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THE FOOD HISTORIAN






SARAH WASSBERG JOHNSON, M.A. 

Studying the intersecting histories of food, agriculture,
women, ethnicity, and rural communities in America. 

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Throwing the Gates Open
7/23/2024 - 2 Comments
Yesterday I went to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I had
not been in many years, and I've never seen the whole thing. It was enormous and
full of priceless artifacts. But.Most of those artifacts were displayed apart
from their historical and cultural context. The labels were sparse. The
introductions often non-existent. Some of the exhibit cases resembled a robber
baron's garage sale, with objects arranged and labeled with little or no
relation to each other. Undefined terminology and jargon strange even to a
veteran historian with a Master's degree popped up often. To be honest, much of
the museum smacked of gatekeeping. There's a lot of gatekeeping in academia.
Some folks are so insecure in their abilities that excluding others makes them
feel important. Others are so wrapped up in the minutiae of their studies they
forget that the outside world does not share their frames of reference. Still
others were raised to think of themselves as more talented, more intelligent,
more deserving than others, and these folks seem to think that a gate protects
them. Having been raised in a more egalitarian, middle-class,
Scandinavian-American household, I dislike gatekeeping. And jargon. And,
frankly, anything or any action that seeks to exclude others and hide knowledge
for a select few. To quote the great Steve Rogers, "I don't like bullies. I
don't care where they're from." I realized today that I had been partially
participating in that gatekeeping, albeit unwittingly. As with many online
content creators, I was told that monetization was the way to go. And for folks
who make their livings full-time at this sort of thing, that makes sense. But
that won't be me until I retire, and I'm in a much better place financially now
than I was ten years ago when I started this website. As of today, I will no
longer charge a membership fee to access any part of my website, nor will I
provide members-only content, nor will I ask for memberships at the bottom of
every post. Existing Patreon patrons will have the option to continue their
memberships to help pay for the upkeep of this website and my email service.
Substack has always been free and I've been clear from the get-go that folks who
become paid members won't be getting anything special in return. And folks can
always leave a tip, if they're so inclined. But while my time is now much more
limited than it was when I started this website nearly 10 years ago, my coffers
are far less bare. So I've decided it's time to throw open the gates and share
the metaphorical wealth. Thanks to some help from volunteer Elissia, you can now
access dozens (hundreds?) of free public domain cookbooks, organized into a
vintage cookbook bibliography. It's a work-in-progress, but there's quite a lot
there to explore. You can also now read my thesis free of charge, along with
other publications, and download printable themed newsletters previously only
available to members. They're all listed under the "resource" tab on my website.
Eventually, I'll update the bibliography with more recent publications. I'll
also be recycling some previously members-only blog posts on the public blog in
the coming weeks, months, and years.I have a dozen or more brand new blog posts
waiting in the wings, so I hope to be able to carve out more time to finish them
sometime soon. I've also made some progress on the book, and I hope to be able
to spend more time on it in the coming months. If I have time, I'll send
periodic updates on that as well. When I started this website in 2015, I had
just finished my Master's thesis and had realized the depths of my interest in
food history more generally. This website has become a place for me to share
primary sources, consolidate ideas, and even engage in the occasional rant from
time to time. I've been inspired by reader and listener questions, internet
memes, and my own exciting discoveries. The blog and this website aren't going
anywhere anytime soon. I'm proud of how often thefoodhistorian.com shows up in
search results - my tiny contribution to internet mythbusting in a sea of
misinformation and badly researched history.So whether you've had a paid
membership via Substack or Patreon, you've attended one of my talks or read an
article, or whether you subscribed to this website on a curious whim, thank you
for your support. It's time to return the favor. Go forth and enjoy, dear
readers, the gates are open. Happy food historying! 
Read More

