Golden era food.

[Wild Root]

Ever wonder what was a popular American dish during the 30’s and 40’s? What did most people eat and consume in these hard times in American history of the early 20th Century?

My self I feel very old fashioned when I eat a nice sized NY cut stake, mashed potatoes and gravy with corn or peas on the side. A nice Green salad is always good to start off with.

Biscuits and gravy was also very popular back then. I have often asked my grandfather what he enjoyed when he was young and milk toast came up. He also likes Cantaloupe with black pepper on it! I have tried this and it’s not bad at all.

Most food today was being consumed back then just in different ways. Food today can be fresher then the goods back then seeing refrigeration rail cars were cooled by large blocks of ice and today, it’s a little more advanced. On the other side of the coin, people living in the farmlands really did eat rather well! Home made every thing was the way of life and I have had experienced farm home cooking! Chicken that was cleaned and prepared from their coupe that day, mashed potatoes from their garden with other cooked vegetables and cant forget the home made biscuits! I wish I could enjoy this every day but, well I don’t live on a farm so that kills that idea.

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. Talk about mad cow!

For me there’s nothing better then a fresh home cooked meal with all the trimmings. Just so nice and refreshing.

I have often thought about getting vintage cookbooks and going the whole way. Any one do this already and fallow the recipes precisely?

Ok, I’ll just stop gabbing and let this thread start to grow!

Comments and thoughts would be great!

Root.

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/fsa/8d33000/8d33100/8d33102r.jpg

[shamus]

it's a nice thought, but it's not all roses.

I grew up on a farm, not a 30's farm, but a 70's organic farm so it's very similar, we didn't even own a tractor we used draft horses.

Having fresh chicken is great, as long as you don't mind chopping off it's head and plucking it.

The vegetables are great too but they don't weed themselves.. hours in the hot sun.

Steak is great, but have you ever butchered a cow?

The soil is the same, it's only most of the vegetables you buy today are not organic. They're genetic and yes they're big, but not tasty like a heritage vegetable should be.

My point is yes, I agree. I'd take farm food any day. But it's lot of work. My grandmother talks about getting up at 4 am on thanksgiving, and that gave her just enough time to have a nice meal for dinner.

Package foods are nice, but you trade off on health. I grew up in the 70's eating organic before it was really common term. It's worth the extra.

Now you can grow some organic better tasting food yourself on a small scale. Try a tomato plant or bean/peas. And if you're really up to it, raise a chicken or two. Get some eggs and maybe a nice meal.

I won't even get into canning.. that's another thread.

[MudInYerEye]

After a very scientific study of the elder members of my esteemed family, it appears that macaroni and cheese was the overwhelmingly favored meal of the "duration."

[Zach R.]

Everytime I think of Golden Era food, I think about that three stooges episode where the gang is at a very posh dinner party and they start eating their peas by sticking them to the mashed potatoes on their knives. :p

I know that in my father's family back then that they had a black maid that took care of the kids and cooked dinner, she was known for her collard greens and cornbread in milk.

[jitterbugdoll]

I collect vintage cookbooks from the 1920s-40s and have used recipes from them pretty regularly (mostly desserts as I have a bit of a sweet tooth. ;) ) I have found the recipes to be pretty straightforward and simple, and everything I have made has turned out well. I always say, if the first two ingredients are butter and sugar, you know the recipe will turn out well!

[Biltmore Bob]

SOS was popular. Another name for creamed chipped beef on toast.

[K.D. Lightner]

We had an ice box back in the 40's, but we got fresh milk daily -- not from cows but from a milkman. It would be on our doorstep, along with cottage cheese and butter. Good stuff.

During the Korean War I remember butter, or maybe it was margarine, that was white and in a bag, you had to squeeze the stuff. There was a little red "button" inside the bag filled with dye, and, when it broke, the red dye made the butter (?) turn yellow.

We had steak but my mother fried it. She fried everything. I asked her recently why she did that and she said it was easier. I don't think there was a broiler on her stove. My grandparents had a wood burning stove, a big old black thing. My grandmother cooked the best fried chicken I've ever had.

We ate Wonder Bread, canned peas, which I hated, canned beets, canned everything. It was years before I realized I actually like vegetables. And steak.

Mother made pies, which were good. She made cookies; I like ginger snaps when I was a little kid. Mother did not really like to cook, which is probably why I don't have great memories of her stuff. I do remember pot roasts, liver and onions, which I liked, oddly enough. And mother's fried chicken, which we had every Sunday at an early dinner, or was it a late lunch? I liked her fried chicken, and also her chicken and dumplings. We got eggs off a farm nearby and occasionally father brought home a chicken, cut off its head, mother plucked it and we ate it. Father also hunted and we had rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, and duck. You had to eat the stuff gingerly or you could break your teeth on a b.b.

I did not have a french fry until I was 14, pizza until I was 15, McDonalds until I was 16. We did have a few Reeds Ice Cream stores. I still like that soft ice cream dipped in chocolate. There were soda shops, tiny little cokes and pepsi's and, my favorite, grape soda.

Some of it makes me nostalgic. Some of it doesn't.

karol

[Zach R.]

SOS was popular. Another name for creamed chipped beef on toast.

And it is still popular with my family, though we usually prefer biscuits.

