There is nothing like a good front porch in the spring and summer. In the South it is traditionally a favorite gathering place to enjoy a cool beverage on a hot day or muggy evening.

That tradition crosses all lines, including those who imbibe in their favorite libation and those who like nothing better than a tall glass of iced tea. While people generally consider me a mint julep person, I have to admit there really isn’t much that is more refreshing than a big cold glass of sweet tea with lots of lemon.

Of course, there are certain requirements to having a proper Southern porch. It needs to have a pretty vista to look upon, some rocking chairs, a porch swing and always the ceiling painted “fly speck” blue. To those I would add a lot of wicker seating and tables and a good ceiling fan.

Though still popular, many people do not know the tradition behind “fly speck” blue porch ceilings. There are actually two schools of thought. There is the “Haint” tradition and the “Insect” tradition. Like folk tales, their basis and origins are obscured by the fog of time but I will give the versions I have always heard.

The haint tradition is said by some to have come out of the Low Country of South Carolina. That color blue was called “haint blue” and was believed to be a color that would repel evil spirits that were known as haints. It was out of the haint tradition that bottle trees or haint trees also rose. It was believed that haints did not like the color blue and would avoid it. Also, they were attracted to pretty bottles and if a pretty bottle were upside down a haint might venture into it and get trapped like a wasp in a wasp bottle. Thus the upside down or blue bottles on a bottle tree.

“Fly speck” blue is a color to simulate the appearance of the sky. I have heard two different versions of this story. One was that like haints, insects did not like the color blue and would avoid porches painted that color. The other was that insects would think the ceiling was open sky and avoid porches as they would a wide open unprotected space. Like much folklore there may be some truth in “fly speck” blue working. In the 1800s much of the paint was a milk paint that contained lye which is a natural insect repellent.

Two of the favorite Southern porch drinks are lemonade and iced tea. Here are two 100-plus-year-old family recipes.

Lemonade from a copy of “Verstille’s Southern Cookery” inscribed “Sally Govan Billups – Sept 16th 1867.” Sally lived at Snowdoun in Columbus.

“Roll the lemons until they are quite soft. Then cut them in half, and squeeze them over a pitcher until you have extracted all the juice. Then add water enough to retain as much acidity and flavor of the lemon as you like. Sweeten with loaf sugar to taste.”

Mrs. T.C. Billups’ recipe for “Iced Tea for Ten.” This was served at Whitehall in Columbus.

Start with a quart of unsweetened tea and add: “juice of six lemons, juice of two oranges, one # of sugar (to taste). Just before serving add bottle of ginger ale.”

Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby which I always considered as the official opening of mint julep season. I have two family recipes for mint juleps. One is from Snowdoun and the other is from Whitehall.

Also in Sally Billups’ 1867 cookbook was the recipe for a Mint Julep.

“Sweeten a glass of water, and add whisky or brandy to taste; drop in two or three sprigs of mint and a lump of ice; it is then ready to drink.”

And lastly in 1939 Eudora Welty interviewed Mrs. Billups for her classic old family recipe for the “Whitehall Mint Julep”. According to Welty: “A collection of recipes from the old South is no more complete than the old south itself without that magic ingredient, the mint julep. In the fine old city of Columbus, in the northeastern part of the state, hospitality for many years is said to have reached its height in Whitehall, the home of Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Billups.”

The Whitehall Mint Julep dissolve sugar in water. Bruise a mint leaf in a tablespoon of the sugar water then remove the leaf. Fill a silver goblet with crushed ice and add the tablespoon of mint and sugar water. Then fill the goblet with good bourbon. (I prefer Van Winkle Bourbon but Clyde May’s Conecuh Ridge Whiskey or Jim Beam Signature Craft Bourbon are very good.) Put in a sprig of mint and let stand until the silver goblet is frosted and then “serve rapidly.”

As Eudora Welty said at the conclusion of her interview with Mrs Billups: “Who could ask for anything more?”

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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