American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us To Love Bananas, Spam, and Jello

Why do we eat the foods we eat? Someone told us to eat them. Or--"sold us" to eat them.

Christian Ward's American Advertising Cookbooks tells the story of how corporations and big business influenced Americans to buy their products, creating an American cuisine that included Jello, Spam, and 7-Up in baby's milk. 

As a kid growing up in the 50s I was deluged with television ads telling me to buy the bread with the red, yellow, and blue balloons and sugared cereals with cartoon mascots. Then came Golden Arches and Coke Cola vs. Pepsi and newfangled foods like Pringles and Fritos. Remember the Where's the Beef, Beef--it's what America eats, and the Got Milk? celebrity ads? How many thousands of food commercials have I seen?

 Velveta actually was once real cheese. Now its a "cheese product"
vintage ad from my collection

While we Boomer kids were pleading for the latest product marketed on our TV shows, our mothers were collecting recipes from the magazines she brought home from the grocery store. Did a 25 cent rebate inspire Mom to try La Choy Chop Suey? (Dad hated it.) Did she get her favorite Spanish Rice recipe from a magazine ad?

Perhaps this La Choy magazine ad inspired Mom to try Chinese
from my collection

Spanish Rice was one of Mom's standard meals. from my collection

I don't remember Mom having any two-inch-thick Cookbook Bibles. She did have a collection of smaller cookbooks published by companies. Hotpoint Ovens. Fleischmann yeast. The Joy of Jello. Pies Men Like. She had recipes that came with her Bundt cake pan and electric skillet and cookie press. Mom used Bisquick and had the Bisquick Cookbook. I remember the coffee cake with streusel topping she often made.

some of Mom's recipe booklets

I remember learning how to make mini-pizzas with English muffins. Another magazine recipe...

Mom made a few signature dishes from scratch, but she also loved to try every new product that came out on the market including frozen TV dinners. I am grateful for one thing: we never had to eat the ubiquitous canned green beans/mushroom soup/Durkee fried onion casserole at holidays. (Dorcas Reilly invented the casserole recipe for Campbell's Soup, the most famous and important recipe they ever created. I read about her passing while working on this review.)

When I married, we began with Hamburger Helper and recipe booklets and magazine recipes. Before long we were cooking from scratch, even making our own bread.

my 1970s bread recipes from Robin Hood Flour 

I am fascinated by the history of food. So the idea of a book about how Big Business inspired American housewives to buy products caught my attention. The book includes a history of what we ate and why and photos from Ward's advertising cookbook collection. There were some pretty awful recipes. Like Ham Banana Rolls. Chiquita Banana says it's good, so it must be. 

Seeing the advertisements and recipes is great fun. But the book is more than a trip down memory lane to laugh at the ill-advised foods we once ate. The essays on the history of food and cooking in America include some stories that may shock readers. Political intervention in foreign governments, environmental degradation, racism, manipulation to encourage buying things that are bad for us--This is the history of American capitalism in American kitchens. 

Jello Pudding Cheesecake advertisement, my collection

Did you know that Daniel Dole went to Honolulu in 1841 with a missionary group, then with his son Sanford helped to depose Queen Liliuokalani--and then placed Sanford as President of the Republic of Hawaii? The family then built their pineapple plantations. And no, pineapples are not native to Hawaii.

You have perhaps heard about Banana Republics. Bananas were brought to South America to feed slaves. North Americans first ate them at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. People went ape over bananas. Banana plantations were planted all over Central American, forcing out native species. Over time, United Fruit became the banana monopoly, powerful enough to interfere in Bananaland politics.

The book is divided into Why Are We Eating This and Empire Building in the Free World? Chapter topics include:

• Bananas & Pineapples: The food of paupers and kings
• Chiquita Banana vs. the World: Banana republics, pineapple princes, and the Boston families who started it all
• Class, race, and cultural signifiers: How cookbooks reinforce and change our way of thinking
• Rationing & Fish Sticks- Food as both tool and weapon
• Invasion of the Home Economists: The uneasy relationship between food science and marketing

Photo chapters cover all the major 'food groups': jello, pineapple, bananas, mystery meats, and sweets. 