[jitterbugdoll]

I think you mean Oleo, karol. My mother still uses that term even when buying butter!

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, thanks, that was it!

What was oleo, anyway? Was it like margarine?

Weird stuff, but I loved getting a new package and squeezing it until it turned yellow.

karol

[jitterbugdoll]

Yep, it was margarine. The food coloring was added to make it look more like butter--it was a marketing ploy.

[macawber]

I believe because of law oleo "Margarine" wasn't permitted to be coloured as it would look like butter. Dairy farmers had a strong lobby.

[macawber]

forgot to add, that is why coloring had to be added after.

[Angelicious]

I'm quite fortunate in living in a country where steak, mashed potato, peas, corn, etc., is an everyday meal, although processed and international foods are certainly available. Steak is a little expensive for my budget though...

My family, living in Scotland & Wales during the Depression, War, and into the 50s & 60s, tell me that rationing in those areas continued for almost that entire period. There are foods my Stepfather still can't tolerate to this day, as a consequence. :p

One wonderful asset to vintage cooking in NZ is the Edmonds Cookbook, which started in the early 30s as a gimmick by the Edmonds "Sure To Rise" Baking supplies company, and grew to be the best-selling cookbook, and one of the best-selling books overall, in NZ to date. My mother's one is from 1953 or so, while mine is only about as old as I am. They update it every few years.

[The Wolf]

My wife collects old cookbooks also.
One of them recommends frying a pound of bacon in a pound of butter.
But wait there's more, then you pour the drippings over your rice for flavor.
When I think about that my mouth waters and my arteries clog.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

[MudInYerEye]

A dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz.

[macawber]

Listen Pal
That was nothing compared to what a hard working man ate. In those days men did the work not machines, a man had to eat plenty to do the job. I think I know something about this. You have to go to the gym these days, but y ou will never know how hard work was.

[MudInYerEye]

You talkin' to me?

[Biltmore Bob]

I had to walk 10 miles to and from grade school, barefoot, in the snow, and it was uphill both ways. When I was 3 I worked in a coal mine.

[Wild Root]

Hahahah, Bob, you're a funny guy.

Yes, men and women worked harder in those days and there are plenty who still do today! Big meals were great for those who work it off! Today, most people don't need all those carbohydrates because they just sit in an office all day and such. One should eat accordingly to what they do for work.

I have done some work on a farm for a little and it's very hard work! Very dirty and hard! I have total respect for farmers and farmer's families for all the hard work they do.

I don't eat big meals very often because of the expense and also I don't need to.

A good sandwich wrapped in wax paper with an orange and a bottle of coke is what I also enjoy. That's old fashioned! ;)

Root.

PS. A dog at the ball park is very good, but not better then a well prepared steak. ;)

[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]

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" :p

[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]

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.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f6/Dallas_South_Dakota_1936.jpg/300px-Dallas_South_Dakota_1936.jpg

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]

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 :p

[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

[Biltmore Bob]

I worked High Steel in New York City...

[Wild Root]

Oh boy, Junk Food! I used to like it very much (I still enjoy a good soda now and again) but not as much as I used to! I don't snack as much as I did once and I'm so glad I don't. I used to enjoy all the bad stuff you could think of. I find my self enjoying a good ripe peach or gapes. And this month I have had a few of them! Watermelon is also on the top of the list!!! I believe there were plenty people snacking before the war it just wasn't junk food. Snaking I'm sure consisted of peanuts, fruit and veggies. That's what I try and do today. It is way better then a bag of chips.

Getting back to something I wanted to touch on was the Good Humor Man. Most people think of the 1950's when the Good Humor man comes to mind. Well, the idea of the ice cream man goes back farther then the 50's. Ice cream was being sold on the streets in the 20's and through the 40's! The ice cream truck I believe started in the late 30's. Soon as electric refrigeration came around in the 1920's it took off! Most of the upper crust could afford electric any thing seeing that Sears still offered ice boxes all the way into the 40's! But, companies like Good Humor could afford to outfit small trucks to carry this frozen treat to the kids in towns and cities! I love Ice Cream and find it my favorite treat!

Root.

[Big Man]

It was said my grandfather used to tell folks that he had been "working as a farmer" since the day he was born. And when folks would reply, "now you know, Mr. Brown, you didn't work when you were a little baby", he would reply, "I sure did. I was born milking and spreading manure."

Oh well, he thought it was funny, I'm sure ...

[flat-top]

"Flattop: growing up in the Bronx, did you like chocolate egg creams?"
Yes Karol!! I LOVED them! Still do. We used to make them ourselves with vanilla syrup purchased from the soda truck that I mentioned earlier! Sometimes, I used to just pour the syrup right into my mouth! I know, kinda gross, but so YUMMY!
flat-top

[K.D. Lightner]

Flat-top: I still miss the chocolate egg creams I got there. Sometimes, there are concoctions here that folks try to pass off as that, but no one beats NYC for the eggs creams -- not to mention bagels and lox, or Junior's cheesecake. Oh, boy, then there was Brighton Beach and all those wonderful blintzes and.... I've forgotten what some of those things were called. But, they were good tasting. Knishes, I think that was what they were called.

karol

[Wild Root]

Well, this is really starting to be a good thread! I had no idea that it would grow up so fast! Kind of brings a tear to a man's eye to see his babies grow up. :p

Keep up the good work every one!

