was your grandmother polish? Google found several references to "Copper Pickles" -- all with Polish ties. Alas no recipel
However, I did find this recipe for "Slippery Jack's Pickles" ...
I'm posting it in the hopes that the gurus around here will comment on its safety under modern guidelines

"SLIPPERY JACKS" PICKLES

7 lg. yellow cucumbers
1 1/2 c. vinegar
Cold water

Peel and slice cucumbers or cut into lengthwise pieces, put into a large bowl or kettle, pour a handful of salt on them. Let stand overnight.
In morning, drain in colander, put cucumbers back into kettle, cover with water and vinegar, let come to boil and drain. 3 c. vinegar 3 tsp. mustard seed 3/4 tsp. turmeric

Place the above ingredients in a kettle, let come to a rolling boil, add the drained cucumbers, cover pan, let simmer until cucumbers are glassy, or until you can put a toothpick through easily, watch carefully. When they can be done, they will be nice and tender. Put in jars and seal. Makes 3 pints.

NOTE: Do not use too much turmeric as it is poison and only used to keep as well as it makes pickles look pretty. A little does not hurt anything, but too much would make pickles taste bitter.

Thanks for looking up that. No, my grandmother was of English heritage, not Polish, but who knows where she picked up the recipe? -- I imagine the farm women all traded recipes, etc., and this part of Michigan (metro Detroit area) has had a big Polish community for well over 100 years, along with many other nationalities. Could be like one friend of mine, who's mother was Polish, who grew up on tamales and pork in adobo sauce along with the perogies and kielbasa, because the neighbor lady was Mexican and taught her mother how to make them.

The recipe you give above is sort of along the lines of what I remember, except that the pickles were quite sweet. I have some cucumbers which are turning yellow now, so I might just experiment with them, and modify the recipe with some sugar and some onions. I know mustard seed was in the original recipe, and I think it had some celery seed as well, along with the tumeric.

I think, in terms of the food safety issue, I would just use straight vinegar for the brine, not diluted with water. I'm pretty paranoid about poisioning someone with botulism, so I usually acidify most everything I can by putting about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of citric acid per quart as well, which works out fine, I like things nice and sour anyway.

wow, I was looking up the name of the guy on a Detroit radio station who mentions a recipe(more about that further down) when this one pops up

Slippery Jacks' Pickles

from Grit magazine
8 large, very ripe cucumbers
1/2 cup salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 T. mustard seed
1 T. celery seed
1 T. Mixed whole spices
3 1/2 cups cider vinegar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pare and slice cucumbers lengthwise into 4 or 5 inch lengths. Remove seeds.
Sprinkle with salt and let stand 24 hours.
Place salted cucumbers in colander, drain one hour.
In large cooking pot boil sugar, spices and vinegar 5 minutes.
Add cukes and simmer 20-25 minutes.
Pack into hot jars and seal at once.
Recipe submitted by E.T. on 7/12/99

you'll note that neither recipe is processed.... you'll want to either process them or put in fridge as soon as they cool ... I have no idea how long to process (BWB)... but I'm sure someone else can advise

now about that Detroit radio guy -- it's Bob Allison on WNZK AM (for 46 years and now on the internet, too). He lists the Slippery Jack Pickles in his Cookbook #13, but it's not among the free recipes I found.

Since you're from Detroit -- this must be a local delicacy!!

kay

yeah Nancy, I wondered about that. I don't use tumeric because I really dislike the color it gives. Mis-information has a very, very long half-life!

Never heard of slippery jacks--however slippery jims are made by many around here--same thing ???? Also made from ripe cukes.NE Wi. Frank

Kay, that second recipe sounds more like it, except that the ones I remember had NO mixed pickling spices, pretty sure they just had the mustard and celery seeds, along with the tumeric.

Bob Allison -- oh, what a blast from the past -- he was sort of a minor local celebrity in Detroit in the 1960's and 1970's -- had some kind of home improvement call in show on radio, was a spokesperson in commercials for several home improvement companies, and hosted "Bowling for Dollars" local game show bowling competition thing. Wow, I feel old -- but really, I was a little kid when those programs were on the air.

Dennis
SE Michigan

'Slippery Jims' -- probably pretty much the same thing.

This recipe comes from a Door County cookbook. Its untested by me as of yet. Matches what I remember tasting long ago and also what my dad remembers.

"Slippery Jims"

Yield 6 pints

8-10 large ripe yellow cucumbers
1 cup canning salt
2 quarts water
3 Tablespoons Alum
7 cups sugar
1 quart white vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 ounce stick cinnamon

Pare and slice cucumbers lengthwise. Remove seeds and cut into 1x3-inch pieces. Place cucumbers and salt in a large bowl and cover with water. Let stand overnight. Drain; return cucumbers to bowl. Boil water with alum in in a large saucepan. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 1 hour. Drain and chill cucumbers in ice cold water.

Prepare syrup by combining sugar, vinegar and water in a large kettle. Tie cloves and cinnamon in a cheesecloth bag and add to kettle; boil 3 minutes. Add cucumbers and simmer until liquid is clear, about 10 minutes. Pack in hot jars and seal.

*** No processing time is given.

*** Unsure if you cover the salted cukes with an un measured amount of water to cover them and then boil the 2 quarts of water with the alum or if you cover the salted cukes with the 2 quarts of water and when you drain them, save that water to boil with the alum for the next step.

Oh, forgot to mention. The Slippery Jims I remember of my grandma's were cut more like 1/2 inch by 4 inches (or so). Somewhat gummi worm-ish. Very slurpy.

We call them Slippery Jims. We were wholesale farmers and the large yellow cukes were those which were overlooked when picking. No farmer would ever deliberately let cukes get that big. The vine would stop producing. Kay, the second recipe is also the one my Mom used many years ago. We peeled and seeded the cukes and cut them into strips about 1 inch wide. 15 minutes is about right for processing in a HWB.

Wow. I haven't thought of Bob Allison in AGES. I grew up in Toledo and heard Bob on TV and radio for most of my childhood. My husband grew up in Rockwood, MI, and remembers his mother and grandmother making Slippery Jacks (but as he hates all things pickled, never did taste one.)
Thanks for the blast from the past!
Cathy, now in DC

I know it's been awhile since these recipes/comments were posted, but thought I would comment anyways for people who read it later.

Regarding the Slippery Jims Recipe posted by berrybusy, You add salt to the cukes, then add water to cover them. Next day drain and discard water. Boil alum with the 2 qts water called for. Follow rest of recipe. BWB for 10 min.

Regarding the first recipe for Slippery Jacks posted by Kayskats and the concern about water in the brine. You mix the 1 1/2 c. vinegar in cold water to cover cukes. Boil as directed and drain. Then mix the 3 c. vinegar, 3 tsp. mustard seeds, and 3/4 tsp. turmeric mentioned in recipe directions. That's the brine you pack your pickles in. No water added. No sugar either, so very tart pickles!

My mom's recipe was quite different for what we called "slippery jacks." 10 large cucumbers

4 cups white vinegar

4 cups white sugar

2 tbsp.mustard seeds

Peel and seed cucumbers. Cut into spears. ( I would get about 12 pieces from one large cucumber). Place in a large bowl sprinkling salt in the layers, soak for 24 hour. Drain.

Bring the vinegar and sugar and mustard seed to a boil. Stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the cucumbers and cook until they are translucent. They will be a gold color.

Put into canning jars and seal. Makes 2 1/2 quarts.