This month’s contribution to the Blog of Funny Names. John Hinerwadel, entrepreneur and restauranteur.
Today’s post is brought to you by the words eponymous and synonymous. And not just because they sound good together.
A little history first. The majority of the salt used in the United States before the 19th century came from Syracuse, New York—dubbed “the Salt City.”
Between 1845 and 1852, during the Irish Potato Famine, an estimated one million Irish died from famine. One million more emigrated from Ireland to other parts of the world. Many of them passed through New York looking for work.
If you were a miner arriving in New York where’s the closest place you’d look for work?
Which leads us to an enterprising restauranteur, John Hinerwadel, owner of the eponymous Syracuse clambake company. He noticed the local Irish salt workers boiling their lunch—potatoes with skins on—in large vats of salt water.
In 1914, Mr. Hinerwadel added salt potatoes to his menu. With their rapid…
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