Root.

[MudInYerEye]

Any of you ladies or gents ever had pastrami from Katz's on Houston and Ludlow? Deadly stuff, but MAN is it good. They've been serving it on that corner since the 1890's.

[flat-top]

While visiting my (ex) in-laws in Tennessee, I was fed chicken and dumplings that were just AMAZING. As I was moaning with approval, the grandma who made it kept telling me that it was just "simple food", and was perplexed by my reactions. A little bit later, she told me how chicken and dumplings reminded her of when she was a little girl and the family was poor, and how one chicken had to last them for a few days. The dumplings or dough was added just to make the meal heartier.
I'll miss that Southern cookin'! Cracker Barrel actually serves chicken and dumplings, and it's good, but nothing like the real thing!
flat-top

[K.D. Lightner]

I love to try foods from other cultures and/or other parts of the country. I lived with a Houston woman who was handicapped. Several of her caregivers were African American women, who would bring some Southern food and share it with us. My mother visited at that time and, at the age of 82, had her first taste of collard greens. She loved them and has attempted to duplicate what our caregiver gave her, but, of course, has not done so yet. (I think it was the lack of a ham hock). Another caregiver from New Orleans who made chicken gumbo for me. I had never had it before and loved it!

At work, we have a goodly number of Filipino people who bring dishes to our potlucks that I adore: pansit, lumpia, chicken adoba, pan du sol. Not to mention the Mexican foods one can get in San Diego. Whatever will I do when I return to Des Moines?

I never had foreign foods or even Southern food when I was young. There were no Chinese restaurants (there was one in downtown Des Moines, when I was in my 20's), no sushi, which is my absolutely favorite food in the world.

In Iowa in the 40's and 50's, it was pretty much white bread. But, also some good things they just don't have today.

karol

[Slicksuit]

Karol, Flat-top...I found a kit for egg-creams on the internet. It sounds like it's authentic, containing 2 containers of Fox's U-Bet Syrup and an instruciton book with history and recipes.
http://www.newyorkfirst.com/img/products/big/eggcream2.jpg
I might try it out myself, what do you think?
Here's the location to buy the product: http://www.newyorkfirst.com/gifts/1002.html#
For those that like to outfit their home in vintage, it might be a good addition.

[flat-top]

OUCH!! $59 is pricey for that. The glasses are great though! U-Bet WAS the brand of syrup that I used, but you can buy that in a regular store. Just mix seltzer, flavored syrup and milk and you have an egg cream!. Even if it doesn't turn out perfect, it'll still be good!
flat-top

[Wild Root]

Yeah, you're pretty much buying the glasses and the book at that price. But, don't egg creams have egg? Or is it mixed in the goop.

Root.

[flat-top]

Nah, no eggs, just milk, seltzer and syrup. I don't know where the "egg" comes from!

[Wild Root]

That's interesting. I wonder what the history on the egg cream came from!

Any one here knows the story as to how a treat called an egg cream that has no eggs got the name?

Root.

[Zach R.]

The explanation on this site (http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=674) makes sense.

[Slicksuit]

It might also be because the white head that forms on the drink resembles lightly whipped egg whites.

I take it back about the egg white kit...what a rip! I would be better off just getting an old-fashioned seltzer bottle (which would probably yield better results) and the syrup.

[IndianaGuybrush]

Any of you ladies or gents ever had pastrami from Katz's on Houston and Ludlow? Deadly stuff, but MAN is it good. They've been serving it on that corner since the 1890's.

Katzs is awesome, and still one of the best Hot Pastrami sandwiches you can get in NYC. They will ship a salami anywhere in the world, and during WWII I believe, came up with the slogan, "Send a Salami to your Boy in the Army!"

As far as commercially available cheesecake goes, Juniors is the best, and it's an Old-School brooklyn staple, it's been open since 1950.

As far as steaks go, I've yet to eat a steak better than the Dry-Aged porterhouse available at Peter Luger's right here in brooklyn. Luger's opened in 1887, so it was well established by the 30s. The inside is no nonsense, with butcher block tables and gruff german waiters who wear their aprons nice and high!

Brooklyn is also home to the best pizza parlor (DiFara's) and the best hot dog chain (Nathan's). Brooklyn born and raised and damn proud of it!

[MudInYerEye]

Your taste in cheesecake is impeccable. And yes, Peter Luger's is the be-all-end-all of old-time steakhouses. Best steak in the world!
Regarding egg creams, there are very few joints left in the city to get an authentic one. My faves are at Gem Spa at St.Marks Pl and Second Ave, and Ray's on A between Seventh St and St.Marks Pl.
But where is DiFara's?!!

[jitterbugdoll]

I prefer my egg creams made with real cream--that's how we serve 'em up at the soda fountain and they are a treat!

Whenever we would visit my grandmother, who lived in Georgia, she would cook the best meals. Aside from the usual Southern delicacies, she was known for serving sliced cucumbers in a bowl of cider vinegar with pepper. I always liked that, as it was so refreshing on a hot, humid summer day!

I also vividly remember her Lemon Icebox pie (my favorite) and her apple pies. She was somewhat innovative in the kitchen and always put a secret ingredient into the apple filling. We never could figure out what made it so good--but guess what she used? Tang!

