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I think so. Around this time, New York was
starting to get a reputation for the size and quality
of the oysters coming out of the Hudson Bay and
they were plentiful. Then again see our oyster episode, so
they weren't that expensive. A lot of the people involved
in the oyster industry in York at the time were
(10:15):
black folks, and Downing was involved in both harvesting his
own oysters as an oyster vendor and going to the
docks to purchase the best catch from other oystermen as
a restauranteur.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, as a restauranteur, going down to the docks or
even out on the water to meet oystermen before any
other buyer could get to them, possibly to get the
best product and possibly to help drive up the price
a little bit for these hardworking fellows.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yes, and the story goes that he formed a lot
of connections this way. Downing fostered a well off set
of white patrons through this. The dining scene in York
was really growing and changing, and the city was a
magnet for all kinds of influential folks. Downing had the
advantage of being in a prime location his restaurant in
(11:07):
the business district, so he was getting all kinds of
wealthy clientele. By eighteen thirty five, he had done well
enough for himself to expand. Yeah, he was renting space
in this building near the corner of Broad and Wall Streets,
at first at number five Broad and then the surrounding
three and seven spaces as well. And one of these
(11:27):
had a deep cellar with an underground stream running through it. Yes,
and this allowed him to construct his own oyster vault
so he could keep the oysters fresh until they were ordered,
whatever which way customers wanted. Scalloped oysters, roasted oysters on
an iron over oak shavings, by the way, oyster pie,
(11:50):
oyster stuffed turkey, Oh yes, so intrigued.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right man, and other posh dishes like turtle soup were
also on the menu.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
He was also a pretty business savvy person when it
came to advertising, running ads in major New York publications.
In those ads, he touted up the superior quality and
flavor of his oysters and promised that they could deliver
quickly to wherever you were in New York. In New
(12:22):
York City, they could get the oysters to you. And
he really built it up too, with phrases like served
up in my usual superior style. And as you can imagine,
all of this earned him somewhat of a reputation, especially
when it came to oysters. It kind of changed how
(12:43):
people viewed oysters too, not as just the street snack
or a cheap item at a dive, but as a
fine food.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Over the next few decades, those oyster sellers around New
York City may in fact have helped give rise to
the slang term dive bar like literally meaning a place
you have to go down from the street level to enter,
and also right like a rough around the edges kind
of establishment. But that was not what Downing's oyster House was.
(13:15):
Think like a shimmering chandelier and damss curtains and nice
carpets and mirrors on the walls. Notably like Delmonico's, the
famous upscale steakhouse in New York City didn't open until
two years after Downing's oyster House.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Right, and an eighteen forty five article from The New
York Tribune listed Downing's Oyster House as the first of
thirteen pioneering restaurants in New York. Thomas's connections continued to grow. Politicians,
the media, celebrities. Some credit his restaurant as the first
(13:52):
to offer fine dining in New York City. It was
the go to oyster spot, and it was a place
people could take their families or go on dates. Because, yes,
many oyster houses didn't allow women back then.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
However, Downing's oyster house did not serve black patrons. This
was a complicated time.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yes. On top of restaurant touring, Downing also exported oysters
fresh and pickled, and catered events. Some of the events
were pretty big too. Yes. When author Charles Dickens was
a guest at Park Theater in eighteen forty two, Thomas
catered that event, and sources claim that about two five
(14:38):
hundred attendees at the event went through about twenty five
thousand oysters.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I don't know. I read three thousand attendees. I read
twice that number of oysters, plus ten thousand sandwiches, forty hams,
fifty six beef tongues, fifty rounds of beef, fifty jellied turkeys,
fifty pairs of chicken, twenty five of duck, and two
thousand mutton chops.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah. I probably would have cried after that. I might
have had a grand old time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
I couldn't confirm any of that, but I was entertained.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Jelly turkeys was something we were descibed.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Oh yeah, yeah, That's why I had to mention the
aspects at any rate. One add the Downing placed in
eighteen fifty six for his Christmas catering of boned turkeys
and pickled oysters, ended with ladies will save money as
well as time and trouble by sending their orders to
Downing number three Broad Street, who will furnish them with
(15:39):
something to make their guests, if they have any taste,
go into ecstasies.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Into ecstasies right. Oh. The burgeoning railways in the United
States and industrialization with things like steamboats allow Downing to
transport his oysters to more places in the US and also.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Globally like there ares stories of wealthy Americans setting up
overseas in Paris and throwing parties to impress and ordering
oysters from Downing to be fried up on site, and
that being a huge hit with the folks.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Does sound good. One of those global locations was England,
and according to Thomas's family, after sending a box of
