George Pullman’s Social Revolution

George Pullman would have been one of the most consequential entrepreneurs in American history on the merits of his rail car empire and (failed) worker’s utopia alone. Add in the social revolution he put in motion and it’s a wonder Pullman is such a little known figure today. For indeed Pullman is one of the key figures in the history of American civil rights, directly responsible for the creation of the black middle class.

Er, how did that work, exactly, Joe? Well I’ll tell you. Having read the below posts on the rise of the Pullman sleeper car, you already know that Pullman’s company took off in earnest in 1867. That coincided neatly with the end of the Civil War and the freeing of Southern slaves, a large, and largely unemployed, pool of labor. Pullman recognized that freed slaves would make excellent stewards on his luxury train cars. Many were

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Pullman is a Place, Too

Oh yes it is, and thanks for pointing that out Chicago Joe, if that IS your real name. I mentioned below that Pullman’s factory was located south of Chicago. In 1880 that was true, when Chicago’ population was half a million people. Today Pullman is a neighborhood of Chicago, way down south, off the Bishop Ford Expressway at about 103rd Street. Once it was a rural industrial outpost, built by a man who — like many others of his day — hoped to create a utopia but ended up creating, well, just another place on Earth.

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What is a Pullman Car?

No one asked that question, but that’s not going to stop me from diving straight in, since the history of Pullman rail cars is simply too interesting. Plus it takes me right back to my ol’ home town: Chicago. And I haven’t been back there in what…a week?

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Why do they call it a “Pullman” pan?

I thought you’d never ask, reader Ellie! It’s called a “Pullman” pan because here in the States these square, crustless loaves were most often associated with the legendary Pullman rail cars. Not only did the soft, perfectly shaped slices match the Pullman company’s elegant style, the stackable loaves were great for dining car kitchens where […]

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So what’s a Pullman pan?

It’s nothing more than a straight-sided loaf pan with a lid on it. It yields a loaf of bread with perfectly flat sides all the way around and perfectly square corners. What good is that you say? Well granted it’s an aesthetic thing mostly. A perfectly square loaf — as seen from the ends — yields perfectly square pieces of sandwich bread and pieces of toast. That’s great for us uptight types who like our foods neat.

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Next Up: Adventures with a Pullman Pan

Oh yes, mine needs a workout, kids. And some nice soul-baking will be a breath of fresh air after so much fussing with cannelés (though as I said, that project is continuing). We’ll do some pain de mie, sausage in brioche…who knows what I’ll get up to. Because comfort, friends, is what I need.

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More from the Not-Rock Scene

Last week’s post about acoustic music (Colombia’s Monsieur Periné and the American Texas swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown) was well received, and in fact several readers wrote in asking for more recommendations on contemporary acoustic, non-rock ensembles. Exciting alternatives to alternative rock and pop music abound these days, especially and including Mumford & Sons, whose modern-day sea chanties have taken the alternative rock scene by, er, storm. Red Baraat, a Brooklyn-based pan-Asian, acoustic funk band

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So what are we learning here?

Quite a bit I think. On the one hand I’m learning what I like and I don’t like in a cannelé. On the other I’m learning what a cannelé actually is. It’s not a “cake” as it’s often described. Rather it’s either a very eggy candy or a very, very sweet custard. I lean toward the latter interpretation, as it explains why so many of my attempts before I tried the Malgieri recipe look and taste like broken, collapsed, syrupy custard pie. It also explains why the Malgieri version, which includes an egg tempering step, produces a cannelé with a consistent interior texture.

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