[SHARPETOYS]

My granny made Chicken & Dumplings and corn bread every week I can almost taste it. :) :) Yes she raised her own chickens and large garden.

[Wild Root]

Whenever we would visit my grandmother, who lived in Georgia, she would cook the best meals. Aside from the usual Southern delicacies, she was known for serving sliced cucumbers in a bowl of cider vinegar with pepper. I always liked that, as it was so refreshing on a hot, humid summer day!

She was somewhat innovative in the kitchen and always put a secret ingredient into the apple filling. We never could figure out what made it so good--but guess what she used? Tang!

Tang was the secret ingredient eh? I thought it was going to be Love or something to that effect. :p Ah, that's a great story!

Funny you should mention cucumbers in vinegar! My Mother used to do that at lunch. I still really enjoy it today! I do like cucumbers of the pickled variety as well.

Root.

[Biltmore Bob]

She used to can whole chickens in Mason jars. She's an Apalachian girl, born in KY, raised in WVA. My father's mother, she out lived 2 husbands, both coalminers. She had 18 children and my father was the baby of her last brood of 11. I will be making my anual pilgrimage to the old home place this September. They did not have an inside toilet till the mid 70s. She has grown and married greatgrandchildren.

[Wild Root]

WOW! That's great!!! Wish her a happy birth day for us!

I met a swell couple the other day. This man was 95 and his wife wasn't too far off. They were married in 1940! 65 years of marriage is something to brag about!!! I took my hat to them! We also talked about how they went to their 67th high school reunion! They belonged to the class of 1938 in Alhambra CA. That City was way nicer then I'm sure!

Root

[IndianaGuybrush]

Your taste in cheesecake is impeccable. And yes, Peter Luger's is the be-all-end-all of old-time steakhouses. Best steak in the world!
Regarding egg creams, there are very few joints left in the city to get an authentic one. My faves are at Gem Spa at St.Marks Pl and Second Ave, and Ray's on A between Seventh St and St.Marks Pl.
But where is DiFara's?!!


DiFara's is here in Brooklyn on Avenue J and E.15th street. If you're going be prepared to wait, because only Dominic makes the pizzas and he makes 'em fresh one at a time. Well worth it though, oh god I'm getting so hungry!

[K.D. Lightner]

Is John's Pizza in Greenwich Village still there? It was one of my favorite pizza houses when I lived in NYC. I liked the pizza in NY and was rather bummed out when I moved here and found pizza in San Diego to be mundane. Not to mention the Chinese food. But at least the sushi and sea food were good.

One thing I will be able to get in Des Moines is good pizza. Some of the best tasting pizza I've ever had was there. Des Moines has a big Italian community, some families came over in the 1890's to work in the strip mines and then there was a big influx in the 30's. I lived in an area of Des Moines known as "Little Italy." Still, I did not taste pizza until well into my teens.

karol

[MudInYerEye]

Yeah, John's is still there, but it's really turned into a tourist trap the quality took a dive, and unfortunately Lombardi's has expanded and withered too. But there's still the old Patsy's up in East Harlem. Hot dog, is that an old-timey joint!

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, there were lovely places in NY that I still miss. Eating stuffed cabbage at Odessa in the East Village (I think it was on Avenue A), the macrobiotic restaurant on the upper west side and, before I moved, in the Village. I can't recall the name of it but it had really good vegetarian food. Junior's in Brooklyn, a place called Quantum Leap in Queens (also veggie), plus all the bagel places, chocolate egg creams, Nathan's hot dogs and, of course, Long Island clams on the half shell.

One of the nicer upscale Italian restaurants was in Astoria, where I lived, and was called The Bank. I asked why an Italian restaurant would be named that and learned that, at one time, in old Astoria, there was a bank there. When it left, and a restaurant came in, people still referred to it as The Bank and the name stuck.

The Greek food in Astoria was some of the best I have had -- we had Greek delis there with a large variety of feta cheese and olives. I hadn't realize there were so many types of feta cheese from so many different places. You could buy a chunk of feta cheese, a 1/2 pint of marinated olives and a piece of bread and have a nice lunch.

Now, I've made myself hungry and all I have is a sandwich from 7/11. Oh, well....

karol

[Michaelson]

My Mom was born and raised in North Carolina. The favorite on the table during the Depression? "Pot Licker". This was made from the drained leavings after cooking up a pot of turnips. You took the liquid while it was still hot, then mixed in corn meal, stirring to the thickness of wall paste. Eaten hot for a meal, or cold for breakfast. I've had it a couple of times, and it's an acquired taste....but back then, it was your meal for the day. :confused:
Regards! Michaelson

[The Wolf]

My wife's family does the "pot licquor" from cooking greens.

