Golden era food.

[MudInYerEye]

"Root.

PS. A dog at the ball park is very good, but not better then a well prepared steak."
I was just quoting a popular advertisement from the 1940's featuring Humphrey Bogart.

 

[Wild Root]

Ah I see. Cool! Thanks for telling me that!

Root.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

And when I was 4 I ran a Dairy Farm and milked 400 Holstiens by hand twice a day.

 

[Slicksuit]

Interesting thread...I'm somewhat of a foodite, and yet I've never contemplated meals and food from the "Golden Era" all that much. Will have to look into it.

There was probably quite a bit of regional diversity in the typical meals consumed, not just Southern vs. Northern, but also coastal US vs. inland areas (just as there tends to be today).

As far as I know, there was a movement beginning in the 1920's or so regarding food purity standards.

Realities during the Great Depression caused some people in agriculture to head west to California from the dust bowl and Texas. As hard as economic hardship was during the depression, food supplies were plentiful and somewhat affordable. Persistent hunger occured, particularly in the rural south, but starvation was rare. It's been said that during this time period, people in the U.S. were still eating better than their pre-industrial counterparts. Of a side-note, soup kitchens were available for those who were destitute, the cook's job being to maximize what ever was available to serve. During this period, Al Capone notoriously funded one such kitchen in Chicago. Those who were better off were encouraged to grow fruits and vegetables in so-called 'charity gardens', similar to the victory gardens of the next decade. Soup was a primary staple during this time, as it was cheap (little ingredients needed and could be made with whatever was on-hand), simple to cook (only required one pot, and minimal cooking fuel and utensils) serve, and clean-up.

Hosting guests at home was more simpler during this time period for all but the most well-to-do, as few families could afford a maid. Meals were more likely to be simple luncheons or Sunday night suppers, as opposed to a lavish formal dinner. Women's clubs became increasingly more popular during this period as well, where dainty, light, and creamy foods were served.

Sugar also remained cheap during the 1930's, thus the popularity and proliferation of various candies. This is in contrast to the rationing of the 1940's. Since sugar is a cheap and compact form of energy, it was diverted principally to the front-line war effort. During war-time, wheat, eggs, and protein were also more difficult to obtain and expensive. Baking was done with sugar alternatives, such as molasses, honey, brown sugar, or corn syrup. Barley, oats, and corn were substituted for wheat; vegetable oil, lard, Crisco or mayonnaise for butter.

Post WWII, packaged and convenience foods became increasingly more popular and available, in part due to military research. Barbeques and casseroles also gained in popularity. I think that until the early 1950's, the American diet was what one considers to be typical 'meat and potatoes' fare...becoming more multi-cultural afterwards, thanks in part to the demands of GI's returning home, as well as Julia Child (more in the 1960's). Fast food began to take root during the 60's.

 

[Slicksuit]

Some interesting food inventions of the Golden Era...

1930's: Bisquik, Hawaiian Punch, sloppy Joe's, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, SPAM, canned soda, Fritos.

1940's: M&M's, York Peppermint Patties, Whoppers, corn dogs, nachos, Cheerios.

 

[Zach R.]

I wonder if SPAM is made the same way now as it was then?

"Spam, don't knock it till you fry it"

 

[Slicksuit]

I believe it is the same is it was then.

I recently learned that SPAM actually means "Shoulder of Pork and hAM". It's qutie a simple recipe: chopped pork shoulder, ham, salt, water, sugar, and sodium nitrite.

Britons actually became quite tired of SPAM after the war, due to the persistent food rationing afterwards. SPAM was excluded from their meat rationing. Thus, the infamous Mony Python skit of SPAM, and the subsequent usage of the term SPAM as junk-email.

 

[Wild Root]

Funny, I believe that soda wasn't in cans till the late 60's. All the soda I have seen ads for are all in glass bottles. Not to mention the ones I have in my collection.

Junk food really didn't start to hit the market till the 40's I believe. The first candy bars were Milky Way (1927) and Three Musketeers (1932)

Root.

 

[Thomas Walden]

I weary of the common aluminum can. Fine glass bottles are much more practical, as the neck tapers to a small opening from which drinking is easy. They are usually narrower, as well, allowing for comfortable holding in the hand.

And, of course, if situations become rowdy, one can always use a bottle as a keen weapon for self-defense.

In short, I say leave the cans to Bud Light and its base ilk.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Then when I was 7...

I was topping trees in the Pacific Northwest.

 

[Sharon]

My Grandparents ate real strange things...poached eggs in a cup...beets with sour cream...sharve! My brother and I would run away going "UGH". Ha! I always remember one Grandmother making Stew all the time...I haven't eaten red meat in years and maybe it all started then since it didn't look too appetizing. While my other Grandmother did make us yummy foods like homemade chunky applesauce and fresh pies from picked strawberries and blueberries.

