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Some of the more upscale rowhouses in Baltimore, like these brightly painted homes in Charles Village, have complete porches instead of stoops

The city of Baltimore, Maryland, has been a predominantly working-class town through much of its history and, being found in a Mid-Atlantic state but south of the Mason-Dixon line, can lay claim to a blend of Northern and Southern American traditions. The following are several facets of the distinctive flavor of Baltimore's culture.

Food

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Blue crabs

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Blue crabs

The most prominent example of Baltimore's distinctive flavor is the city's close association with blue crabs. This is a trait which Baltimore shares with the rest of the state of Maryland.

The Chesapeake Bay for years was the East Coast's main source of blue crabs. Baltimore became an important hub of the crab industry. In Baltimore's tourist district (located between Harborplace and Fells Point), numerous restaurants serve steamed hard shell crabs, soft shell crabs, and lump backfin crabcakes. Many district shops even sell some sort of crab related merchandise.

Maryland's distinctive way of eating hard shell crabs is often misunderstood by outsiders. Traditionally, crabs are steamed in rock salt and Old Bay Seasoning, a favored local all-spice manufactured in Baltimore for decades. The crabs are eaten on tables spread with old newspaper or plain brown wrapping paper. The meat of the crabs is extracted with the use of wooden mallets, knives, and one's hands. Cold beer, thrown on the crabs during the steaming process and available afterwards, is also said to be a must.

Pit Beef

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"Pit Beef" refers to open pit barbecued meat most commonly served rare on a kaiser roll. Commonly found at small stands converted from large sheds in and around Baltimore and the outlying suburbs. It originated on Baltimore's blue collar east side and has through the years spread all over the city. Other varieties of meat, such as ham, turkey, corned beef and sausages are also found on the menus at pit beef stands. Pit beef meat is grilled with charcoal and uses no rubs or sauces so it lacks the wood flavor characteristic of Texas Barbecue and the herbal aromas of Carolina barbecue. Baltimore pit beef uses top round and is shaved very thin on a meat slicer for serving. The typical condiments for a pit beef sandwich is a thick slice of white onion and a sauce made from a horseradish and mayonnaise commonly called "Tiger Sauce" and is unique in that the Baltimore version uses a much more significant portion of horseradish making the sauce extremely hot.

Lake Trout

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"Lake Trout" is actually fried Atlantic whiting. It is typically served as a sandwich with a number of condiments, such as ketchup and horseradish sauce. Lake trout is an everyday food, and is often served wrapped in aluminum foil in a standard paper lunch bag at small take-out establishments.[1]

Chicken box

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The "chicken box" consists of 4–6 chicken wings, served in a fast food carry out box with some kind of French fries (wedged "western fries," curly fries, or regular fries). Toppings usually consist of salt, pepper, and ketchup, although hot sauce is also popular. The item is chiefly sold at independent fried chicken shops and deli/Chinese carry-outs in the city. Chicken boxes are usually enjoyed with "Half and Half," a drink combining iced tea and lemonade (referred to elsewhere in the U.S. as an "Arnold Palmer").

Berger Cookies

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Berger Cookies are a kind of cookie that enjoys immense popularity in Baltimore and surrounding Maryland. They are made from vanilla shortbread covered in a fudge ganache. Originally brought from Germany to Baltimore by George and Henry Berger in 1835, they are now produced and sold by DeBaufre Bakeries.

Natty Boh

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The city's favored local beer has traditionally been National Bohemian, or, as residents often refer to it, Natty Boh. In some areas of Baltimore, locals call it "National." The brew's detractors often prefer the tongue in cheek moniker "Nasty Boh." The beer and its mascot, Mr. Boh, are considered indelible parts of Baltimore culture. The historically low price and association with the city make it a local favorite. The National Brewing Company was also the "inventor" of Colt 45 malt liquor in 1963. Natty Boh was also the long-time beer of choice for Orioles and Colts fans at Memorial Stadium. After the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and the Orioles left Memorial Stadium in 1991, Natty Boh was no longer available to fans at Baltimore sporting events. In 2000, brewing of the beer in Baltimore was discontinued. However, since the 2006 Orioles season, "Boh is Back" and served at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. National Bohemian beer is currently brewed out of state by the Miller Brewing Company and is distributed to Baltimore by the Pabst Brewing Company.

Architecture

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Rowhouses

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Simple rowhouses like these in Locust Point make up much of Baltimore's housing stock.