When I went back to North Carolina some decades ago every relative told me "You might think you southern fried chicken but I'm gonna make you REAL southern fried chicken." Needless to say each one was different.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

[Michaelson]

The same with their bar-be-que....I was a teenager before I found out that there was a version that wasn't a vinegar based sause. :eek: ;)
Regards! Michaelson

[scotrace]

People have always eaten whatever was available at the market or from their own garden/farm, but I think that when we talk about food in the Golden Era, we're talking then-modern canned goods and processed foods. Look through any old magazine and you'll see dozens of ads for Campbell's Soups, canned hams, canned vegetables, etc. The focus was on easy and quick for the modern, busy family. Just as the new man-made fabrics were thought smart and up-to-date while we find them hot and poorly made, newly available, out-of-season produce in the form of canned goods was thought quite modern, sanitary and a smart time saver. We think of these items as... well, what you buy to give to the canned goods food drive!
I was born in the early '60's. My mother rarely served fresh vegetables, and her mother, oddly hating to cook given her time and place of birth, did the same. Always casseroles, or frozen thus & such. There were a few scratch-made family recipes (which I make now - ham potpie!) but mainly convenience foods, as mom and grandma had jobs outside the home.
My wife's grandmother, who was a Nebraska famer with plenty of fresh stuff available, felt herself the absolute height of luxurious modern shopping when she went into town to the market to buy a frozen, sliced roast or some canned cauliflower.
As women were free to get out of the kitchen and first, do more things socially and in volunteer work and later, hold jobs of their own, ready-made or easy to prepare foods were the norm for decades.
The re-emphasis on fresh local ingredients and scratch cooking we see now is fairly recent, with a big nod to Julia Child.
As a side note, I'm the fulltime cook at my house. I LOVE to cook and wouldn't think of opening a can of peas or other such horror.

[Mr. Jason]

My grandfather used to say the first time he saw meat he didn't know what to do with it. He grew up during the depression and his family always bought fat not meat. Also being from South Carolina he always ate pork and chicken. I didn't have a real steak, non-hambuger, until I was 15.

My wife is pregnant and was having trouble taking the prenatal vitamans, apparently they are pretty heavy on the vitamins and make many women sick. The midwife said that the big prenatal vitaman push was back in the "old days" when you couldn't get fresh fruit and vegtables year round. Just found that intresting and a good reason to be stuck in the 00's.

If you want a taste of the "good old days" raize some chickens. They are not much trouble and don't take too much space. If you're willing do a google search for "chicken tractor" and go to town. I raize broilers, hens, and turkeys. The broiler chickens taste and look like real meat.
The eggs are a wonderful bright yellow.

[Big Man]

... Also being from South Carolina he always ate pork and chicken...

Is it true that Sunday dinner in South Carolina isn't complete without "white-line possum" as the main course? :p

[Angelicious]

If you want a taste of the "good old days" raize some chickens. ... The eggs are a wonderful bright yellow.
Yes, that was one thing I found odd living in North America a few years back... The eggs looked anaemic! Such a pale, pale yellow... They looked nothing like the bright golden-to-orange I was used to at home - even the farm-raised eggs I eventually saw seemed pale to me. I'm told it has something to do with what the chickens are fed? [huh]

[Zohar]

Is it true that Sunday dinner in South Carolina isn't complete without "white-line possum" as the main course? :p


Haha, I can't speak for Jason, but the family I'm from stays away from possum. It's just too greasy ;)

[HistWardrobe]

I was born in the early 50's but grew up in a slightly older "food culture" in that my mother (b. 1933), my grandmother (b. 1910) and great-grandmother (b. 1889) were all in the same wonderful, old-fashioned extended family household and all were great cooks, as was my grandfather (b. 1906).

One of the main differences with food back then vs food nowadays is that people tended to stick to their own regional cuisines. Our family was sort of unusual in that regard in that my grandmother, a Maryland / DC gal, had married a fella from Louisiana, so we had the benefit of both Chesapeake bay area cuisine as well as both Cajun and traditional deep South cookery.
Also, our family had travelled more than most, as my grandfather was a Naval officer. My grandmother was very interested in food, and was one of the first subscribers to Gourmet magazine when it started in the late 40s.

I remember growing up in the 50s - early 60s, the sorts of things we'd have at our house routinely that all the neighborhood kids in Northern Va thought were sort of weird and foreign, but we take for granted nowadays as standard American food:

-- Artichokes (they'd lived in California in 1939 and knew about good veggies!)
-- Avocados, either plain or as Guacamole
-- Gumbo (or in fact, anything containing okra), Jambalaya, Shrimp Creole
-- Sukiyaki
-- Vichyssoise
-- Gaspacho
-- Anything Italian that WASNT pizza or spaghetti. And leven we hadn't heard of Northern Italian food other than Fettucini Alfredo (which nobody else ate unless they also subscribed to Gourmet)

That's just a couple off the top of my head.

Other modern-day staples that were sort of cultural fringe foods back then:

Yogurt -- Yogurt and wheat germ were "health nut foods". Eating these meant you were either Jack La Laine (hey, it must work, he's still going strong) or some kinda commie nudist or sumthin'

Bagels -- hadn't been mainstreamed yet. You could only find them in the Kosher foods section of the supermarket, and then only if you were in a area where there were likely to be enought Jewish people for there to be sufficient consumer demand for a Kosher foods section. They came in two flavors, plain and onion and that was about it.

When I was ten years old, my grandfather got transferred to Hawaii, so for me sushi and sashimi were pretty much part of "home cooking" as a kid - but our old neighbors back in Virginia would have thought it was something to put on the end of your fishhook!

Cake mixes were still sort of a novelty in the 50s although they'd been around for a good 20 years, and mixing up a Betty Crocker cake was a weekly treat. We looked down our noses at people who ate Sarah Lee as being lazy. :-)

Doorstep milk delivery was a part of life back then (otherwise, where would all those jokes about the Milkman have come from?!) I miss it - back in the 80s-90s I lived in England for 13 years and was delighted to get milk delivery again, in glass bottles with the cream on the top. YUM - tastes way better than boring carton milk.