World War Wednesday: Grow More, Can More in '44
5/1/2024 - 0 Comments
 During the Second World War, food preservation became a national mandate. I've
featured canning-related propaganda posters before, but I thought now would be a
good time to feature a few of the lesser-known posters. The above poster is from
fairly late in the war. It reads "Grow More, Can More... In '44 - Get your
canning supplies now! Jars, Caps and Rings." A special seal featuring a hand
(presumably Uncle Sam's) holds a basket containing the words, "Food Fights for
Freedom" with "Produce and Conserve" and "Share and Play Square" above. It
features a rosy-cheeked young woman in an overtly feminized take on the Women's
Land Army overalls, a straw hat tilted fashionably far back on her head, and
wearing spotless white work gloves. With a hoe tucked in one elbow and a thumb
in her overall strap, she gestures with her free hand at an enormous set of
glossy clear glass canning jars, expertly filled with whole tomatoes, halved
peaches, green beans, sliced red beets, and what might be whole apricots, yellow
plums, or yellow cherries, it's tough to tell. The jars feature a variety of
lids, including the new aluminum screw-tops, a glass-topped wire bail with a
rubber seal, and a zinc screw top with a rubber seal, illustrating the range of
canning technologies still in use. The poster is photorealistic and is probably
a literal cut-and-paste of actual photographs - a new technique in an era still
dominated by illustrations. It's not clear exactly when this poster was
released, but it's likely it was early in the season. The poster exhorts the
reader to "grow more" in addition to canning more in 1944, which seems to
indicate a spring release, despite the prominence of the large glass canning
jars. In addition, the poster warns to stock up on canning supplies now, instead
of later in the season. When aluminum was short and factories that made glass
were used to produce war materiel, it was easier to make smaller quantities over
a longer period of time. By planning ahead, home gardeners and canners could
also make sure they had enough supplies on hand to handle an increase in garden
produce. Things were getting a bit desperate in 1944 - the war was not going
well and the prospect of another long year of war was troubling to ordinary
Americans. Rationing had ramped up fully in 1943, and as the war dragged on home
canned foods took on more importance in everyday nutrition. For many, especially
children, the war must have seemed unending. Little did they know that on June
6, 1944, the United States would launch Operation Overlord - also known as the
invasion of Normandy - which would become known as D-Day. D-Day would turn the
tide of the war in favor of the Allies, but it would still take another fifteen
months for the war to end entirely.Until then, rationing continued and Americans
were urged to grow and preserve as much food as they could to supplement their
rations. The war finally ended in September of 1945, and by December, rationing
of every food except sugar had ended. Foods canned in 1944 would have been
important support for rations, but foods canned in 1945 would have been less
crucial. One wonders how many home canned foods made it to the end of 1946? We
may never know.
Read More

Designing a Vintage Valentine's Day Tea Party
2/14/2024 - 1 Comment
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Read More

The Secret Behind Libby's Original Pumpkin Pie Recipe
11/22/2023 - 0 Comments
Libby's pumpkin pie is the iconic recipe that graces many American tables for
Thanksgiving each year. Although pumpkin pie goes way back in American history
(see my take on Lydia Maria Child's 1832 recipe), canned pumpkin does
not. Libby's is perhaps most famous these days for their canned pumpkin, but
they started out making canned corned beef in the 1870s (under the name Libby,
McNeill, & Libby), using the spare cuts of Chicago's meatpacking district and a
distinctive trapezoidal can. They quickly expanded into over a hundred different
varieties of canned goods, including, in 1899, canned plum pudding. Although
it's not clear exactly when they started canning pumpkin (a 1915 reference lists
canned squash as part of their lineup), in 1929 they purchased the Dickinson
family canning company, including their famous Dickinson squash, which Libby's
still uses exclusively today. In the 1950s, Libby's started printing their
famous pumpkin pie recipe on the label of their canned pumpkin. Although it is
the recipe that Americans have come to know and love, it's not, in fact, the
original recipe. Nor is a 1929 recipe the original.The original Libby's pumpkin
pie recipe was much, much earlier. In fact, it may have even predated Libby's
canned pumpkin.In 1912, in time for the holiday season, Libby's began publishing
full-page ads using their pumpkin pie recipe in several national magazines,
including Cosmopolitan, The Century Illustrated, and Sunset. But the key Libby's
ingredient wasn't pumpkin at all - it was evaporated milk.  Sweetened condensed
milk had been invented in the 1850s by Gail Borden in Texas, but unsweetened
evaporated milk was invented in the 1880s by John B. Meyenberg and Louis Latzer
in Chicago, Illinois. Wartime had made both products incredibly popular - the
Civil War popularized condensed milk, and the Spanish American War popularized
evaporated milk. Libby's got into both the condensed and evaporated milk markets
in 1906. Perhaps competition from other brands like Borden's Eagle, Nestle's
Carnation, and PET made Libby's make the pitch for pumpkin pie. 
Read More