Baltimore is noted for its near-omnipresent rowhouses. Rowhouses have been a feature of Baltimore architecture since the 1790s, with early examples of the style still standing in the Federal Hill and Fells Point neighborhoods. Older houses may retain some of their original features, such as marble doorsteps, widely considered to be Baltimore icons in themselves. Later rowhouses dating from the 1800s–1900s can be found in Union Square and throughout the city in various states of repair. They are a popular renovation property in neighborhoods that are undergoing urban renewal, although the practice is viewed warily by some as a harbinger of "yuppification." Elsewhere in the city, rowhouses can be found abandoned, boarded-up, and reflective of Baltimore's urban blight.[2][3]

Formstone

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A tour through many of Baltimore's rowhouse neighborhoods will reveal a façade style not found in many other cities, Formstone. Introduced in the 1950s, Formstone was a modern day solution to early Baltimore brick that was so poor it needed frequent painting to keep it from deteriorating. But soon Formstone became an icon of status for many homeowners.

The appeal of Formstone was that, once installed, it required virtually no maintenance. Salesmen boasted that the insulation lasted forever and that the first cost was also the last as no upkeep or repair was required. Salesmen also pointed out that Formstone was also about one-third the cost of other façade improvement solutions. Its colorful stucco-veneer gave a stone-like appearance that could be shaped into different textures. Formstone was particularly popular in East Baltimore, where residents believed that the stone imitation made their neighborhood resemble that of an Eastern European town, which some thought had an appearance of affluence.

Patented in 1937 by L. Albert Knight, Formstone was similar to a product that was invented eight years earlier in Columbus, Ohio, and called Permanent Stone. Permanent Stone was also a veneer. In the 1970s preservationists and rehabbers felt that Formstone took away from the historic and architectural value of the homes and many had it removed. This can be a costly and time consuming process. Once removed, the brick requires a thorough acid-wash cleaning and then repointing of the grout.

Marble steps

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Marble steps found along the streets of Baltimore are as much a part of the city's culture as crabs and baseball games. The use of marble for steps is due to the presence of high quality white marble in Cockeysville, a town 17 miles north of Baltimore's inner harbor by highway. Indeed, the marble found there is so attractive, stone was hauled all the way from this northern Maryland town to the nation’s new capital, instead of local Potomac marble quarries, for use in decorative construction around Washington, D.C., including the Washington Monument, and 108 columns of the capitol building. During the construction phase of the Washington Monument, that is through the middle of the 19th century, the marble gained in popularity as a decorative stone and was used omnipresently for the steps of rowhouses surrounding Baltimore's inner harbor and in Fells Point. Baltimoreans take pride in the fact that their mundane doorsteps are made from the same beautiful white marble used for the construction of the famous Washington Monument. Scrubbing marble steps has become a tradition in Baltimore. The ritual includes scrubbing the marble with Bon Ami powder and a pumice stone.

Slang

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See also: Baltimore dialect

Hon

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Although nowadays the city is extremely culturally diverse, the lasting image of Baltimoreans seems to be the "Hon" culture exemplified most markedly by the longer established families and residents of the Highlandtown, Canton, Locust Point, Hampden and Pigtown neighborhoods. Between the 1950s and 1970s, it was common to see working class local women dressing in bright, printed dresses with out-dated glasses and beehive hairdos. Men were often dressed casually, but with a general factory or dock worker look, as many in town did indeed have such jobs.

The name of the culture comes from the often parodied Baltimore accent and slang. "Hon" (/ˈhʌn/,[dubious – discuss] an abbreviation of "Honey") was a common informal name for someone else. Baltimore’s accent exemplifies a dialectal continuum between Tidewater American English, a southern American dialect, and Delaware Valley American English, a common coastal dialect, loosely possessing the vowel shifts of the former and general pronunciation of the latter. For instance, "Baltimore" is pronounced "Baldimore" or even "Balmer," and "Maryland" becomes "Murland," "Murlan," or "Merlin." Other common pronunciations include "ool," "amblance," "wooder," "warsh," "sharr or shaow," "dug," "couwny," "tew," and "zinc" (oil, ambulance, water, wash, shower, dog, county, two, and sink respectively). There is also a popular summertime phrase, "goin' downy ayshin" (going down to the ocean, usually referring to Ocean City, MD)

Baltimore native and filmmaker John Waters has parodied the Hon culture, as well as Baltimore itself, extensively in his movies. For a somewhat accurate representation of Baltimorese, one can look to Waters' narration spots in his 1972 movie Pink Flamingos. Waters himself used a local commercial for Mr Ray's Hair Weaves as his main inspiration. The commercial was famous around town for Mr. Ray's extreme Baltimore accent. "Cawl todaey, for your freee hame showink..." was the most memorable line from that commercial, translating as "Call today, for your free home showing..."

The term has been established in the culture as it has been used for naming businesses including Cafe Hon, and for the annual HonFest.