And whatever DID happen to the Good Humor man! And where can you find blueberry / blue raspberry popsickles nowadays?

Fast food was the latest thing. McDonalds hadn't quite hit our neighborhood yet. We'd go to the long-defunct Topps Drive-in for a Sirloiner or to Hot Shoppes drive-in for a Mighty Mo and an Orange Freeze (other DC people will relate to this!) It somehow tasted better when a carhop brought it to your car. Onion rings were at least as common as french fries. I'd never heard of putting ketchup on fries until I was 9 years old and my grandfather got transferred to Nebraska.

Getting old enough to be in my anec-dotage,

[HistWardrobe]

Thought I'd make this a separate post from my 50's reminiscences...

My grandfather grew up in Louisiana and Mississippi, which hadn't even recovered from Reconstruction when the depression hit, so the boom era was irrelevant to a lot of families.

From what he told me, people ate a LOT more vegetables back then. Everybody, unless they were in a really urban area, had a backyard vegetable garden. The summers were filled with excellent fresh produce and the winters with home-canned vegetables, fruits, pickles, relishes, etc

Other than very wealthy people, folks did NOT get meat with every meal. For my grandfather, breakfast was usually left over cornbread crumbled up into a glass of milk or buttermilk, sometimes with salt & pepper. He enjoyed this oddball concoction throughout his 93 year life and it used to gross me out until he talked me into trying it. Hmm! Don't knock it till you've tried it!

Sunday dinner ("dinner" being a daytime meal eaten after church -- supper was what you had at night) was a big deal because that was the big lavish meat meal of the week - chicken, mostly. Fried, stewed with dumplings, roasted... The leftovers would get turned into another dish and the carcass would get turned into soup - nothing was wasted.

Other meat meals during the week consisted of the aforementioned Sunday dinner leftovers and various iterations of pork products, which had the advantage of keeping well and being inexpensive.

In the South, people ate a lot of pork. Pork products, corn, greens - the "hog and hominy" diet that has sustained Southern America since the 18th century and are still part of the culture (pass the barbecue....)

When my grandparents got married in 1929, my DC-born grandmother had never HEARD of anybody putting gravy on rice, as Louisianans routinely did. Gravy went on mashed potatoes! The way Marylanders / DC people ate rice back then was mostly as rice pudding. The idea of gravy going over all those raisins and cinnamon really grossed my grandmother out until my grandfather explained it to her.

The food she grew up on in the DC area was very regionally influenced as well - fried chicken with cream gravy (a traditional Maryland dish), lots of seafood -- chesapeake bay crabs, oyster stew, scalloped oysters, etc Oysters, while expensive nowadays, were a poor man's food in the 18th - early 20th centuries

OK - there's part of the lowdown on my own family's eating habits in the "golden era" and before/after. What region of the country are your folks from and what did THEY eat in the 1920s-50s?

New to this here place but enjoying it immensely,

[Big Man]

... When my grandparents got married in 1929, my DC-born grandmother had never HEARD of anybody putting gravy on rice ...

Gravy is good on everything! I can't recall a dinner (yes, DINNER is always the mid-day meal) at my Grandmother's that didn't include gravy.

[Mr. Rover]

As far as steaks go, I've yet to eat a steak better than the Dry-Aged porterhouse available at Peter Luger's right here in brooklyn

GREATEST STEAK! PERIOD. I haven't been to the Brooklyn Peter Luger yet, as it is ALWAYS crowded. I'm from Long Island, and my family frequented the Great Neck Peter Luger restaurant. No steak in New York compares to Peter Luger steaks. We love them so much we brought back 3 bottles of their steak sauce with us to Taiwan, where we're living right now. Man...just thinking about that perfect porterhouse is making me drool....

[Big Man]

... OK - there's part of the lowdown on my own family's eating habits in the "golden era" and before/after. What region of the country are your folks from and what did THEY eat in the 1920s-50s? ...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/Burke1777/DSC01513.jpg

I'm from the South. Both sides of my family have lived within about a 20 or 30 mile radius since 1764. There were two exceptions, the Brown's moved from NC to Kansas in 1870 and returned in 1881 and the Dobson's (my Mother's line) moved to Washington state around 1900 and returned in 1920.

My Grandfather Brown (b.1879) was from a family of 14 children, seven boys and seven girls. All the girls married farmers and remained in western NC. Several of the boys moved away: my great uncle Briscoe (who's pictures I've posted on several occasions) moved to Imola, CA and was the superintendent of the farm at the State Hospital there; my great uncle Sank moved to Montana, then to Alaska, and finally settled in Seattle, WA around 1905; and my great uncle John moved to Chattanooga, TN. The rest of the boys remained fairly close to home.

My great Grandparents were married in 1866. Their first child was born in 1868 and the last in 1892, with one set of twins in the middle of the children. Having such a large family spread out over almost 30 years, they were all together at the same time only ONCE. In August, 1928 the Brown family had a reunion (see picture) where Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother Brown, all 14 children and their wives, and all the grandchildren were present. This was the only time they were all together as a family. My Great Grandmother died the following December, and before the end of 1932 four of the children had died. My Great Grandfather died in 1943, just a couple months shy of his 100th birthday.

