Uncover Michigan’s past through the phenomenon of picnicking

Henry Ford, Ernest Hemingway, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and the humble porcupine were all part of the picnic phenomenon that spread across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the early 20th century.

Candice Goucher, professor emerita of history at Washington State University, ties these luminaries up in a nice bow for readers in her well-researched book “Picnics and Porcupines: Eating in the Wilderness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

Goucher was prompted to write a book on the picnic phenomenon after coming across a photo of her grandmother Gertie eating watermelon with 10 other young women at a 1911 picnic on Bois Blanc Island.

“The book started with that photo,” Goucher said. “I was fascinated and began wondering what else the women ate at the picnic.”

Her research included trips to Michigan State University and the University of Michigan to utilize the schools’ collection of cookbooks, food advertisements and cooking ephemera. MSU’s Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Culinary Collection and the U of M’s William G. Lockwood and Yvonne R. Lockwood Collection of National, Ethnic, and Regional Foodways proved to be treasure troves of history relating to picnics and the food served at them.

Goucher, who was born in Sault Ste. Marie, would visit the collections while on family trips back to Michigan.

“Picnics were all about place, and the attraction to place remained a constant for picnics,” she said.

This made the Upper Peninsula a perfect location for the explosion of picnics in the early 20th century. Goucher found the food varied across the great expanse of the U.P. — for example, the pasty was a staple in the west, and smoked whitefish was popular in the east.

As more roads appeared, so did the ubiquitous picnic tables on the side of the road, often next to a creek or a fabulous overlook.

“Michigan seems to be the capital for picnicking, and there are picnic tables all over the place,” Goucher said.

In the Upper Peninsula, there were even picnic trains, which departed twice per day to transport revelers to picnic spots.

Goucher noted the one thing that didn’t change as picnics became more sophisticated was that women did most of the preparation.

“They prepared all of the food, and as food changed to more packaged ingredients, it was women who went to the store to purchase them,” she said.

The concept of the picnic was simplicity in both place and food. Blankets would be thrown on the ground, and the food would be laid on them for serving. Sandwiches with thick slices of ham or ground bologna, along with fried chicken, were often the go-to. Coleslaw and potato salad were also preferred selections for outdoor dining.

“Every woman had her own potato salad recipe, and everyone thought they had the best potato salad,” Goucher said. The recipes were passed down through generations and ultimately made their way into church cookbooks, several of which are represented in Goucher’s book.

Goucher also tells the story of African American picnics during the Great Migration. Since African Americans couldn’t eat in restaurants, they packed enough picnic lunches for a several-day trip by car or train. To this day, the picnic family reunion is still a strong tradition among African American families.

So, how did Ford, Hemingway and Walt Disney’s famous mice end up in a book on picnics?

Mickey and Minnie appeared in the 1930 short “The Picnic,” which begins with a bucolic motor trip and ends with an assault of blackbirds and ants.

Goucher details the famous group known as the Vagabonds, led by Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and environmentalist John Burroughs, which used Fords to travel to natural areas to camp and picnic. Goucher highlights the 1923 trips the Vagabonds made across the Upper Peninsula with their full-time cook.

Hemingway was also noted for his trips to the Upper Peninsula, where he and his friends would fish during the day and enjoy their catch at an evening picnic.

In the early days of automobile travel, picnicking was a necessity during long trips. In the ‘40s and ‘50s, drive-ins were nearly nonexistent, and a picnic table on the side of the road was a welcome site. As a young boy, my family took a summer trip from Bay City to Sault Ste. Marie, which was pretty much an all-day journey. The first stop was for a picnic somewhere near Alpena on U.S. 23, where we ate our bologna sandwiches beside Lake Huron.