his fanciest oysters to Queen Victoria, she sent him a
gold chronometer in return. It's like a much loved family
heirloom from what I understand. By eighteen fifty seven, Thomas
(16:42):
was one of the wealthiest black men in New York City.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Meanwhile, the Downing Sun George had been making a name
for himself in the restaurant industry as well. By eighteen
forty five, at the age of twenty four, he had
opened his own catering establishment in New York City near
Forth and Broadway. He had also married another well to
do New Yorker, one Serena Leonora de Grass, whose father
was from India and mother was from Germany. Did go
(17:08):
on to have nine children together, though I think only
five made.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
It to adulthood.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Through his wealthy customer connections, in eighteen forty six, George
moved his family to Rhode Island and became part of
the booming summer tourism industry there. He even built the
Seagirt House, which was this five story hotel restaurant catering
operation in Newport in eighteen fifty five.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yes, and as mentioned, both Downings were also involved in
political activism and abolitionism. When Thomas was living in New York,
most black people in the city didn't have access to
as many opportunities in housing, employment, or education as white
people did. There were riots against black homes and establishments
(17:57):
to Thomas Downing organizations and efforts to combat this and
uplift black people in general. He went to the first
Annual Convention for the Improvement of Free People of Color
held in Philadelphia in eighteen thirty. He was one of
forty delegates, and they had to meet in secret before
the event due to the threat of violence. He was
(18:20):
heavily involved in education as well. He was a trustee
of an organization that ended up creating the city's first
high school for black students and two elementary schools. He
was involved in the founding of the all black New
York City Anti Slavery Society in the eighteen thirties. And
not only that, his restaurant, Downing's Oyster House, was a
(18:42):
stop on the Underground Railroad.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Remember that at this time, people seeking freedom from enslavement
in states where that was still legal could be hunted
down for bounty, even in free states. And growing up,
George clearly absorbed the activist work that his father was
involved in. I think that he was arrested as a
(19:07):
teenager for work with the underground Railroad. There's a possibility
it's one of his brothers, but I think it was him.
He joined the Anti Slavery Society as well and helped
organize to protest the bounty hunting of a freedom seekers.
Both Downings also worked to abolish a poll tax of
sorts of the time. New York State required black men
(19:30):
to own a certain value of real estate in order
to vote, but there was no such rule for white
men in New York after eighteen twenty one.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yes, and ultimately their goal wasn't achieved, but they brought
more attention to the issue.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah. It was up for vote three times from eighteen
forty six through eighteen sixty nine and failed each time
due to white voters opposition. It took the Fifteenth Amendment
to the Constitution in eighteen seventy and it's national scope
of voting rights for men to bring this New York
state rule down.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Right. And through Thomas's involvement in all of these organizations
and associations, as well as his success as an oyster man,
he really did make a name for himself. More than
once he refused to leave a white segregated trolley car,
and one time it resulted in injuries to himself.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, which he was able to sue the trolley company
over because the assailant was the trolley driver. The company
did fire the driver for use of force, but in court,
the white jury ruled in favor of the company. This
was part of a larger effort to desegregate the New
York City trolleys, which did succeed over the next couple
of decades. And I will say that another time that
(20:52):
Thomas Downing refused to leave a trolley car and the
driver stopped the trolley to try to force Thomas off.
A bunch of people pushed the trolley car onward until
the driver gave up and just let him stay on.
I'm not sure whether this was like an organized response
or whether it was Rando's being like, is that our
(21:15):
favorite oyster dude, Let our favorite oyster dude stay.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
On the trolley? I don't know, Yeah, yeah, hard to say.
Thomas also allegedly sued clients who didn't pay up on
their catering bills, and he would take those that didn't
pay their bills to court.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Which right was something that a lot of black people
at the time would not have had access to if
they were being cheated by clients. He had the money
to throw around. One of the tales told about Thomas
Downing is that when the head of the New York
Herald newspaper at the time, Won James Gordon Bennett Senior,
(21:55):
kind of slumped into the Oyster House for a sympathetic
ear about his failure paper one day, Downing loaned him
a cool ten grand on the spot. WHOA, that would
be a lot today.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
That'd be a lot today.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yes, but yeah, Thomas's like public facing, relatively polite activism
and philanthropy through all of the organizations that Annie mentioned
a minute ago, plus you know, like his church and
the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows and local orphanages. It
(22:35):
all let him keep a very good reputation in like
white capitalist society. In eighteen sixty two, he was written
about in the conservative white press as essentially like one
of the good ones in terms of his activism, which
(22:57):
which is both a horribly racist sentiment and also makes
me downright gleeful in that they apparently had no idea
what all he was up to regarding the underground railroad.