Ward discusses the roots of American cooking and the first American cookbook, and how immigrants were taught to make American foods as part of their assimilation. 

Readers learn how the government got involved to clean up the food business and how Home Economics became a scientific part of education and entertaining with food became an art form. 

The Mad Men era saw entertaining become an art form. Vintage ad from my collection.

American Advertising Cookbooks would be a great gift with wide appeal. It was Boomer nostalgia for me. My son and friends loved the idea of this book and can't wait to get a hold of it.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us To Love Bananas, Spam, and Jello

by Christina Ward

Publication: November 27, 2018

ISBN 9781934170748, 1934170747

Trade Paperback 208 pages

$22.95 USD, $33.50 CAD

from the publisher:

American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us to Love Spam, Bananas, and Jell-O is a deeply researched and entertaining survey of twentieth-century American food. Connecting cultural, social, and geopolitical aspects, author Christina Ward (Preservation: The Art & Science of Canning, Fermentation, and Dehydration, Process 2017) uses her expertise to tell the fascinating and often infuriating story of American culinary culture.

Readers will learn of the role bananas played in the Iran-Contra scandal, how Sigmund Freud's nephew decided Carmen Miranda would wear fruit on her head, and how Puritans built an empire on pineapples. American food history is rife with crackpots, do-gooders, con men, and scientists all trying to build a better America-while some were getting rich in the process.

Loaded with full-color images, Ward pulls recipes and images from her vast collection of cookbooks and a wide swath of historical advertisements to show the influence of corporations on our food trends. Though easy to mock, once you learn the true history, you will never look at Jell-O the same way again!

****

I have shared many recipes from Mid-Century magazines over the years but also from Advertising Booklets. Click on the titles of the booklets below to read my posts.

Pies Men Like 
Coconut Dishes Everyone Likes 
Big Boy BBQ Book
641 Tested Recipes from the Sealtest Kitchen

1931 Advertising cookbook for coconut. From my collection.

November, 1964 Woman's Day

Years ago I was gifted a box of vintage magazines and from time to time I share them on my blog. Today I have chosen Woman's Day from November, 1964 which includes 100 gift ideas to make, and some ads that recalled to mind my childhood home.

My husband recently realized we are missing six spoons from our flatware set! I've had a lot of chatter on Facebook about what to do, from using heirloom silver plate to buying replacements. I would love to buy the pattern I grew up with, which appears in this advertisement--Twin Star. The design included two abstract stars etched onto a graceful curved handle.

I do still have Mom's Miro cookie press and cookie cutters, like in the advertisement below! It is so cool to know how old they are!

The article on 100 Christmas gifts came with complete instructions. The ideas were very diverse, for all ages, and includes needlework, sewing, crafting, and woodworking ideas. I would love to know if anyone remembers receiving a gift made from these instructions.

I love those stuffed animal dogs and these adorable dolls!

Vermont Maid offered this sampler for embroidery. $1.25 seems like quite the deal! That would be nearly $10 in today's dollars.

Of course, every woman's magazine had to include food ads and recipes. Quaker Oats offered suggestion on motivating kids to eat their oatmeal.

Money Saving Menus in 1964 seem quite elaborate but included thrifty use of planned leftovers. On November 22 the menu was Roast Pork, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut with allspice, sautéed apple wedges, and lemon meringue pie. Left over pork was used on November 24 for Pork Chow Mein with Chow Mein noodles, peach salad, and cottage pudding with chocolate sauce. Other menus included November 4's Lamb stew with potato balls, peas and onions, marjoram croutons with mixed green salad, applesauce, and cookies for desert; November 14's Yankee Bean Soup with frankfurters, scalloped tomatoes, corn bread, and for desert stewed pears with sour cream cookies.

 I remember Velveeta grilled cheese sandwiches.

 And Mom made Pineapple Upside Down Cake frequently--served warm with whip cream.

