1875: JOHN TAYLOR'S "TAYLOR HAM"

One thing I have found while researching the pork roll phenomenon, John Taylor wins hands down as to historic longevity. John Taylor's product goes back to England when a Taylor family member provided pork products to the royal family. That fact, along with the fact that John Taylor was direct descendant of the British Taylors, led to his setting up shop in Trenton. First in the mid 19th century in an austere establishment in the Academy Street area. In 1870 he moved into the expansive farm property shown in this exquisite engraving from the year 1875 which I find was at the foot of today's Perrine Avenue in Trenton. Little wonder that it was known far and wide back in the 19th century as "Taylor Ham." I have also learned that It was John Taylor who invented "pork roll in a bag.;" so popular in modern times.
Another very interesting and little known fact: Back in the 19th century, Sand Hills (today's Yardville) was a major pork shipping center receiving the products from neighboring pork farmers and sending them north or south from the Sand Hills railroad depot.

OF PORK ROLL, PREPARED HAM, PORK SAUSAGE ALL THANKS TO MR. TAYLOR

 

 With the upcoming Trenton "Pork Roll Festival" which has morphed into a legal brouhaha with two festivals I understand are to be held simultaneously, I dug into my comprehensive database which includes Trenton's famous "TOMATO PIES" and began researching the Taylor connection to this delightful locally famous delicacy.I found that the Taylor family has an historical genealogy in Burlington County that dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War years. My "PORK ROLL" folder has a number of interesting articles, some of which involved legal battles over the years as can be seen in this collection of Pork Roll articles and  ads. Case was a "Johnny-come-lately"  entry into the industry, but still is my personal favorite. 

Hmmm....how about a new slogan on the free Trenton-Morrisville bridge: 

"TRENTON BASTES, THE WORLD TASTES" 

with a large image of a pork roll as part of the new slogan.

1944: PREPARED HAM OR PORK ROLL

They were very sure we of the older generation were wrong when we sat down to a breakfast or dinner of prepared ham and eggs. In the early years, that famous Trenton delicacy was indeed known as "prepared ham," "prepared pork," and the MORE RECENT designation, "PORK ROLL" from Cloverdell, Taylor and of course, Case. Here's an ad in the Trenton Times, 1944: "PREPARED PORK" known for years as "PREPARED HAM."

1927: CLOVERDELL PORK ROLL ("SUGAR CURED")

This very interesting photo of an R.C. Maxwell sign is accompanied by baskets of potatoes and who know what else? I pasted the caption at the bottom of the photo which was a remark written by a Maxwell employee.

1890: CASE'S PORK ROLL: IN THE BEGINNING

GEORGE PRICE'S TRENTON SAUSAGE COMPANY PHOTO IS FROM THE "BUSINESSES, TRENTON" FOLDER IN THE HAMILTON LIBRARY'S LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTION. NOTE THE LOGO ADVERTISING CASE'S FAMOUS PORK ROLL.THE BUILDING IN THE LOWER GRAPHIC STILL STANDS ON SOUTH CLINTON AVENUE. AS YOU ENTER SOUTH CLINTON AVENUE FROM THE "BARLOW CIRCLE"ON THE TRENTON FREEWAY HEADING TOWARD HAMILTON AVENUE, THE BUILDING IS ON THE NEAR LEFT. FADED PAINT ON THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING IS STILL VISIBLE.

1936: GEORGE CASE'S PORK ROLL - A PROUD TRENTON TRADITION

Back in the distant past, (1955-1958 to be exact,) when I was in the U.S. Army cloak and dagger gig, the talk was usually girls, army gripes, and food. On the latter subject, Tom Glover, RA 12480163 had many conversations with my bunk mates when it came to our respective tastes in food. Lloyd Hodgkins, one of my best buddies from Jefferson Maine told of Maine Lobsters. Jimmy Herndon from Ada Oklahoma regaled us with his breakfast that always included home mad grits. Sam Steckbeck from Lebanon Pennsylvania told of his love for good old fashioned Lebonan-made Lebanon Balogna. Tom Glover? Well he was sure that Sam's Lebanon Balogna was excellent, but it could never compare to a DeLorenzo Tomato Pie or a long canvas wrapped roll of Case's Pork Roll. To my amazement, none of those guys ever heard of Tomato Pie nor Pork Roll! Well, to make a long story short, a roll of that Trenton-made pork came to Detachment "D" in Aviano Italy by air mail, and with a bit of coaxing to our cook after one of our midnight shifts, we succeeded in partaking of a Trenton made Case's Pork roll breakfast with our choice of eggs on the side. Did my buddies agree that the Trenton made delicacy was the best......even better than old fashioned bacon, run of the mill sausage, Philadelphia Scrapple, and yes, even steak? Let's just say they went back for seconds!