Indeed makes me really sad that he had to hide it,
(23:18):
but really glad that he was able to get away
with it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Yes, yes, absolutely a new landlord purchased the original location
of Downing's restaurant in eighteen sixty three, and it closed,
but Thomas kept going at a nearby location with the
help of friends for a while, but soon retired as
he was getting older, and his son stepped in to
(23:42):
take over the operation.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
When Downing announced his retirement and a party to go
along with it, the New York Herald ran an announcement
that began Downing, the Great Oyster Man, and who has
not heard of him, retires from business this spring.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Oh In eighteen sixty six, the day after the passing
of the Civil Rights Act, Thomas Downing died at the
age of seventy five. The New York Chamber of Commerce
closed the day of his funeral. His son, George, kept
the Oyster House in operation until eighteen seventy one.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
For the record, the way, I don't know that much
about the New York Chamber of Commerce, but from what
I understand, that had never happened.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, it was like a bear.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And never happens. But yeah, like everyone came out, everyone
came out. George, meanwhile, had been busy over in Rhode Island,
where he had been fighting to get public schools desegregated
through actions like lobbying and like straight refusing to back
liberal political candidates who didn't support this change. The Seagirt
(24:56):
House burned down under suspicious circumstances in six but he
did rebuild an even larger structure on the site, known
as the Downing Block. Rhode Island would end school segregation
after the Civil War in eighteen sixty six. George Downing
also got involved directly in Washington, d c. And kept
(25:16):
a residence on Capitol Hill. He helped the first black
ambassador for the United States, one Edward Bassett, get appointed.
A Bassett conducted diplomacy for the US with Haiti, and
as I said in our intro, George ran the official
cafe restaurant of the US House of Representatives that the
members dining room from eighteen sixty five through eighteen seventy seven.
(25:41):
It was at the time strictly only for House members
and their guests, and by this point in history was
like a very well appointed restaurant under Downing's control. It
was written about in the press as one of the
best restaurants in the Union. That's a direct quote. And
reportedly Downing made dang sure that black guests were served
(26:06):
there in the same dining room as white guests, and
reportedly might have lost his commission of that restaurant over
the issue. He also very famously through an integrated party
in his Capitol Hill home in eighteen sixty nine for
Ulysses S. Grant's first inauguration, with the white senators and
(26:30):
judges and diplomats that he knew, rubbing elbows with black
social elites, some of the former, apparently for the first time.
It made a big splash in the press. George retired
in eighteen seventy nine, and I don't have a lot
about what he got up to in his retirement. I
(26:54):
imagine family stuff, hanging out in Rhode Island, stirring up
some good trouble. I'm not sure, but fun side fact,
one of his sons, Philip Bell Downing, was an inventor
who helped create the USPS letter collection boxes. Like if
you're gonna go mail a letter and there's a blue
(27:15):
box on the sidewalk, you go put your letter in.
He helped design those. Part of his design is what
went into the box that we still use today. He
also invented a mechanism that will allow a rail car
to operate a railway switch and thus switch tracks from
(27:35):
the car's platform, like the brass arm on the cars
platform that will let the car switch tracks. These were
both patented in the eighteen nineties. Thought it was cool.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
That is cool. Some people, really, they really get up
to some stuff in their life. We do.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah. George would pass in nineteen oh three. His daughter,
Serena Anne Miller Washington published a short biography of him
in nineteen ten, which, if you're interested in reading, is
goes into a lot of kind of gosspey details and
(28:15):
is really fun. She ended this biography with a toast
that was written for George Downing for his eighty second
birthday in nineteen hundred. It's a little bit long, but
it began. Here's health to one whose heart is true
as steel, whose years have passed in freedom's holy cause,
(28:37):
in caring for a brother's woe, a brother's weal, in
fighting direful wrong and baneful laws. Here's health to one
who's lofty, mean and brow bespeak the noble mind, the
spirit proud that fearth not the tyrant bold I trow
that cringeth not when traders thunder loud.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, and today like as of February of twenty twenty six,
a black history organization in Rhode Island is trying to
raise funds to get this eight foot bronze statue of
George Downing constructed and installed across the street from the
(29:22):
original site of the seagert in Newport. They're going to
be debuting a maquette of the planned statue at this
oyster reception at the Newport Art Museum on February twenty eighth,
which is soon as we're recording this episode, along with
the speakers about Downing's life and the design of the statue. Listeners,
(29:48):
Oh my goodness, if any of you can go, I
think it's like fifty five bucks for a ticket, but
it sounds it sounds like a really nice party.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
You probably won't after it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
You might, I mean, I don't know. I don't know
your life.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
That's true. It sounds good. Though, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
It's time, you know. If you do a little bit
of crying, it's fine. But oh my goodness, no, no, no,
If if anyone has the opportunity to go, we would
so much love to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
We absolutely would, And for anybody who has any information
or stories that we might have missed in this. I
know you can still visit the site of the original restaurant.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, it's not like I believe the building was torn
down at some point, but yeah, I mean Broad, Broad
and Wall are just like right over there. You can
just yeah you can. You can go to there.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Yeah, you can go to there, and then you can
tell us about it. Yeah, we would love to hear
about it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Yeah. Yeah, and the block the block in Rhode Island
as well in Newport.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, so please listeners, let us know.
