1940s picnic

[fortworthgal]

We're going to a concert in the park this weekend and will be taking along a picnic. Since we're supposed to be attending in WWII/1940s attire, we've decided to bring along our picnic basket - purchased from a 5th Air Force veteran neighbor of ours who purchased it new in 1949, still with all the plates and utensils in place! I've also got an awesome 40s tablecloth that we finally get to use.

So... here's what we've come up with so far for ideas:

- Cold fried chicken
- Sandwiches (ham/mustard, PB on raisin bread, pimento cheese)
- Hard boiled eggs
- Chocolate chip cookies or lemon bars
- Apples, boxes of raisins
- Ritz crackers w/cheese, stuffed olives
- Glass bottles of Coke
- Thermos of Ovaltine

Menu suggestions? What goes great for a 40s type meal that will travel well in warm weather. Please post recipes and ideas!

 

[woodyinnyc]

funny you should post this, I am going to the 20"s jazz picnic on Governor's Island in NY next weekend and was working on the menu. I ended up with close to the same things as you, except a thermos of lemonade instead of Ovaltine.

 

[BeBopBaby]

I was just watching a movie from the 1930s the other night and they were packing box lunches for a train trip. Included were cold chicken, hard boiled eggs, fruit and slices of cake. It looked like the items were wrapped in waxed paper and tied with twine. Everything was put into a shoebox, wrapped with brown paper and tied with twine. You seem to be right on target - chicken, hard boiled eggs and fruit seem to be staples of packed lunches then.

 

[Girl Friday]

Don't forget your travel bar!

 

[The Wolf]

That sounds like a lot of fun. How about Doublemint gum for dessert. It cleans the palette and is still in packaging similar to the golden age.

Hey, BeBopBaby, which movie showed the boxed lunch?

Sincerely,
the Wolf

 

[rubyredlocks]

Sounds like you've covered it well.The only thing I can think to add is another drink choice,such as lemonade or sweet tea.I'm from the south,so that may explain my thinking.
What a great idea!I've really been wanting to have a vintage style picnic after reading about the Gatsby Summer Afternoon in Cali.

 

[BeBopBaby]

Hey, BeBopBaby, which movie showed the boxed lunch?

I can't remember the name of the movie. I TIVO'd it on TCM about 2 months ago and I just finally got around to watching it. The movie was about three working women who worked at a beauty parlor that serviced the rich and how having affairs with married wealthy men affected their lives. One women had an affair with the beauty parlor owners son, they were to be married because she got pregnant, but he ran away and she jumped out of a window and killed herself. The other woman had an affair with a married man who would never marry her and she became bitter. The other woman met a man who was unhappy because his wife was a hypochondriac shut-in. They meet and fall in love, he asks her to run away with him and she says no because of how the other women turned out. The man's wife them divorces him and he runs off to find the woman who was on her way to getting married to someone else and stops the wedding. They get married and live happily ever after.

Does anyone know the name of this movie? It was a good watch, but very typical of the 30s womens "message movies." The two women who have affairs come to terrible ends and the woman who makes the moral choice of not having an affair is rewarded in the end.

 

[Miss Brill]

I bought a vintage cooler yesterday--it is a Cromstroms Pik-Nik & it still has a (faded) label that features a bathing-suited girl & a early 50s(?) convertible. It is a bit of a mess, but it is silver & looks like an Airstream trailer. I didn't even know they made them back then. I paid $3.00! :eusa_clap

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I can't remember the name of the movie. I TIVO'd it on TCM about 2 months ago and I just finally got around to watching it. The movie was about three working women who worked at a beauty parlor that serviced the rich and how having affairs with married wealthy men affected their lives. One women had an affair with the beauty parlor owners son, they were to be married because she got pregnant, but he ran away and she jumped out of a window and killed herself. The other woman had an affair with a married man who would never marry her and she became bitter. The other woman met a man who was unhappy because his wife was a hypochondriac shut-in. They meet and fall in love, he asks her to run away with him and she says no because of how the other women turned out. The man's wife them divorces him and he runs off to find the woman who was on her way to getting married to someone else and stops the wedding. They get married and live happily ever after.

Does anyone know the name of this movie? It was a good watch, but very typical of the 30s womens "message movies." The two women who have affairs come to terrible ends and the woman who makes the moral choice of not having an affair is rewarded in the end.

BEAUTY FOR SALE (1933)???
http://imdb.com/title/tt0023785/
Excellent movie.

 

[Mildred]

picnic ideas

I love going on picnics but don't do it until summer most of the time. I always bring lemonade-fresh sqeezed with losts of sugar.Also we enjoy cabbage slaw, pickles, shoe string potatoes and cup cakes with our sandwiches.

 

[Fletch]

My folks picked up a tin(?) 50s era Coke cooler decades ago during an abortive deco-pop phase. We took it on a few trips but it always leaked like mad. I wonder if there's any fix to that problem.

similar item, not ours, restored, asking FIVE BILLS :whistling

How were these sold originally? I'm guessing mail-order, proof of purchase (bottle caps??) plus cash.

 

[green papaya]

how about a nice watermelon?

watermelons are one of my favorite summertime picnic items

or some corn on the cob

 

[funneman]

What a terrific thread!

:eusa_clap How about hand-churned ice cream for dessert?

And an excellent call by Amy Jeanne!

 

[fortworthgal]

Fantastic ideas, all!

We had a great time at the picnic, although it was hot and humid. We ended up taking: cold fried chicken, hardboiled eggs, yeast rolls, chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, and bottles of IBC root beer. Delicious!

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Pics?

 

[1930artdeco]

Thanks for the ideas. I am going to the Gatsby picnic this year in my Model A and was looking for some ideas. I was thinking for a soda 'Bubble Up' but am not sure if that was 30-40's drink. I like the cold chicken idea. Any other ideas?

Mike

 

[Fading Fast]

Fantastic ideas, all!

We had a great time at the picnic, although it was hot and humid. We ended up taking: cold fried chicken, hardboiled eggs, yeast rolls, chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, and bottles of IBC root beer. Delicious!

Wonderful food selection. Simple food of high quality and prepared well is so much better than the over-engineered, too-many-ingredients foods that seem so popular now. To be sure, today there is a great renaissance of traditional foods and "artisanal" this and that - and when it is about simple, wholesome ingredients and preparation - it can be great (I love all the awesome breads that are available at a good bakery today), but so much of it is too cute, too foo foo, too much about saying look at how "authentic" I am. A hard boiled egg, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a tomato and butter sandwich, macaroni salad - these are just some of the wonderful, traditional and simple foods that comprise a good part of my diet. Oh, and yes, a chocolate chip cookie (not a chocolate "chunk" cookie - that nonsense says so much about what is wrong with our culture today) is one of life's great pleasures. Your picnic sounds wonderful.

 

[1930artdeco]

O.K. got one for ya all. What would people have used for plates, utensils etc. I know there were plastic plates from picnin kits for cars, but what about paper plates, glasses etc.

Mike

 

[Stanley Doble]

Don't forget the potato salad! Solid Potato Salad, 1944. You won't believe it until you see it, and you still won't believe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1J3NLNWAPU&feature=player_detailpage

 

[esteban68]

Wow!