We've all heard the phrase that it's "so hot you can fry an egg on a sidewalk." And, recently in Chicago it sure has seemed that hot! However, it looks as though that whole saying might be a mistake, at least according to this article

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A photo of two women taken June 14, 1929, shows one of them holding what could be a fried egg, above a skillet on a concrete wall in Washington. The photo is titled "Women frying eggs near U.S. Capitol," but it's unclear whether the eggs were cooked there — if at all. And besides, it's a wall, not a sidewalk.

However, apparently the earliest reference to this occurred in 1899 in an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I wonder what that reference is to. Does anyone know?

My granpappy said he was so poor that was the only way he COULD fry an egg, when he could steal one.

I remember being in Phoenix at my sister's once, and we bought a frozen pizza. I put it on top of my car while I unlocked the car...and it was completely thawed by the time I had unlocked the car. I thought that was pretty good!

I was once camping during a heat wave in southern Ohio, mid-July, late 1980's, I guess. It was one of those crazy-hot days. My dad put a cast iron skillet into the sun and cracked an egg into it. It took about 15-20 minutes, but it did cook. I wouldn't call it frying, though, so much as baking.

Sadly, it was also in the middle of a drought and there was a bit of dried grass and other debris on the egg by the time it was cooked, so it was inedible.

As an aside, I will also tell you all that I chose that week to try out my pioneer baking skills. I made homemade bread and at least one pie during our week, both using a cast iron dutch oven and an open fire. When I was younger I was silly like that.

Wow...homemade bread! Yummy!

Sometimes I wonder how our forefathers and mothers did it. They had to make everything, including their clothes. For those of you who haven't sewn, it can be really fiddly and oh so frustrating!

I gave guided tours for a time at the Betsey Williams cottage in Roger Williams Park in Providence. Betsey bequested the land to the city in the late 1800s on her death and she and her family lived for many years in the old house, built around 1790. One of the things we had to learn was how the women prepared meals and performed household chores in those early days. It was not only difficult, but dangerous, since the long skirts often landed on hot embers from the fireplace and caught fire.

One interesting item about Betsey and her family. Betsey and her sister were spinsters, related to RI's founder, Roger. Their property was worth quite a lot in those days, with each owning a third. Betsey became engaged and the night before the wedding Betsey's mother prevailed on her to sign her portion of the land over to the mother for $1.00. No one told the husband until after the marriage, when he became incensed that he didn't (under the laws of the day) have a right to the land. He divorced Betsey shortly thereafter, and her mother transferred the land back into Betsey's name once the divorce was final. All of this came out in the court proceedings which was the scandal of the day and made a very nice read.

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It was not only difficult, but dangerous, since the long skirts often landed on hot embers from the fireplace and caught fire.

Very true. Up to the first world war that was second only to childbirth as most common cause of unnatural death among women, in the UK, anyway.

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Originally posted by arnie:

Very true. Up to the first world war that was second only to childbirth as most common cause of unnatural death among women, in the UK, anyway.

Yet the British frowned on suttee in India. Go figure...

Proof, is that really true about the long skirts landing in embers? I had never heard that before.

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He divorced Betsey shortly thereafter, and her mother transferred the land back into Betsey's name once the divorce was final. All of this came out in the court proceedings which was the scandal of the day and made a very nice read.

Well, I guess there have always been gold-diggers. Sad story for Betsey, though.

I imagine during the era of many crinolines and then even hoops, that catching one's dress afire would be easy to do. I never wore more than one petticoat while doing my reenacting, mostly because it was usually quite warm. At colder times I had a struggle with my cape always getting in the way, and even made myself a short cape so that I could keep my shoulders warm while cooking and not get my cape burned in the fire.

Dressing "like a proper lady" and cooking with live fire are not compatible prospects, I can assure you. It's not as if you can feel much through all those layers of clothing, and I can fully imagine catching one's dress on fire and not being aware of it until you smell the smoke or feel the heat licking you.

I would venture this is also a very practical reason while servants and slaves did not wear all the layers. It's just not safe and practical.

Also, they make your butt look bigger. That wasn't a problem back in the good ole days, though, when heavy women were seen as beautiful.

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:



Also, they make your butt look bigger. That wasn't a problem back in the good ole days, though, when heavy women were seen as beautiful.

And, if you take a look at a genuine "Rubenesque" depiction, women didn't have huge "shadowy depressions," as brought out in the cleave thread. http://www.peterpaulrubens.org...a-1626-28-large.html

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I imagine during the era of many crinolines and then even hoops, that catching one's dress afire would be easy to do.

As CW says, the many layers of non-fire-retardant clothing made it difficult for a woman to notice she had caught fire. By the time she became aware, it may be too late. In those days, men liked their women hot but not charred.

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Originally posted by Proofreader:
No one told the husband until after the marriage, when he became incensed that he didn't (under the laws of the day) have a right to the land. He divorced Betsey shortly thereafter.

This got me hunting on the internet about 19thc. divorce in America, which I foolishly thought hardly ever happened. What I found of course was that it was nearly impossible for a woman to obtain one. Looks like the Williams' did an end-run around that problem, tho.

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Looks like the Williams' did an end-run around that problem, tho.

With a lineage such as she had, I guess she got a few breaks. Her husband almost immediately abandoned her to take up with another woman in a nearby town, so I imagine he was definitely in it for the money. He lived with all three women in the small cottage, working a loom on the second floor to make some sort of fabric. During the trial, it was reported that he took a mortar and pestle (for some reason near the loom) and threw it at Betsey. Golddigger and abuser. Sounds modern.

As to frying eggd on the sidewalk? Yup.It can easily be done here in Phoenix,where it can get as hot as 120. My friend and I did it a couple of years ago. (clean the sidewalk first!! HeeHee!)