We love hearing from you. But that is what we
have to say about the downings for now.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
It is. We do already have some listenermail for you, though,
and we're going to get into that as soon as
we get back from one more quick break for a
word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listen.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Mail.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Yes, so I was telling Lauren, this Savor email is
a little wonky right now, but I'm working on it
and it's fine, but a lot I didn't know, but
some of your emails were going into the junk email.
So I'm working on it.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
We do not think you're junk. Annie is working on
unrectifying the issue.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yes, yeah, we think you're the best. Yeah, you're wonderful.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Yes. If you think that we've missed something, feel free
to resend.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yes. Yes, but anyway, because of that, we're just going
to split this message for today while I tame the chaos.
But I do think it is appropriate because Lunar New
Year just happened.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Happy, Yeah, I had a really good I got to
hang out with a friend and we had delicious food.
Oh yeah yes, so uh I thought we would just
share this email. Jane wrote, Hello, I've never tried Taiwanese
pineapple cakes, but they sounded lovely, And while listening to
(32:50):
the episode, I remembered that I had a couple of
only slightly expired cans of crushed pineapple in my cold
room and thought, why not I used a recipe from
the Food Network. I selected that recipe in particular because
I had most of the ingredients. The exception was custard powder,
(33:11):
but the Internet saved me again with instructions on how
to make it from ingredients that I did have on hand.
Who knew it was just two hundred and fifty milliliters
of skimmed milk powder sifted with one hundred and twenty
five milliliters of corn starch.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Jane continues Anyway, I made the pineapple filling, which was easy,
and when it was completely chilled, I made the pastry,
also very easy. Putting them together was more challenging. The
pastry from this recipe is very short and kept cracking
as I tried to fold it around the filling. I
didn't have the traditional square mold, so I put them
in muffin tins, but I couldn't squash them without breaking
(33:48):
open the pastry. It's not like they rise much or anything.
I could have just put them on a cookie sheet.
I'm pretty sure the tins are just so you can
press them into a decorative shape. They may not be
as pretty as the one I saw online, but they
are delicious and I'll definitely make them again. I'm interested
to try the same recipe with some other kind of
fruit filling. Rhubarb might be nice, Oh, rubarb, Yes, Oh,
(34:12):
I love a rhubarb.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I think rubarb would.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Be nice and yes, included as a photograph. And they
are not the most decorative pastries I've ever seen, but
all the time I am. I am a it doesn't
look pretty, but eat it. It's great kind of cook
So I really feel that.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Oh I'm the same. If the taste is good, I
get why you want the presentation angle.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Oh of course I love a human who's capable of
a nice presentation.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
But I'm like, that's not me. Sorry, it's not me either.
And sometimes I'm just you know what, I made this.
The taste is good, let's go. That's it. That's all
I need. Yeah. Yeah, but I I love hearing this
when listeners listen to an episode try to make the thing.
(35:06):
Uh yeah, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah. Also, absolutely nothing wrong with slightly expired cans of
crushed pineapple.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
No. Also, I love that I've never heard of custard potters.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
This is a very this is a very European ingredient.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I'm glad that the Internet was able to give you
a substitute that works. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah, the oh gosh, I guess. I guess the vague
equivalent in the US would be like like instant pudding.
Oh okay, yeah, I can see that. Yeah yeah, and right,
and like a nice home corn starch pudding recipe which
(35:55):
I've used recently as I have a dear family friend
who cannot have dairy or eggs or gluten and always
asks me to bring the dessert. And I'm like, that's
what dessert is made of. That's what dessert is made of.
I don't know what to do for.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
You, but.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
A nice corn starch pudding with a dairy free milk
absolutely works. So that's something I'm very familiar with. Right now.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I'm glad.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I'm glad the internet. Yes, exactly what, and he said
glad the internet came through.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Yes, yes, and very very happy that this worked out
and that you now have future aspirations for perhaps rubarb.
I think that would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, oh goodness. I always feel free to send us
photographs of pies.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yes, absolutely, and just update this. We always were. We're
like keeping tabs on your life in the non creepy way.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, right, in the first friendly way.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah. I just like hearing updates on what projects people are, yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Or otherwise up to man, it's getting to be springtime
if anyone is starting a garden.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yes, oh, I got really excited by that idea. That
is like my thing that I wish I had that
I don't. Oh, yeah, it's a garden.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yeah that apart living Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Vicariously through you listeners, please, oh but thank you so
much to this listener for writing in. If you would
like to write to us, you can our emails hello
at saborpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Blue Sky and Instagram at saber pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(38:08):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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