My Grandfather and Grandmother married in December, 1904. At the time, they were both working at the State Hospital in Morganton, NC (incidentally, this is the same place where I work, and in the same building where my Grandfather worked). After their marriage, they left the hospital and started farming in McDowell County. Their first child was born in November, 1905 (died in 1910). My aunt Hazel (who is alive and well at 97 years of age) was born in March, 1908, followed by my aunt Sara in 1911 (died in 1983). In 1917 they moved from the farm to a house in the little community of Nebo (the house at Nebo has now passed to me, and is essentially unchanged since their earliest days there). My Dad, who came along late in life, was born in September, 1924 and is still living at (soon to be) 81 years of age.

Sometime around 1920 my Grandfather put indoor plumbing (bathroom on the back porch) and running water in the house. This was accomplished by digging out a basement and having a gasoline engine that pumped water up to the second floor to a storage tank. The water was then gravity fed to the rest of the house. They had a "water jacket" on the wood cook stove (that my Grandmother reluctantly gave up in the mid 1950's) that supplied hot water. In 1930, the community of Nebo incorporated and passed a bond to bring electricity to the community. I have a copy of the first power bill, dated May, 1930. Prior to that time lighting in the house was by kerosene lamps (which we still have at the house). They bought their first car in 1922 (I've got the receipt for it) and got a radio in the mid 1930's. Telephone service was not available in Nebo until the mid 1950's, and then it was an 11 party line (I still remember having to pick up the phone and listen to see if anyone else was on the line prior to making a call). They got their first TV in the late 1950's (an old Dumont that is still there, but not working any more). The house is still heated by a fireplace (coal burning).

My Grandfather and Grandmother lived fairly well into the 1930's. They had indoor plumbing prior to most everyone else in the area (I remember outhouses in Nebo in the early 1960's), they had a cement sidewalk in front of their house (I don't recall any of the other old houses having such), and they even had a dirt tennis court at the house. They took great pains to ensure that their children had a good education, sending both my aunts and my Dad to college. My Grandfather had a good job (he worked for McDowell Hardware), but was not rich by any means. When he died in March, 1932 it was devastating to the family. The family was fortunate that my aunt Hazel was already out of college and was teaching, so she was able to contribute to the family. My aunt Sara was in her final year of college, and my Dad was not even 8 years old yet. My Grandmother cooked for people, took in laundry, raised produce, did sewing, and just about anything else you can think of to keep the family supported. From her I learned a valuable work ethic.

Growing up, I spent a tremendous amount of time at my Grandmother's. She made a very large garden, where we had an abundance of fresh vegetables in season. She canned and dried all kinds of things, so we always had "home grown" food year-round. Up until Mr. Park's grain mill closed in Nebo (about 1960), she even had her own corn ground for meal. I still remember that old mill and all the dust that comes from grinding corn into meal. My Grandmother raised chickens for meat and eggs, had a cow for milk, and raised a hog or two each year for meat (she cured her own bacon, shoulders, and hams on the back porch). One of my fondest "culinary memories" was my Grandmother's homemade blackberry jelly and home-baked bread.

The food we had changed very little from the "early days". Breakfast usually consisted of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, toast and HOT coffee (even at 101 years, my grandmother still liked her HOT coffee). Dinner was meat (beef roast or fried chicken), potatoes (usually mashed) with gravy of course, green beans, homemade yeast rolls, and always desert. Anyone ever had strawberry and rhubarb pie? I cannot remember a mid-day meal not being a full meal - ever. Almost without exception, my Grandmother had milk and cornbread for supper.

Up until the time I was in my mid-teens, we all ate Sunday dinner at my Grandmothers. After dinner, we would (in good weather) sit on the front porch and talk. If it was bad weather, we would go in the "front room". The "front room" was reserved for special occasions, and as a matter of fact the same furniture with the same (original to 1924) upholstery is still there and looks like new. In cold weather we all went to the "back room" that was a bedroom, a "living room" and where the TV was. This room is heated by a coal burning fireplace, and was the only heated room in the house (although the other rooms have fireplaces, this was the only one my Grandmother allowed to be used - she didn't want to "waste" heat). I still recall her telling of the Depression years when times were hard that the men would hide along the railroad tracks and jump the train when it slowed down climbing the grade coming into Nebo. They would then throw coal off the train and jump from the train when it slowed down on the grade several miles up the tracks. They would then walk back down the tracks picking up the coal to have something to burn to stay warm. She related to me that times were often hard, but never "bad", and I do not recall ever hearing her complain about anything.

My Grandmother was blessed with a long and productive life, and was able to work in her garden and provide for the family until she was 99 years old. She suddenly and unexpectedly came down with pneumonia one day after canning 30 or so quarts of beans and baking the weeks supply of bread. To give you an idea of how she thought, as we were putting her in the ambulance that night she told me to "go in the house and get a loaf of bread for these nice men" (the EMS personnel). She was never able to fully recover her strength after being sick, and spent the next three years of her life with my Dad at his home. This was the first time she ever lived in a house that had heat and air conditioning, and it was quite a change for her to have someone cook for her instead of her cooking for them. She died in June, 1983 at the age of 101.

