Busier than a Cranberry Merchant

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Tim Yale from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hello, Tim.

Well, welcome to the program, Tim. Glad to have you.

Thank you.

The reason I contacted the show was to find out about an expression my mother used frequently, and she would observe someone who was quite busy and refer to them being as busy as a cranberry merchant.

Huh.

As busy as a cranberry merchant.

Right.

So she’s just talking about somebody who’s working really hard or somebody who’s not working at all?

No, no. It was a positive sign. She would notice someone who was particularly busy, and that’s how she described it.

Did she ever explain it to you?

She never, no, she never did.

Here’s something for you. This is from the Boston Cooking School magazine of 1907. And in here, they specifically tried to describe where the term comes from. And I think this gives us an idea.

It says, they talk about the harvest season. It says, this is the season when on clear still nights, as busy as a cranberry merchant comes to have a meaning. For the owner of a field must hustle around and get all the little squares between the irrigating ditches flooded a foot and a half deep before he can go to bed.

Meaning this is the time of year when things can freeze. And so in order to stop the freezing, they flood. And I know that doesn’t make sense, but actually water will often stop things from freezing if it’s not very cold. It can be the difference between a couple of degrees so that you can, you’ll protect your crops because if they freeze, then they’re ruined because they’ll start rotting almost immediately after they thaw.

And you’ll find again in the 1950s, there’s a bit in the Chicago Tribune where they talk about this. Cranberry Merchant does all of his work all at once because he wants the berries to stay on the vine as long as possible before the first freeze. So when he thinks the freeze is coming and that’s up to his own discretion, he’s got to haul ass, if you’ll pardon the expression, to get out there and bring it all in.

So there’s two things that he has to do at a moment’s notice. He’s got to flood the bog, right? And he’s got to harvest so that those berries are absolutely perfect. And he’s got a short window to do it in.

Yeah, it’s a weird way that they harvest, right? They have to flood the bog because the cranberries kind of float, and that makes it easier to get to, right?

I think Wisconsin, we have lots of Wisconsin listeners, and it’s the biggest crop there in Wisconsin.

Really?

I did not know that.

I always think, like most people of Massachusetts.

Yeah, I think of Maine, but I think it’s Wisconsin’s biggest crop. And so maybe a lot of busy Wisconsinites can tell us about that expression.

Well, it’s been very interesting, and I appreciate your edification.

Oh, super.

Glad to help.

Thanks a lot, too.

For providing it.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Well, if there’s a phrase that has you flummoxed, call us 1-877-929-9673 or email us. The address is words@waywordradio.org.