dc:identifier=httphdllocgovlocpnpggbain18190

Hotel de Gink -- preparing Mulligan stew (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• Chris Walter said:

  Mulligan

• bior said:

  From a source quoted on Wikipedia, here is a contemporary description of Mulligan Stew: "Another traveler present described the operation of making a 'mulligan.' Five or six hobos join in this. One builds a fire and rustles a can. Another has to procure meat; another potatoes; one fellow pledges himself to obtain bread, and still another has to furnish onions, salt and pepper. If a chicken can be stolen, so much the better. The whole outfit is placed in the can and boiled until it is done. If one of the men is successful in procuring 'Java,' an oyster can is used for a coffee tank, and this is also put on the fire to boil. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that California hobos always put a 'snipe' in their coffee, to give it that delicate amber color and to add to the aroma. 'Snipe' is hobo for the butt end of a cigar that smokers throw down in the streets. All hobos have large quantities of snipes in their pockets, for both chewing and smoking purposes. A 'beggar stew' is a 'mulligan,' without any meat."

• Ryan (LOC P&P) said:

  Thanks bior for the tantalizing description of this delicacy. And thank you cwalter54 for noting the spelling error. We will correct the spelling in the record the next time we update.

• Ryan (LOC P&P) said:

  Oh, one more thing. Does anyone know the origin of "Hotel de Gink"? One of the hobos has a handmade sign on his cap that says "....Gink" Is it a hobo term as well?

• Nikki Karam said:

  i think gink is another term for hobo-- from historylink.org: "Unemployed and homeless men, known variously as hoboes and "ginks," responded to their condition by organizing work gangs, small businesses, and self-managed hostels in major cities." www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&...