Is it for real?

[Dale Beasley]

Was down in New Orleans yesterday, walking around I found a shop selling war relics...one thing that caught my eye was " Civil War Hard Tack". It was in a small case, it was black. I forget the price...because I just laughed. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I had to ask "is it possible that something made of flour could be preserved this many years?"

I went to the previous files on this site...could not find anything...except how to make it.

So is it possible, or was my first reaction correct? I know there are alot of fakes on the market...but I really wanted to ask.

Oh BTW....GO LSU!!!

And forward to Port Hudson.

[tenfed1861]

Re: Is it for real?

I believe the Gettysburg Collection does have a piece of hardtack that was carried by a Confederate during the campaign.So it is possible for flour to be preserved.Hope this helps some.
Cullen

[Cpt Boone]

Re: Is it for real?

I had a friend who inherited a bunch of his great uncles stuff he had in the war. He had saved some hardtack he had been issued. Unfortunately it was lost in Hurricane Katrina. So it is possible.

[Dignann]

Re: Is it for real?

Here in central Virginia, the White Oak Museum displays a ball of dough that was actually excavated from a Union encampment in Stafford County.

Eric

[yanksaintgood]

Re: Is it for real?

I live near Cleveland and I remember a few years ago going to the Western Reserve Historical Society to see a Civil War exhibit set up and one item in the exhibit was an original piece of hard tack it was still white only slightly aged. From what I remember it was a large piece like the one in the picture in union EOG on page 224 of the ohio soldiers using there knapsacks as tables. I don't know if the piece is from the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society but in any case here is another example of an original piece of hard tack that still exists today.

Patrick Abbey

[kazrosiecki]

Re: Is it for real?

Also, an original hard cracker is pictured on page 321 in The Columbia Rifles Research Compendium (2nd Edition).

Regards,

[Dale Beasley]

Re: Is it for real?

Thanks for the answers, it was one that I just kept thinking about, I have never seen or paid any attention to ... so it is possible, but I would have bought something else, know what I mean.:)

[Mcouioui]

Re: Is it for real?

I believe too that completely possible, we found in Bourgogne, seeds in a Celtic grave of the 7th century of which we managed to make germinate and a friend researcher on the Gallo-Roman period, says to me that that arrives often, then why not Hardtack :)

[markj]

Re: Is it for real?

Yep. Our local county historical association has a piece of wartime hardtack in its holdings.

Preservation can be a snap if the ambient conditions are right.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Joe Walker]

Re: Is it for real?

The Alabama archieves in Montgomery has a piece of "Confederate" hardtack. It is round, about 5" in diameter. It appears to have been coated in shellac.

Joe Walker

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Is it for real?

Same, same with the Atlanta History Center. I've stared in wide wonder at the original piece right up against the glass many a time.

[Dale Beasley]

Re: Is it for real?

The Alabama archieves in Montgomery has a piece of "Confederate" hardtack. It is round, about 5" in diameter. It appears to have been coated in shellac.

Joe Walker

Same here, it appeared to be coated in shellac and it was shinny black.

[FlatLandFed]

Re: Is it for real?

Our State Hist Society archives have a framed piece of authentic hardtack. I'll try to get a photo of it and the details on who "preserved" it from his wartime experiences.
Paul Hadley

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Is it for real?

Hallo!

"I live near Cleveland and I remember a few years ago going to the Western Reserve Historical Society to see a Civil War exhibit set up and one item in the exhibit was an original piece of hard tack it was still white only slightly aged.'

Naw, that was just me holding one there that day. ;)

Seriously, it depends upon favorable "conditions" in how things get preserved through the years.
The oldest food item I have handled/examined was some white flaky, chalky stuff. It was fish soup/stew from a 13th century grave site offering.

'Black" would strike me a bit off or odd.

Curt

[Johnny Lloyd]

Re: Is it for real?

Dale! How's it going? ;)

From The Citadel Museum in Charleston, SC... It's postwar- 1890, but the pic speaks for itself:

-Johnny Lloyd

PS- Note the 1890s-period handwritten note at top: "... Could not eat it." is the quote.(Even when it was fresh!)

PSS- For the record, the food in that darn mess hall wasn't any better in the 1990s when I was there. Probably the same stuff from 100 years before too... One word- "roachcakes"