Apple Blackberry Crumble
9/30/2023 - 0 Comments
In throwing an Autumnal Tea Party (see yesterday's post!), I wanted a simple but
impactful dessert. Apples are plentiful in New York in September, but plain
apple crisp, while delicious, didn't feel quite special enough for a tea
party. The British have a long tradition of gleaning from hedgerows in the fall.
Hedgerows often have apple trees, sloes, blackcurrants, and blackberries in
fall. Sloes and blackcurrants are hard to find here in the US, but blackberries
seemed like the perfect accent to the American classic. This recipe is endlessly
adaptable as the crumble topping is great with any kind of fruit. You do need
quite a lot of fruit for a crumble, which makes it nice in that it feels a
little lighter on the stomach than cake or pie. These sorts of desserts were
common in areas where fruit was plentiful and sugar and butter weren't. 
Read More

How to Throw An Autumnal Tea Party
9/29/2023 - 0 Comments
The weather has finally turned, dear readers, and so I felt it was time for
another tea party! I've had a long couple of weeks, and I wasn't really looking
forward to spending one of my days off cleaning the house and cooking, but it
was very much worth the effort and I'm glad we did it.Tea parties can be
incredibly complicated, or very simple. My process is to think about the theme,
and the flavors, and then come up with way too many ideas and then pare it down
to what's possible. I wanted to honor the flavors of early fall, with something
pumpkin or squash, apples, blackberries, and a savory bread. My original list
also had gingerbread and shortbread cookies with jam, and scotch eggs, but that
was too much! I wanted to keep the menu fairly simple, because I was quite sleep
deprived after a big event over the weekend at work. So I maximized flavor and
minimized effort, to great acclaim! The party (just three of us) ended up
delicious, with a chilly, drizzly day with beautiful overcast light on our front
porch. Ironically, we ended up having mulled cider, instead of tea, but I'm
enjoying a cup of tea as I write this a few hours later, so I suppose it still
counts!
Read More

World War Wednesday: Ice Cream is a Fighting Food
8/30/2023 - 1 Comment
Last World War Wednesday, we looked at the use of ice cream in the U.S. Navy
during the First World War, especially aboard hospital ships. Now it's time for
a reprise! By the Second World War, ice cream was firmly entrenched aboard Naval
vessels. So much so, that battleships and aircraft carriers were actually
outfitted with ice cream machinery, and by the end of the war the Navy was
training sailors in their uses through special classes. The above propaganda
poster, courtesy the National Archives, outlines all of the requirements to
build a battleship. "Your Battleship and Her Requirements" may have been
targeted toward factory workers, but I think it is more likely this poster was
designed to impress upon ordinary Americans the extraordinary amount of
materials and supplies needed to keep a battleship in fighting trim. What I
found particularly interesting, was that among the supplies listed, alongside
fruits and vegetables and meat and even candy, was 60,000 quarts of ice cream!
Smaller vessels, such as destroyer escorts and submarines, did not have the
space for their own ice cream making machinery, although they did have freezers.
In fact, it became common for destroyer escorts and PT boats to rescue downed
pilots (the aircraft carries were too big for the job) and "ransom" them for ice
cream. Last week a brand new food podcast debuted for American Public Television
called "If This Food Could Talk," and I'm so pleased to say I was featured in
the first episode, "Frozen in Time: Ice Cream and America's Past." I had a blast
doing the research for that episode's interview, which has inspired these two
recent World War Wednesday posts. Have a listen if you want to learn more about
ice cream in American history, and especially the story of ice cream in the
Navy.But while I was doing the research, I kept running across references to ice
cream as a health food!
Read More

