One hundred years ago, most American women thought "salad" was potato salad or coleslaw. Lettuce was not salad: it was lettuce, eaten for a few weeks each summer with a vinegar and sugar dressing. At least that's what our family did with it. Some families used boiled dressing instead. Boiled dressing doesn't sound delicious, but a good boiled dressing, made with eggs, butter, and cream, was and is delicious on potato salad, coleslaw, lettuce, or slices of red-ripe tomato. (I have given two recipes for old-fashioned boiled dressing in my cookbook, Steamin' Down the Tracks with Viola Hockenberry, on sale under "Country Cooking with Viola" on this site.)

     Of course some ladies are always more sophisticated than other ladies, and sophisticated ladies began to think of salads with more pizzaz than coleslaw with boiled dressing. This trend started at least a hundred years ago, and by 1921 the trend was in full swing. Hence the following salad recipe sent to me by Deanna Keele. Deanna says, "I was just reading through one of Martha Pullen's newsletters and came upon an historic recipe for 'Candle Salad.' When I was growing up [in the forties and fifties], my mother would make Candle Salad for special occasions or when one of my friends had lunch with us. What warm memories it brought back. Mom's candle had one variation from the recipe listed below -- she set the red cherry on a 'dollop' of mayonnaise placed at the top of the candle/banana to represent dripping wax."

Candle Salad from the June 1921 issue of The Delineator

     Arrange a slice of canned pineapple [for each person] on a bed of lettuce. In the center insert a section of banana to represent the candle. Top with a red cherry, and make a handle to the candlestick with a strip of pimento. Serve the dressing on the side in a cup made from the lettuce heart.

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