I feel we are so fortunate now to have such a variety of healthy foods available to us plus we don't have to worry about spoilage like they did back in the 30's and 40's. My Mom was always worried that she would always overcook all the steaks...I think she was afraid of bacteria...the hamburgers :hamburger were hard like a rock! Lol! Yes, I was a skinny child...no wonder!

I remember getting soda and milk delivered to us in crates when I was real young. I wish they still delivered milk in bottles...the bottle seemed to make the milk :beer: taste better and the same for all foods when it is presented well. That goes for the way :cheers1: alcohol and wine is served too. And wine is probably one of the oldest most popular widespread drinks.

Personally my best memories was of the Good Humor Truck :jeep: ! I don't know when Good Humor first started....50's? Had to be after they improved refrigeration though. That wonderful heavy click of the shiny chrome door handles and watching the cold air rise up from the compartments was so amazing on a hot summer day. Then the Good Humor Man would reach all the way in and come out with an ice cream, napkin and spoon...all at once! How could he see all the way back there? He would click out change in his metal dispenser that was attached to his belt. How cool!

I just recently saw a great show on PBS about Hotdogs too. I would think they were around for a long time being they were called sausages first and were so popular in the 50's. PBS visited all over the country showing the best places to eat hot dogs and it looked so good I was tempted to eat one.

Thanks for the great topic...food!

Sharon

 

[flat-top]

I grew up in the Bronx, and as a pre-teen in the 70's, we were STILL getting milk and soda delivered. The soda was in the old fashioned seltzer bottles and you chose what kind of syrup flavoring you wanted! There was also a knife-sharpening truck that came around once a week! The truck had had a distinctive bell, and when the housewives heard it, they would gather all their knives and scissors and bring them out to the truck. I can't believe such archaic services existed in my lifetime! My neighborhood in the Bronx was so isolated and simple, that I almost feel as if I grew up in the Golden Era!
flat-top

 

[Slicksuit]

Funny, I believe that soda wasn't in cans till the late 60's. All the soda I have seen ads for are all in glass bottles. Not to mention the ones I have in my collection.


Root.

I double checked my resource, and Cliquot Club ginger ale was commercially a canned soda product in 1938. Pepsi cola launched a canned variety of soda in 1948. Coke test-marketed their canned soda beginning in 1940, selling it to the armed services in the mid 1950's. Material limitations by the governmet, due to the Korean War, limited its commercial availability until the 60's. Dr. Pepper had limited availability in cans as of 1955.

It's interesting to note that canned soda presented several problems for its manufacturers, as regular tin was neither strong enough to resist pressurization, nor was it resistant to corrosion. An organic coating on the tin allowed tin to be used, but still had flavor absorption issues and leakage. As a result, canned soft drinks weren't really viable until about 1948. Manufacturers were interested in using cans, as it was more easily transportable (think lower freight weight) and easily storable. Also cans allowed printing on 360 degrees, allowing more attractive and colorful graphics to be used. The packaging of multiple cans, or a multipack, also allowed secondary packaging to be used (the outer packaging), an attractive bonus for the manufacturer. Multipacks also allowed the movement of more volume, and more units means more sales.

Canned soda wasn't dispensed in vending machines until 1961, and wasn't the most popular in sales until about 1985.

 

[Slicksuit]

I agree with Thomas that canned beer is utter swill. I'll take a brew in a bottle any day.

I also agree that milk in glass bottles does seem more appealing, but, we've now learned that milk should not be stored that way. Exposure to light breaks down the vitamins present in milk (even somewhat in plastic containers - cardboard is best). Anyone notice how milk is now under special lights in the dairy case at the supermarket?

 

[Slicksuit]

I also feel that the soil was richer back then and most fruits and vegetables had more vitamins and minerals then the stuff you buy in the market today. Also beef and other poultry were fed whole grains to that of today’s tripe of processed animal byproducts.
Root.

Well, we certainly didn't have genetically modified fruits and vegetables. The newer varitieties are less suspectable to spoilage and brising, but organic almost always tastes better!

The soil may have been better back then, depending on which region of the country is examined. It certainly wasn't in Oaklahoma, ground zero of the infamous dust storms that made farming difficult during the 1930's in that area. So mush so that the areas were coined the 'dust bowl' and the time the 'dirty thirties'. Much soil was blown about, due to overfarming post WWI. With no vegetation to hold the soil together, topsoil just blew around after the rains dried up. The area was so hit that 15% of Oaklahoma's population packed up and left.

Pesticides and artificial fertilizers were probably not used to the same extent that they are today. And as far as I know, cattle were only fairly recently fed grain. They are naturally grass-eaters. I think the grain diet came about in efforts to bulk up the cattle faster (which might not be as healthy for them and yield a comparitively inferior meat).

