Food History Articles and Links

[heidih]

3 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I would 100% buy one of those to serve shrimp salad out of!  

 

Mr. Kim recently sent me this link: The Lost Glamour of the Department-Store Restaurant

 

I remember these places so well: Garfinkles, Lord & Taylor, Woodward & Lothrop, and the Miller & Rhoads Tea Room in Richmond VA.  Even as a little girl, I loved the elegant, intensely feminine feeling of those places.  The dainty sandwiches, airy popovers and tiny tea muffin baskets, beef bouillon in demitasse cups.  An American version of Afternoon Tea for this little Anglophile.  

 

Did they have the fashion shows too?  Filled avocado "salads" with tiny shrimp? sort of lie these Buffums memories  http://www.octhen.com/2010/09/yorba-room-at-buffums.html#

[Katie Meadow]

Wow. My shopping excursions with my mother were usually at Bloomingdales, which wasn't exactly known for glamour. I don't even remember them having a restaurant. For sustenance we would end up at a nearby Chock Full O Nuts so my mother could indulge in her favorite snack: date nut bread with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. Shopping with my mother for anything was mostly not a fun thing, so I latched onto the date nut bread like  being thrown a life-saver. It wasn't until 60 years later that I got a serious craving for it and learned how to make a good loaf myself.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

45 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Wow. My shopping excursions with my mother were usually at Bloomingdales, which wasn't exactly known for glamour. I don't even remember them having a restaurant. For sustenance we would end up at a nearby Chock Full O Nuts so my mother could indulge in her favorite snack: date nut bread with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. Shopping with my mother for anything was mostly not a fun thing, so I latched onto the date nut bread like  being thrown a life-saver. It wasn't until 60 years later that I got a serious craving for it and learned how to make a good loaf myself.

 

Our family preferred Wanamaker's

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker's

 

Even though my mother was offended they wouldn't let her smoke there.  How I remember meeting people at the Eagle.  And the organ concerts.  But most especially the toys.

 

Food was good.

 

[kayb]

Department stores in Memphis were Goldsmiths and Lowensteins. In Nashville it was Cain Sloan and Castner Knott. As an impoverished college student preparing for my first job in journalism, I bought myself a small wardrobe from Goldsmith’s bargain basement, and celebrated with lunch in the Tea Room — pimiento cheese on wheat, cut in triangles, crusts removed, and carrots, celery and cucumbers with tomato aspic. Quite elegant!

[BetD]

Dayton’s, in Minneapolis, was known for it’s wild rice soup 🥣 

[liuzhou]

Love sick? Heart broken? Worry ye not. Here is a 17th century recipe to set you straight.

https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2022/06/28/heartsease-cordial-adapting-early-modern-recipe-pansies/

[Kim Shook]

On 7/1/2022 at 10:57 PM, heidih said:

 

Did they have the fashion shows too?  Filled avocado "salads" with tiny shrimp? sort of lie these Buffums memories  http://www.octhen.com/2010/09/yorba-room-at-buffums.html#

Miller and Rhoads Tea Room certainly did.  And Mr. Kim remembers Breakfast with Santa at Christmas time.  

[liuzhou]

From Pythagoreans to soysages: words relating to vegetarianism and veganism in the Historical Thesaurus of the OED

[liuzhou]

The Art of Cookery, 1747

 

They are still working on this, but still useful.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

The Art of Cookery, 1747

 

They are still working on this, but still useful.

 

Weird but many thanks.

 

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Weird but many thanks.

 

 

There is a more complete, but later edition available as a free e-book in various formats here.

[liuzhou]

Warner Bros Studio Cafe Menu. Monday February 17th, 1941

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Warner Bros Studio Cafe Menu. Monday February 17th, 1941

Quite startling when you consider that Europe was in the middle of a war and food rationing in the UK had been in effect for a year. 

[Arey]

the USA declared its neutrality in the 1930s in several acts of congress the most recent in 1939. People     In a movie studio cafe in Burbank CA  in February 1941 might well have arguements while eating  over how much the US should be involved ,if at all, in those conflicts in Europe and Asia.  After all,even the national  hero Lindy was opposed to getting involved.   As long as that man in the White House and his "New Deal Democrats" didn't do anything to seriously antagonize the combatants then everything should go on just pleasantly as ever.

[SusieQ]

18 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Warner Bros Studio Cafe Menu. Monday February 17th, 1941

I love that the first listing under "Specials" is "Canape of Anchovies"!

Then there's this listed under "Sandwiches":
"Manager Special (Peanut Butter, Baked Ham, and Chicken on Toast)"

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, SusieQ said:

I love that the first listing under "Specials" is "Canape of Anchovies"!

Then there's this listed under "Sandwiches":
"Manager Special (Peanut Butter, Baked Ham, and Chicken on Toast)"

 

Doesn't sound half bad actually.

 

[liuzhou]

Canape of Anchovies would be my first choice.

[SusieQ]

On 9/27/2022 at 9:29 PM, liuzhou said:

Canape of Anchovies would be my first choice.

Yes, mine too. I love anchovies! 

[liuzhou]

Thanksgiving menu at Plaza Hotel NYC, 1899: All in “cents.”

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

 

 

Who could afford to eat at The Plaza?

 

Salaries in 1900 in the States

 

Occupation	Annual Salary	2000 $
1900 Census Average Salary	$449.80	$8,973
Unskilled Female	$120	$2,394
African-American male laborer	$150	$2,992
African-American Female laundress	$180	$3,591
Nurses after two years	$193	$3,850
Factory women (Boston)	$295.44	$5,885
Retail Women (Boston)	$303.84	$6,045
National average female teachers	$381.50	$7,601
Lynn, MA factory seamstresses	$384	$7,660
Male Stenographer	$400	$7,980
Eden, NY Union Free School female teacher	$400	$7,980
National average male teachers	$452	$9,017
Nurse Supervisors	$463	$9,237
Western U.S. female teachers	$505	$10,074
Buffalo Railway Company trolley conductors	$533	$10,663
NYC Female teachers	$600	$11,970
Buffalo teacher after 4 years	$600	$11,970
Western U.S. male teachers	$610	$12,169
Buffalo NY factory planers	$624	$12,449
Buffalo School "department principal"	$750	$14,902
NYC male teachers	$900	$17,955

Edited November 25, 2022 by ElsieD (log)

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Thanksgiving menu at Plaza Hotel NYC, 1899: All in “cents.”

 

 

 

Hothouse tomatoes-check. Hothouse cucumber-check. Hothouse chicken-what the hell?

 

[BeeZee]

Interesting how many turtle dishes they had.

[ElsieD]

22 hours ago, Anna N said:

Hothouse tomatoes-check. Hothouse cucumber-check. Hothouse chicken-what the hell?

 

 

At least they were upfront about it.  

[liuzhou]

‘Surprisingly tasty’: putting Neanderthal cooking to the test

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

I don't think this has been posted before. The Bill of Fare for Andrew Johnson's Presidential Inauguration Ball in 1865, following the assassination of Lincoln.