Molasses

In the Uncle Remus stories, molasses is the big treat. As I remember, Brer Rabbit etc. ate a considerable amount of it over the course of the saga. I guess we are supposed to infer that molasses was popular in the postwar South. Most people don't question that, because hey, molasses is sweet, and you can make cookies with it.

But have you ever tried pure molasses, right out of the jug like these characters seem to prefer it? I was curious once, and had a teaspoon full. I was sick for the rest of the day. I can still taste it now, and it is making me sick to write about it. There was so much sulfur, and so much iron in there, that I am surprised they didn't precipitate out and leave a coating of grit on the bottom of the bottle. It was like taking "treacle and brimstone." It was like eating matches and nails, or coal smoke. It was horrible.

I suppose it's possible that the Uncle Remus characters were eating unrefined molasses, something that was mostly sugar syrup. But considering how poor they were, I bet they couldn't afford anything better than ooze. Moreover, I would assume the incentive to the sugar factories was low. Selling high-grade molasses would hardly be cost effective. But if I were so poor that I couldn't afford sugar, I would positively rather go the rest of my life without sweets than drink molasses.

Question for Discussion: How is brer pronounced? Is it pronounced like a shortened brayer? Or is the E pronounced as a short E, or a schwa? None of those sound like the way an actual person pronounces brother. This is why we need to ask WWI veterans what Victorians sounded like, while there's still time. Their dialect writing just does not match up with any dialect I ever heard. See also Mr. Dooley.