The Unfortunate Case of the Boiled Sock Coffee
A culinary disaster on the Columbia River ruins a cook's reputation forever.
Capt. Dan Thompson was a fisherman and head cook on a Columbia river salmon boat. He had a reputation as an expert in the culinary art, but had one fault: he didn’t know how to keep his coffee from getting “muddy.” One day in Astoria, he saw a sign: “Fine Shaker socks 50 cents per dozen.” He bought two dozen, not to wear, but to filter his coffee. One evening at Point of Pines, he prepared to make a large pot of coffee. Another fisherman, envious of the clean-looking socks, swapped them for his own dirty pair while Dan’s back was turned. Dan, not noticing the swap, brewed the coffee in the filthy socks. When the victims tasted the “rubbery” brew and discovered the source of the flavor, the resulting scandal ruined Dan’s culinary career for good.
“B’iled sock coffee!”
While this reads as a tall tale, it captures the rough, makeshift nature of life on the Columbia River fisheries in the late 19th century. The story highlights how quickly social standing and reputations were built and destroyed in insular labor communities.
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