I tend to throw a lot of history in with my recipes. I promise that next week (or maybe the week after that!) I’ll talk only about food. With Independence Day looming later this week, however, history seems appropriate.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, July 2), I’ll be giving an unusual concert for me. I’m not really a morning person. The Senior Center in Charlemont asked my pianist, Jerry Noble, and me to perform for them, and they meet in the late morning before eating lunch together in the social rooms of the Federated Church on Route 2.

So Jerry and I will be there at the unlikely hour of 10:30 a.m. In honor of July 4, we’re performing all-American songs in a program we call “Of Thee I Sing.”

We’ll have songs from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II; patriotic songs like “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America”; hits from Tin Pan Alley and the great era of American songwriting; and a folk song or two.

Given my attitude toward early performances, one of the selections will be Irving Berlin’s “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.”

When my friend Peter heard about the program, he said, “I assume you’re singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game.’” I hadn’t planned on it, but Peter always has great ideas so I said I was (pardon the pun) game. I looked into the origins of this song.

The first thing I noted when I downloaded the original sheet music from 1908 (now fortunately in the public domain) was that the song features verses most of us never get to hear.

The verses are fun … and female centered. The song tells the story of Katie Casey, a major baseball fan.

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“Katie Casey saw all the games, knew the players by their first names. Told the umpire he was wrong, all along, good and strong.”

The impetus for the chorus is an invitation from a suitor.

“On a Saturday her young beau called to see if she’d like to go to see a show, but Miss Kate said, ‘No. I’ll tell you what you can do.’” What he can do, obviously, is take her out to the ball game.

Lyricist Jack Norworth (1879-1959) was a popular Vaudeville performer who started his career performing in blackface.

Today, most Americans understand that the stereotypes established and perpetuated by blackface are insulting to African Americans. At the turn of the last century, the practice was widespread on the American stage, however.

According to Norworth, he had never been to a baseball game when he came up with the lyrics for the song. Many years later, he recalled riding the subway and seeing a sign that read “Baseball Today—Polo Grounds.”

He quickly scribbled down lyrics for the verses and the chorus. (His draft is preserved in the Baseball Hall of Fame.) He then took those lyrics to his composer friend, Albert Von Tilzer. Although Von Tilzer allegedly hadn’t seen an actual baseball game either, both understood the game’s place in American culture.

“Take Me Out” was a hit — it inspired a rash of baseball related songs, none of which had its staying power — and continues to be one of the most sung songs in the United States. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it is the third most popular song in this country, after “Happy Birthday” and the National Anthem.

Some historians speculate that Katie Casey was based on Norworth’s sweetheart at the time, a singer and actress named TrixieFriganza, who like Katie was Irish American. Friganza was born Delia O’Callahan.

She was a New Woman, as progressive women were called a the time, and an ardent suffragist. I’m not sure I would go so far as Anna Laymon did in “Smithsonian” magazine in 2020 and call the song “a feminist anthem.”

Nevertheless, the lyrics do portray a strong woman venturing into a traditional male field. (Really, baseball does lend itself to puns!) Moreover, the song was definitely performed by Friganza. She is one of the most prominent performers featured on the song’s original sheet music.

According to the Library of Congress, it was a common practice in the era to market songs by placing photos of their performers on sheet music. Publishing companies thus often produced multiple versions of the sheet music.

“After an audience heard a vaudevillian sing a song at their local theater or nickelodeon, they were more inclined to purchase a copy of the music when it included the singer’s photo,” says the library’s website.

“At that time, hit songs were typically promoted by multiple artists and each was guaranteed a cover photo. Currently, thirty different cameo photos have been identified for ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ with three artists (TrixieFriganza, Sam Williams and Henry Fink) receiving two separate poses.”

The song was further popularized by being featured in movie theaters as a sing-along tune, with magic-lantern slides showing images and lyrics to the audience.

“Take Me Out” may have been a hit for Friganza, but her romance with Jack Norworth was short lived. When the pair started seeing each other, Norworth was still married to another actress, Louise Dresser.

By the time he divorced Dresser a few months later, he had moved on to Nora Bayes, who he married immediately. The two became a popular Vaudeville couple. Today they are best remembered for performing “Shine On, Harvest Moon,” another song that has stood the test of time.

TrixieFriganza continued to speak at suffrage rallies. She also continued to perform in Vaudeville and later on film. Like Norworth, she married multiple times. Her deft comedy inspired the catchphrase “You know Trixie with her bag of tricks.” It doesn’t sound as though she grieved too much over her lover’s defection.

In honor of Trixie Friganza and of our country’s popular culture in general, here is a recipe for an all-American treat featured in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”: Cracker Jack.

Based on a generic recipe, caramel corn, Cracker Jack was officially first marketed in 1896 and was already a mainstay of American snacking by the time Jack Norworth mentioned it in his lyrics in 1908.

Most recipes for faux Cracker Jack are made with molasses. I decided to emphasize local food by substituting maple syrup. I encourage you to get even more local by using Pioneer Valley Popcorn when you prepare the recipe. (You probably won’t be able to find local peanuts!)

Happy Fourth of July. If you’re available, come to the concert tomorrow morning in Charlemont. It’s free, sponsored by the Senior Center and the Charlemont-Hawley Arts Council.

Ingredients:

2 quarts freshly popped popcorn (made on your stovetop or with an air popper; please do not use that microwave stuff)

1 cup roasted shelled peanuts

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, very firmly packed

4 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 generous tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Combine the popcorn and peanuts on a rimmed cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining ingredients. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid reaches 250 degrees. It should form a definite but pliable ball when inserted into cold water.

Remove the popcorn and peanuts from the oven. Quickly but gently pour the caramel mixture over them and stir. Return the pan to the oven.

Cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes and making sure that all the solid material is covered with the coating. If it starts to stick to the pan earlier, remove it from the oven; you’re aiming for Cracker Jack, not peanut/popcorn brittle!

When you remove the pan from the oven, transfer the Cracker Jack to sheets covered with silicone or some other nonstick surface to cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 quarts.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.