By the way: I can't tell you how many times I had to explain what a Trenton made DeLorenzo tomato pie was! Those guys had no idea that there was anything other than what they called a "pizza!" To this day there are those who don't know the difference, even as I explained that the pizza is a cheese-encrusted flat disk, usually very little tomato that tastes like a cheese sandwich with a just a touch of tomato. On the other hand, a tomato pie was made only by those culinary artists who knew how to blend just the right amount of tomatoes and cheese on a very thin and tasty crust! I told those guys that only in Trenton would they find restaurants who serve original Trenton Tomato Pies!

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....I DON'T BELIEVE IT WAS GEORGE CASES'S PORK ROLL. GEORGE WAS THE BIG LEAGUE BALL PLAYER BUT IT WAS IN HIS FAMILY. IT COULD HAVE BEEN CLIFF CASE. I LIVED IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD FOR YEARS AND WE ALL LOVED THE PORK ROLL. BETWEEN THEM AND THE TOMATO PIES, TRENTON STOOD ALONE IN PRODUCING TWO OF THE BEST TASTING FOOD PRODUCTS AROUND. BEST REGARDS.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

HI RALPH:

ACTUALLY IT WAS GEORGE CASE SENIOR (GEORGE JR'S. DAD) WHO WAS THE MOVER AND SHAKER AT THE "PORK PACK" FACTORY. AS I RECALL, THE FORMULA ORIGINATED FROM A FARMER IN BELLE MEAD N.J. IN THE LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY. CLIFFORD CASE CAME ON LATER IN TIME.

omad said...

Here's the skinny on this one === Pork roll is a type of sausage-like meat product commonly available in and around New Jersey and Philadelphia. In North Jersey it is usually called Taylor Ham.[1] The product, as it is made today, was developed in 1856[2] by John Taylor of Trenton, New Jersey, though several firms produce their own versions. Got this from Wikapedia. When I first left NJ and moved out west, the two things I insisted my son bring when he came out to ski were Pork Roll and Tastycakes. HI OMAD: TAYLOR (JHN TAYLOR) WAS A SEPARATE ENTITY WHO ALSO MANUFACTURED PORK ROLL.

Sally Logan Gilman said...

Hi Tom: We also load up on Tastykakes and pork rolls when we come to Trenton. My sons and grandson love the pork roll but the Butterscotch Krimpets are an acquired taste -- but that means more for me. We also bring back Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Acme Mrkt. on Route 1. They box them for us and have them ready when we stop by before heating north. Oh how I miss all my favorites from NJ. Regards

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom, how about fresh versus smoked pork roll to separate the men from the boys. If you are not a Trenton native you may be aware of Taylor since they now ship to retirement venues. A fellow on an auto site gave himself away with his avatar of Taylor's logo. He wondered how I knew where he had roots. Sadly, I think the old fashioned pie is going to fade. Much of what we loved had to be in the quality of the cheese and such. The big companies dominate the market anymore.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mack said...

Hi Tom::) NOW I know why my Grandma always called it prepared Ham. Thats what it was once called:) ALSO: The BREAKFAST only theme of Pork Roll did not exist in my house and I have only come across that after starting the blog. We might have pork roll for lunch or supper as well:)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bob said...

Stop with the food! It's driving me crazy. There were so many small places that knew how to make a great tomato pies in the Trenton area. Taylor smoked pork roll was the best, especially with baked beans and home fries. And I lived on Tasty products all through high school and college. Whenever I get down there I stock up but now it's time to start having them shipped to me, hell with the expense. And yes, it has be difficult to explain tomato pies and pork roll to people in Mass and Maine.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Aww, c'mon Bob. Go back and read your comment above. You're making me crave a Taylor Provision Pork roll and egg sandwich for lunch today, a DeLorenzo's take out tomato pie for dinner tonight, topped off with a TastyKake "TandyTake" peanut butter delight. Thanks for being a visitor......I hope you return often,

Tom Glover

Omad said...

Nothing like food to bring out lots of discussion. My son, who lives in Morris County, is a true Pork Roll devotee and has his three boys all addicted to it. I'm a little confused, is Charlie Gaudette, Nancy's dad, also Mike Kuzma's uncle? Nancy and I are still in regular contact, especially since I moved back to NJ from Seattle.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

No Omad,Nancy ( "Dell") is my cousin, daughter of my Uncle Charlie and Aunt May. I lost contact with Nancy. I had a computer replacement and lost all my email addresses when Verizon fouled up when I signed on to Verizon WiFi., and cancelled Verizon DSL. In cancelling Verizon DSL, I lost all my email contacts. I assumed that Verizon WiFi was the same as my Verizon DSL and they never told me they were the same name but a different company! The bottom line, I lost all of my email contacts and had to start from scratch. Nancy and I were in regular contact, and I assumed that Nancy lost my email address as I lost hers.

Tom