July 22nd is National Mango Day. It is a good day to celebrate the fruit that has two and half times the vitamin C as an orange, plus other vitamins A, B-6, and K, antioxidants, potassium and even dietary fiber.
I have a rare book “Mango Studies” published 1951 by the Florida Mango Forum. This book describes the first commercial growing of Mangoes in the early 1930’s. They formed an organization in 1938, to give growers tips and advice to promote a fruit that they thought was unusual and profitable. There is all sorts of information about the Mango. It starts with a history of Mango in Florida, and the culture to raise mangos successfully. From bugs, to mulch, to fertilizers, to occasional frost, this book tells all you would need to know as a grower.
When they talked about how to advertise Mangos, it was boasted that “Tropical Mangos Taste like Pineapple and Apricots…a luscious tempting flavor!” And of course then were some recipes. First they discussed purees, and then Mango chutney and Mango sauces. I liked the recipes for Mango pie, jellies and jams. There was an interesting Mango cake, but questioned the Mango pickles, and the mango pickle minced, which was like a pickle relish with Mangos.
I do like Mangos. My grandmother grew a Mango tree in her home in Florida. It had wonderful Mangos. It was where I learned to eat them. She made the front page of the local newspaper with her Mango tree and the large Mangos it produced.
I read that there was a danger to rats eating Mangos, at least male rats. It is said that there is a compound called D-limonene in Mangos and citrus fruits that can cause tumors in their kidneys. Too bad for the rats.
July 22nd is also National Ratcatcher Day. While ratcatchers could slowly kill rats with feeding them some Mango chutney, it would be better to have a speeder method of removal. My next book comes to the rescue, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” by Robert Browning, circa 1970 (original was in 1888.) This would be a reprint of that issue-a wonderful long poem, with the illustrations of Kate Greenaway, also from that time. This is a beautiful book.
The story as most remember, was that the town of Hamelin was overrun by rats. They were everywhere. For a thousand guilders, this strange looking man claimed he could rid the town of the rats. He piped a tune and the rats followed him to the river where they all jumped in and drowned, (except one fat rat who swam to the other side).
When the mayor would not pay the thousand guilders, and offered only fifty, the piper got mad and said “I’ll pipe after another fashion…”
The Mayor said “Do your worst, Blow your pipe until you burst!”
Piped he did, and the children of the town followed behind him as he walked out of town to a tall mountain. The mayor and townspeople, frozen and couldn’t move, thought that he would get out of breath walking up the mountain and stop, then the children would come back home. But the mountain opened up, and the piper and the children walked in through the opening, which closed behind them. Only one lame boy, who could not keep up, was left behind.
The townspeople tried for years to find the piper, to pay him to get their children back, but to no avail. They made a sign to put on the mountain of what happened “On the Twenty-second of July, Thirteen hundred and seventy-six.”
So from mangos to mice, there is a pricetag on everything. Today is a day to get what you pay for, so don’t welch on your bills. Thanks for reading.
Librarytomes 