A Recipe For Chocolate Rose Mousse, Plus Some History
8/18/2023 - 0 Comments
Dear Reader,I finally did it, and not in a good way. A few weeks ago I hosted a
beautiful (albeit hot and humid) French Garden Party, a belated celebration of
Bastille Day, for approximately 30 people. The decorations were gorgeous and the
food was fabulous and I did not take a single. solitary. photograph. My
consternation was extreme. My beautiful screen porch was set with tables dressed
in blue and white striped linens. It was BYOB - bring your own baguette, and
folks brought fancy cheeses to go with the goat cheese and paper-thin ham I
provided. I made homemade mushroom walnut pate and TWO compound butters - fresh
herb and garlic, and lemon caper. I made beautiful French salads: potato and
green bean vinaigrette, lentils vinaigrette with shallot and parsley and a hint
of fresh rosemary, cucumber with tarragon and sour cream, celery with black
olives and anchovies, peach basil. We had honeydew melon and both sweet dark AND
Queen Anne cherries. We had wine and spritzers a-plenty. A friend brought
chocolate cream puffs. I made lemon pots de crème and earl grey madeleines. But
the absolute star of the show was this chocolate mousse, which I flavored with
rose water. And since I had one little glass pot left over from the party, I
snapped a few photographs a few days later to give you the incredibly easy
recipe so that you, too, may feature this glorious star, and have your guests
talking about it for days afterwards (no really - they did). But course, I
wouldn't be a food historian if I didn't give you a little context, and I was
curious about the history of chocolate mousse, so here you go:
Read More

World War Wednesday: Ice Cream and Hospital Ships (1918)
8/2/2023 - 0 Comments
I've been getting a lot of calls for information about ice cream lately, and
that has sent me down a rabbit hole. I did a whole talk on the history of ice
cream last year (you can watch the filmed version here), but while I knew ice
cream was a big tradition in naval history, I didn't know the connection to the
First World War. I don't usually cover the history of military consumption of
food during the World Wars, but this topic was just too much fun to resist. Ice
cream wasn't always the Navy's treat of choice. For over a hundred years rum was
the preferred ration by many sailors. But in the late 19th century the
Temperance movement began to have increasing power over society. By 1919 we had
a Constitutional Amendment (the 19th - often known just as "Prohibition"). But
the armed forces went dry much earlier. In particular, on July 1, 1914, the U.S.
Navy went alcohol-free. At the same time, naval vessels were being stocked with
ice cream. In the May, 1913 issue of The Ice Cream Trade Journal, an article
entitled "Sailors Like Ice Cream" explained that the Navy had recently ordered
350,000 pounds of evaporated milk - ostensibly for all sorts of cooking and
baking, but ice cream was high on the list. You may wonder why hospital ships in
the First World War were manufacturing ice cream on board? Well, it involves
multiple factors. First is that ice cream was a product of milk; during the
Progressive Era, milk was considered the "perfect food" as it contained fats,
proteins, and carbohydrates all in one (supposedly) easily digestible package.
Although many people are lactose intolerant, the White Anglo-Saxon dominance of
American culture at the time prized milk. Ice cream rode into nutritional value
on the coattails of milk.During this time period, dairy-based products like
puddings, custards, milk and cream on cooked cereals or with toast, and ice
cream were all considered nutritious foods for people who had been injured or
ill. Along with foods like beef tea, eggs, and stewed fruits, these made up the
bulk of recommended hospital foods from the late 19th century to World War
I. Ice cream shows up quite frequently in early reports of the Surgeon General
to the U.S. Navy. In his 1918 report to the Secretary of the Navy, ice cream
appears to cause more problems than it solves. Notably, the use of ice cream
produced commercially results in several instances of crew sickness, including
simple illnesses like strep throat, alongside more serious ones like a
diphtheria outbreak in Newport in 1917, which was traced to ice cream produced
off-station. Fears of the spread of typhoid from places like restaurants, soda
fountains, and ice cream shops led to "antityphoid inoculations" at naval
shipyards. In Chicago, "All soft-drink and ice-cream stands have promised to
give sailors individual service in the form of paper cups and dishes. To make
this more effective, it is believed that an order should be issued prohibiting
men from accepting any other kind of service." The Surgeon General also
recommended inspection of offsite dairies and bottling works for milk, ice
cream, and soft drinks to ensure proper sterilization of equipment and
pasteurization of dairy products, as well as inoculation of employees against
typhoid and smallpox. 
Read More



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