Well, I've rambled on a lot about my experiences of "life in the golden era" and hopefully haven't bored you all too much with my story. I learned a lot from my Grandmother, and I'm sure that is where I developed my love of history. There is something special about being able to sit at the same table with MY grandchildren and enjoy a Sunday dinner (although not as good as "Maw's" cooking), then sitting on the same front porch and watching my grandchildren play in the same yard as did I, and as did my children, and as did my Dad and aunts when they were little. I know that I've been blessed with a good family, and am trying my best to pass that same "way of life" on to the next generation.

[Jay]

Cant't say this is close but the other day my mom broke our coffee pot, so I went to look for a replacement in our cabinets and found my Uncles old perculator instead. That makes a better cup of coffee than anything I've ever seen. Can't say I enjoy the grounds left at the bottom of every cup, tho.

[Zohar]

Wow, that is quite a family history. You are fortunate to have been brought up in such a place, and to still be able to live there is even better.

[Big Man]

Yes, I am very fortunate to be able to have the family connections that I have, and I thank God every day for that blessing.

[green papaya]

I have some old issues of LIFE magazine from the early 1940's and one of the most popular meals back in 1941 was "fried chicken dinners"....roast chicken dinner was also very common, the old diners or cafes would use the left over roast chickens and make a dish called "chicken ala king" and serve it for lunch specials the next day.

chili con carne

spagetti dinners

fried catfish dinners & hush puppies

corned beef & hash

pickled pigs feet

coffee & donuts

were also common back in the 30's 40's

[Wild Root]

Wow, talk about a blast from the past! Good points on that last post! Chicken was very popular in those days! Same with cornbread!!! Oh home cook'n, YES!

Reminds me of an old Ink Spots song called "Pork chops and Gravy" Home cook'n, IN THE BAG!

When I want an old fashioned taste, I eat plane cake doughnuts. That was the typical doughnut with a little powdered sugar on top. Only once in a wile I enjoy this treat.

WR.

[Big Man]

My Grandmother used to make doughnuts, as well as fried apple pies. For her fried pies, she would use dried apples that she made. When in season, she would collect the apples from her tree, cut them into slices about 1/2 inch thick, and dry them in the sun in the back yard on an old piece of roofing tin covered with a window screen (to keep the flies away). these were things she did all her life, and had learned from her mother. So, I guess, you can't get more "vintage" than that. One of the things that always struck me with my Grandmother was how she could do "more with less" and not seem like it was any trouble. It all seemed to come so natural, and was just how things were done.

[green papaya]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64/cyberdyne101/cbdm17.jpg

a sailor standing in front of a diner in Baltimore, MD circa 1943

[Laraquan]

Here's a nice set of recipes from the Great Depression allegedly handed down by mum.

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1918/great.html

I think what I like best about vintage recipes is their simplicity. You go through most cook books these days and each recipe often has one or two rarely used ingredients. One must either buy in very small amounts or be very careful about the order of meals one cooks or else there will be a lot of waste.

I suppose that will always be an issue if a person wants to mix Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian and English recipes, because each culture has a different variety of staples. Unfortunately, it often turns out to be such a bother, particularly as many such meals often require over a dozen ingredients.

With vintage recipes, it is often easy to buy in bulk because there wasn't such a variety of ingredients used. At least, this has been my experience.

[Forgotten Man]

I love to eat meals prepared out of vintage recipe books. A friend of mine has a collection of old recipe books from the 20’s and 30’s… very interesting things in there… some things people wouldn’t think to try today… I’d try anything once, and who knows, I may like it.

That is one thing I love about the older generation’s recipes… simple, basic and easy. Nothing too fancy or too crazy. Also, basic ingredients, lots of natural stuff. I also am 100% against margarine, sugar substitutes and other “Modern” ingredients. Give me the real deal, it’s really better for you, if you eat in moderation. Real butter isn’t bad, but if you eat to much of it, it is.

The kind of food that was eaten mostly in middle class homes in those days is different then today because they cooked everything from scratch! Also, kids played more, they burned off the carbs they eat. Lots of jobs required manual labor back in those days and people needed a lot of carbs to get through the day.

I can’t wait till one day I’ll buy a period stove so I can prepare meals on it… also, I’ll have a period monitor top fridge… I don’t mind the lack of freezer space… I don’t want any microwave bologna in my house! Fresh, natural, home cooked meals… Mmmmm, that’s for me!

Forgotten Man~

[Laraquan]

I also am 100% against margarine, sugar substitutes and other “Modern” ingredients. Give me the real deal, it’s really better for you, if you eat in moderation. Real butter isn’t bad, but if you eat to much of it, it is.

Forgotten Man~

Hehe, steer clear from the WW2 ration recipes from the British Home Front then ... unless you're real keen on dried eggs, sometimes reconstituted, sometimes not, which at least I don't believe counts as the real deal! And a lot of those recipes do call for margarine.

[Josephine]

I can’t wait till one day I’ll buy a period stove so I can prepare meals on it…

My aunt had a gas period stove (think the one that they had in A Christmas Story) and she finally had to put it in the finished basement as it was next to the refrigerator 'cause the heat from the lack of insulation of it warped the fridge... :)

[BlancheDubois]

This 91 year old lady has as least 12 videos on YouTube demonstrating Depression Era cooking and talking about her experiences during The Great Depression.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=DepressionCooking&view=videos