 

[Brad Bowers]

You can still get milk delivered, in some areas

We received milk, eggs, cheese, and butter deliveries up until two years ago, when we moved from Pueblo. Royal Crest Dairy still offers this service along most of the Colorado Front Range. The same company we used to get milk and such from when I was a kid. Gave you a wooden box with a hinged lid in which the milkman put the products, and then you put in the empties for pickup. Fun stuff.

Brad

 

[Slicksuit]

Junk food really didn't start to hit the market till the 40's I believe. The first candy bars were Milky Way (1927) and Three Musketeers (1932)

Root.

Junkfood probably wasn't as readily available, but it was around, depending on how one defines it. Candy corn has been around since the 1800's, potato chips since 1853, soft drinks since 1830, lollipops, since 1784. Necco candy and conversation hearts since 1901, Oreos since 1912, Good Humor in 1920. Interesting note: Ice cream has been around since colonial times, but really didn't hit its nadir until 1920 and afterward, due to the availability of cheap refrigeration and advances in the ice cream maker.

My feeling is that people back then had a better idea that mass quanitiies of 'junk food' was bad, and had a better appreciation of what a serving size implies

 

[Trickeration]

Personally my best memories was of the Good Humor Truck :jeep: ! I don't know when Good Humor first started....50's? Had to be after they improved refrigeration though. That wonderful heavy click of the shiny chrome door handles and watching the cold air rise up from the compartments was so amazing on a hot summer day. Then the Good Humor Man would reach all the way in and come out with an ice cream, napkin and spoon...all at once! How could he see all the way back there? He would click out change in his metal dispenser that was attached to his belt. How cool!

I remember that, too. It was the best!

My grandmother also made fresh pies. I remember helping her, and to this day I love making pies entirely from scratch...My mom told me that when she was little they often ate rice. Not hot and with other foods as we do now, but in a bowl with milk and some sugar. They had little money when my mom was growing up, so I'm guessing this was filling and economical. But my grandmother came here from England in 1908, so this could also be something going pretty far back. My mom also told me about fighting with her brother over who would mix the color into the Oleo. I've seen old adds for it on some of the old movie channels, too. Mom was also a big 'fryer' for many years. Steaks were always pan-fried in our house.

When my husband and I were stationed on a little island off the coast of Italy for 2 years, I think we ate better than we ever had before, or since. Where we were, the town is still modernized much past the mid 40's. I could go on for hours about that, but that's another story. On La Maddelena there were no big grocery stores. You went to the butcher for meat, the bakery for fresh bread and pastries, and the outdoor market for vegetables, eggs and cheese. Other little markets not much bigger than walk-in closets supplied other things, and the pharmacy was for health and beauty supplies. All of the food was fresh and organic and just beautiful. We had a landlord that would give us fresh strawberries, tomatoes and squash from his garden, too. They were the best I've ever had. Even when I grow my own they don't match his.

I also collect cookbooks (new and vinage) and like trying the recipes from my vintage Ladies Home Journal Mags. I love to cook. I cook the 'old fashion way' as much as possible, but sometimes we have a week where gigs are one on top of the other and we have to resort to some fast or frozen food. I'm good for a few days of that, then I'll make steaks for dinner even if it means frying with one hand while I curl my hair with the other.

Oh, if you get a chance, watch the tv show 'Unwrapped'. I think it's on Food Network. A lot of great food history there.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Boy, my memory is getting a jolt reading all the contributions to this thread!

I forgot to add that one of the joys of living in Iowa was my father's garden. He grew corn, potatoes, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, green beans, and, my favorite Iowa tomatos. Now, those veggies I did like -- they were fresh and tasty. And mother canned some of them, so we had "fresh" green beans and corn in the middle of winter.

There is nothing in the world that can rival Iowa tomatoes, or corn for that matter. I would sit with a plate of fresh tomatoes, cut it up, salt it and eat it. Oh, heaven!

Flattop: growing up in the Bronx, did you like chocolate egg creams? My dear old friend, Rickey, now deceased, loved them. She grew up on the streets of Throgs Neck in the 50's and 60's, introduced me to egg creams when I moved there in '69. A treat!

A note about junk food: my mother said no one snacked until after the war (that WW II), then teenagers would eat chips and drink colas hanging out with their friends. As the decades progressed, we all just got fatter and fatter. Now, there is a generation of folks who have eaten almost exclusively junk food.

karol

 

[Dr. Shocker]

Another great thread folks.........when I was 14 I visited my grandfather (would be the last time I saw him alive) and he was telling me by time he was my age he had been around the globe three times........I finally found the opertunity to ask him what made him leave Australia (hoping for some juicy old-timer story)......he paused for a moment took another drink (bourbon at 9am, gotta love it) and told me the following wisdom of down under............more dramatic pause............"The food tastes like shit" hehehehe.......I was so suprised and a little bummed but now it is a very fond memory

Golden Era food is good but some improvemnets I would never want to live without.......good coffee, Tri-Tip cut, Sushi, and JOLT Cola......hehehe