Memorial Day memorials occurred as far back as 1866. In the southern towns of Columbus, Georgia and Columbus, Mississippi, residents banded together into memorial associations. The goal of these associations was the upkeep of the graves of those servicemen who gave their lives in the Civil War.
These towns were not alone in paying homage to those fallen while serving their country. Farther north, the residents of Waterloo, New York, honored their fallen servicemen on May 5, 1866.
Besides decorating the graves of the deceased soldiers, businesses were closed for the day and flags were flown at half-mast. It was these special remembrances through the years that led President Lyndon B. Johnson to issue an official proclamation a little more than 100 years later, in 1967, naming Waterloo as “the birthplace of Memorial Day.”
The residents of Carbonsdale, Illinois also held memorials for deceased veterans of the Civil War. Their day-long festivities, first held on April 29, 1866, included a parade, a barbecue, decorating of graves and speeches. The main speaker in Carbondale on that day was General John A. Logan, the first commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Two years later, on May 5th, General Logan initiated a general order calling for nationwide recognition of Decoration Day, Memorial Day's original name, for May 30th. The date was chosen because there would be flowers in bloom all across the country, which could be used for adorning graves. May 30th remained the official date of Memorial Day until 1971 when Public Law 90-363 was created requiring that specific annual celebrations of legal public holidays be moved to set Mondays. Memorial Day, being one of these public holidays, is now annually celebrated on the last Monday in May.
In our house, we observe the holiday with a flag shaped cake, usually a cheesecake decorated with strawberries for the red stripes while blueberries adorn the upper left corner. On the 200th year anniversary of this holiday, though, we've decided to treat our guests to a special “Bicentennial Old Glory,” a sheet cake decorated with red, white and blue icing to look just like the flag our nation's servicemen defended with their lives.
Bicentennial Old Glory Cake
Ingredients For the Cake
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 eggs
- Ingredients For the Icing
- Red and blue food coloring
- Confectioner's sugar
- Butter or margarine
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
Method:
Combine and beat all the ingredients until blended, about 4 minutes. Pour into greased pan and bake in 350° oven for about 40 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Place on serving platter.
Prepare one batch red, white and blue icings according to directions on the back of confectioner's sugar box. Frost entire cake with white icing. Next pipe on 7 rows, evenly spaced out, with red icing to represent the red stripes of US flag. Finally pipe on a solid square block, using blue icing, in upper left-hand corner. Using remaining white icing, and a picture of the US flag as your guide, pipe 50 stars amid the blue icing.