"Hon" as a trademark

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In November 2010, the term "hon" became a trademarked term in Baltimore by local businesswoman Denise Whiting, who trademarked "hon" for use on napkins, buttons, hats and other promotional material to promote her restaurant, Cafe Hon. The trademark, as stated by Whiting, doesn't prevent anyone from saying "hon," or using it in general conversation.[4]

On November 7, 2011, Whiting held a press conference that also featured Chef Gordon Ramsay announcing that she would be relinquishing the "Hon" trademark; Ramsay stated that with Cafe Hon, "There was a level of hatred that was almost untouchable. I've never known a restaurant to have such a huge issue." The restaurant, and the press conference that was part of Ramsay's visit, was featured on the February 24, 2012 episode of Ramsay's series, Kitchen Nightmares.

Whiting stated that the controversy over trademarking the word "Hon" had a huge toll on her business and her own health, she estimated that since it was first revealed in December 2010 that "Hon" was trademarked to her, she estimated a "20 to 25 percent drop off" in sales and that she needed to sell her IRAs just to meet payroll.[5]

Music

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Baltimore's most enduring music legacy might be in the realm of "old school" jazz where a number of natives made the big time after moving to New York City. Chick Webb, Eubie Blake, and Billie Holliday were all originally from Baltimore before moving on. The same zeitgeist also applies to classical minimalist composer Philip Glass, also from Baltimore and moved to NYC.

Others that would find fame in the music business from the area would include jazz-rock composer Frank Zappa and pop vocalist Mama Cass.

Baltimore Club is a locally developed style of breakbeat.

Younger generation artists such as Stars and the Sea are also becoming more popular via social networking sites.

Depiction in Television and Film

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Baltimore has become a prime city for filming movies and television shows. Many movies were filmed in Baltimore, one notable one being ...And Justice for All (movie) which depicts an honest young attorney coming to grips with a corrupt legal system. Additionally, television shows such as NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street and HBO's The Wire and The Corner have also been set and filmed in the city.

Barry Levinson, a Baltimore native and filmmaker, made many Baltimore-based films, including: Diner, Avalon, Tin Men, and Liberty Heights.

Another Baltimore native and filmmaker, John Waters, makes subversive films that glamorize the less socially acceptable side of the city's culture. Many scenes from the 1972 cult classic film Pink Flamingos were shot in the city's Waverly and Hampden neighborhoods. Pink Flamingos was the most popular of Waters' cult films. In 1981, Waters released the more mainstream Polyester with "Odorama" and went on to make Cecil B. Demented, Cry-baby, Pecker, and Serial Mom.

To date, Hairspray, Waters' tribute to Buddy Deane Show-era Baltimore, has been his most successful commercial effort. He released Hairspray as a film in 1988. In 2002, Hairspray was produced as a stage musical. In 2007, a new version of Hairspray was released as a film. Soundtracks for both films and the musical have also proven popular. Waters is currently in the works of making a sequel to Hairspray.[citation needed]

In addition to works filmed in Baltimore, the city is also home to the Maryland Film Festival, an annual film and video festival of international scope that takes place each May, using the historic Charles Theatre as its anchor venue.

For a more comprehensive list, see Filmed in Baltimore.

Sports

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Lacrosse is the official "team sport" of the State of Maryland and is very popular in Baltimore. City colleges with Division 1 men's and women's teams include Johns Hopkins, Loyola, UMBC, and Towson. The Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame is located on the Johns Hopkins campus. The city is also home to high-school national championship legacy teams from Boys' Latin, and Gilman on the boy's side, to Bryn Mawr and RPCS on the girls side. Baltimore also has the only historically black college or university to field a lacrosse team in the NCAA. The Morgan "Bears" competed during the 1970s and 1980s, the school now has a lacrosse club. M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens, hosts the annual lacrosse double-header events, the Face-Off Classic and Day of Rivals, which have featured several Maryland-based teams. The stadium was the site of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Final Four in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011.

Baltimore is also headquarters for STX, the inventor of modern lacrosse equipment.

Tourist attractions

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Nouns

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People

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Main article: List of people from Baltimore

Places

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Things

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See also: List of public art in Baltimore

References

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  1. ^ Fradkin, Susan (April 5, 2000). "A Fish by Any Other Name . . ". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. ^ Mary Ellen Haywood & Charles Belfoure, The Baltimore Rowhouse, 2006, ISBN 1-56898-177-5
  3. ^ Alexander Mitchell, Baltimore: Then and Now, 2001, ISBN 1-57145-688-0
  4. ^ "Baltimore Slang Term "HON" Trademarked". PRSafe. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  5. ^ Gorelick, Richard (7 November 2011). "Cafe Hon owner Denise Whiting drops her right to the 'Hon' trademark". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
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