She Baked Over a Million Pies – May 1954

When the internet gradually began replacing newspapers as the main way that many people got their news, cutbacks were the result. Newspapers had to cut costs just to stay in business; having a large pool of reporters to ferret out news would soon be a thing of the past.

We lost a lot when that happened. With a bare bones staff, newspapers can't afford to employ very many reporters to poke around in a community and tell human-interest stories about unsung heroes.

But back in 1954, happily that wasn't the case – and the Lorain Journals of the 1950s were crammed with great profiles of people that deserved to have the spotlight shone on them. Above you see one of those stories, about a woman who, according to the article, "baked over 1,000,000 pies – most of them apple – in the past 40 years.

"She is Mrs. Sally McCutcheon, 2167 Elyria Avenue. Sally has been in partial retirement the past year and celebrated her 75th birthday yesterday.

"Specialist in apple pie at Heilman's Restaurant, Sally recalls baking as many as 201 pies in one day. With help, she turns out 30 every day at the restaurant.

"Sally insists she has baked at least one pie every day since she first learned back in 1911. Born in Franklin County, Va., Sally learned to bake pies in Bluefield, W. Va., from a "lady who let me waste her ingredients."

"She worked for a Columbus restaurant after that and went to Tiffin's Shawn House in 1914. In 1915, she began working for Heilman's Restaurant in Willard. She came to Lorain in 1916 and worked in the National Tube Company cafeteria.

"She returned to the Heilman family in 1922 and has baked pies there every since.

"Figuring an average of 80 pies each day for 40 years, Sally has baked well over 1,000,000 pies.

"After today, Sally, who has no intention of ceasing pie-baking operations, can rest easier. She will receive full social security benefits and be allowed to work full time if she wishes.

""I feel better now than I did 20 years ago," she said. Moving confidently in the restaurant kitchen, Sally attributes her good health to "an herb medicine I found years ago."

"She presently lives with her sister-in-law, Mrs. Nellie Calloway. She had no retirement plans, professing she is going to work, "until I can't work anymore."

"Rolling dough and taking loaded trays out of high ovens presents a small problem to Sally, whose right arm "isn't what it used to be." It doesn't affect her daily quota, however, and she may bake the second million before too long."

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UPDATE

Regular contributor Don Hilton found this news clipping about Sally that ran in the Sandusky Register on Sept. 19, 1928. 

It tells us a little more about Sally, including her early career, her marriage, and her divorce (which cost her two-bits).