A Prize-Winning Breakfast: First Prize-One year of Milk from Huebner Dairy

On Saturday, July 13, 1935, the Saginaw Daily News announced its weekly recipe challenge:  “Your Favorite Hot Weather Breakfast Menu.”  First prize was two quarts of Huebner quality milk delivered to your home for 17 days; Second place was one quart of milk delivered to your home for 17 days.

Before we announce the winner of an event that occurred slightly more than 90 years ago, a little background information about the supplier of prizes – Huebner Quality Dairy.

In 1935, Huebner Quality Dairy was located at 2233 Bay Street at the edge of the city. The business traced its roots back to the early twentieth century.  Paul O. Huebner emigrated from Germany in 1883. He settled on the edge of the city on Bay Street – a few blocks from Court Street. The exact date of the founding of the dairy is a little unclear. However, by 1911, Paul O. Huebner was listed as operating a dairy at 675 Bay and his 1929 obituary notes that he had been in “the dairy business in Saginaw for the past 20 years.”   By 1912, as Saginaw worked to develop regulations assuring the purity of milk, Paul Heubner, acting a spokesman for local dealers, made a case against using glass bottles:

“Mr. Heubner said bottles were not as sanitary as cans, that dirt can get in the bottle and is harder to clean out than a can is. Ald. Gay who introduced the ordinance said personally he would prefer milk from cans. The milk dealers urged that the question of how the milk should be delivered be left to the milk takers.

Mr. Huebner claimed the bottle system was originally introduced by the big milk trust in large cities who did it because they were thus able to keep better check on the milkman employed by them. It has not been proved by inspection, he claimed, that milk delivered in bottles was any better or purer than that delivered in the cans. Also, he said, every milk dealer fills the bottles more or less in the wagons while delivering, thus exposing the bottles to the dust and germs from the streets, as it is seldom possible to estimate just how much milk the patrons will want each day.”  (The Saginaw Daily News, May 11, 1912.)

By the 1920s, the business had grown. After Paul O. Heubner’s death in 1929, it was taken over by his son, Edwin Paul Huebner. As the business grew, the name was adjusted to Heubner Quality Dairy and as World War II came to a close, the firm expanded. A new plant at 320 Bristol was completed in 1946. The new building featured a dining room complete with lunch counter and soda fountain.  About 1955, Huebner Quality Dairy was purchased by Bowman Dairy Co. of Chicago. Bowman also acquired the Walter Hoff Dairy, and the firms were merged to form Sealrich Dairy Company. In 1957, Sealrich leased a portion of the building to the Michigan Milk Producers Association. The paper reported:

“Michigan Milk Producers Association members in the Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Milkshed have began using their new receiving station at 320 West Bristol, the former Heubner Dairy Co. plant. A truck shown being unloaded at a new dock addition.” (The Saginaw News, March 14, 1957.)

The offices of the Michigan Milk Producers Association were relocated to the former Huebner Quality Dairy restaurant and E.P. Heubner advertised the fixtures:

“Dairy Bar equipment, 22 ft. complete fountain Weber cabinet with refrigerated salad unit, 3 compartment sink, coke dispenser, 22 ft back-bar mirrors, 4 booths. Bargain. E.P. Hubner. PL2-3167.” (The Saginaw News, May 7, 1957.)

Note: Mother of poet Theodore Roethke, Helen Heubner Roethke, was the daughter of Georg Gottfried Heubner. They lived at 701 Bay St. and the Paul O. Huebner family lived at 675 Bay St. – the street number was changed to 2233 Bay St.  This link will take you to the Friends of Theodore Roethke website.

This link will take you to an earlier recipe post about Ruth Ferguson Holcomb. Her mother was Bertha Heubner Holcomb, the sister of Helen Roethke.

We appreciate the assistance of the Friends of Theodore Roethke and Timothy Holcomb.

The Recipe: A Prize-Winning Breakfast

Mrs. Allen Thomas – 1210 Cherry

“Proof is given to the ability of Mrs. Thomas in her kitchen by the fact, as well as submitting a warm weather menu which took first prize in last week’s contest, her recipe of three weeks ago won the favor of the judge and second prize in the competition. Mrs. Thomas believes that the planning of warm weather menus is an art which can do much to alleviate the discomforts of hot days. She stresses the fact that such menus should feature dishes which can be prepared in advance during the cooler hours of the day. Mrs. Thomas studies and saves the news recipes and is extremely gratified with the success she enjoyed in these contests.”

First Prize

Hot Weather Breakfast Menu

Iced Muskmelon

Crowned Eggs

Toast Halves of shredded wheat

Marmalade

Coffee                                                                  Milk

Crowned eggs

4 Uneeda Holland rusk*

4 eggs

4 long strips bacon

Parsley

Wrap bacon around rusk collar like and secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle centers of rusks with water. Break on egg on each rusk inside bacon collar. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven [375] until eggs are set and bacon browned. Serve garnished with parsley. Serves four. Preparation 9 minutes.  The Saginaw Daily News – July 20, 1935.

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The creator of this recipe, Mrs. Allen J. Thomas, passed away in 1962. Her obituary notes, she was a “lifelong Saginawian. Margaret A. Falkenhagen was born April 7, 1880. She was married to Mr. Thomas in 1909.”

*CTK Notes:

Although Holland Rusk is available, it is not readily stocked by Saginaw Stores. This link will take you to an online source exploring ways to make substitutes for Rusk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD1J9nGvOOc

And we cheated and used a refrigerator to chill the muskmelon.

The 9-minute preparation time is optimistic.

Preparing crowned eggs is a little more daunting than the CTK staff anticipated. Creating a bacon collar is challenging. Creating a leak-proof seal between a piece of  rusk and a strip of bacon - well it is expecting quite a bit from a piece of bacon. 

Although we wanted to center our egg yolks, it simply did not happen.

And, we suggest greasing the area under the piece of toast. There is a lot of bacon fat, however, none of it seeps under the rusk. However. the eggs want to go everywhere.