 Here is a real old pattern of Ancor Hocking baking ware.

We never had one of these Christmas Card Trees, but I knew people who did.

 Remember the Fisher-Price telephone? It seems every kid had one.

 I know my brother had that tool bench when a tot.

Oh, don't these bring back memories! Those plastic boots that we wore over our shoes! I always thought they looked quite dorky.

The shoes we needed to protect might have been Cobbies from Red Cross, "the easy way out and about suburbia." Only $13 a pair!

November 1964 was just a year after President Kennedy's assassination. Mementos of all kinds were sold.

 Reynolds Aluminum suggested making your own decorations.

 I picked up this book many years ago at a sale. There are nice chapters on quilting.

A pull-out section The Collector's Cook Book offered recipes for Gifts From Your Kitchen. Here are some selections.

Basil Salad Dressing
1 cup salad oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp of dried basil leaves
Measure ingredients into a jar and shake thoroughly. Store in refrigerator.

Candied Kumquats
4 cups fresh kumquats, about 1 pound
water
sugar
pecan halves
Stem and wash kumquats. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, drain, and cut in halves, lengthwise. Combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water and boil until sugar is dissolved. Drop kumquats into boiling syrup. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Put into bowl, cover, and let stand overnight. The next day cook 20 minutes and lift from syrup. Lay on paper to cool. Press a pecan on each, roll in sugar.

Preserved Grapefruit Peel
4 large grapefruit
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
6 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon, broken
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps. mixed pickling spices
1/3 cup picked sweet red pepper
yellow food coloring
Pull skin off grapefruit, reserving fruit for other uses. Scald skins with boiling water. Pour off water, cover again with boiling water and boil until tender. Change water and rinse once during cooking time, about 45-50 minutes. Drain. Combine 1 cup water and remaining ingredients. Boil 2 minutes to make a syrup. Add peel and cook until thick, about 25 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized glasses and seal. Makes about 2 pints.

Pick Up Sticks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package (5 ounces) pretzel sticks
Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Then cook over medium heat without stirring to hard crack stage, 290 degrees, or until a small amount of syrup separates into threads which are hard and brittle when dropped into very cold water. Reduce heat to low. Add butter, vanilla, and about a quarter of the pretzels. Stir until pretzels are boated and butter is melted. Lift out, drain, and put on a greased pan. Separate with a fork. Repeat until pretzels are all coated.

Coconut Dishes Everybody Loves: 1931 Recipes from Baker's Coconut

"Like the fragrant palm groves and sunny tropic lands where it grows, Baker's Coconut has a rare sweetness, an inviting, delicious glamor, to add to every dish."

This sweet booklet with its pastel pics is full of lovely recipes for Baker's Coconut, Southern Style "fresh-grated coconut, slightly sweetened and packed, without coconut milk, in air-tight tin" and for Baker's Coconut, Premium Shred, "sugar cured-finely shredded coconut, put up in a triple-sealed, moisture-proof package that keeps it fresh."

Some have many steps and use old fashioned kitchen tools, like hand rotary egg beaters. I have a hand rotary beater in my kitchen that Mom used in the early 1960s.

Coconut Fudge Cake
2 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or other shortening
1 cup coconut
2 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate, melted
1 egg, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift together three times. Cream butter thoroughly, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add chocolate, blend; then add egg and vanilla. Add flour, alternately with milk, a small amount at a time. Beat after each addition until smooth. Bake in greased pan, 8 x 8 x 2 inches, in moderate oven (325 degrees F) 1 hour. Spread with Coconut Marshmallow Frosting.

Coconut Marshmallow Frosting
Add 1 cup marshmallows, quartered, to Seven Minute Frosting. Spread on cake. Sprinkle 1 can Baker's Coconut, Southern Style, over cake while frosting is still soft. Makes enough frosting to cover tops and sides of two 9-inch layers.

Seven Minute Frosting
2 egg whites, unbeaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put egg whites, sugar, water and corn syrup in upper part of double boiler. Beat with rotary egg beater until thoroughly mixed. Place over rapidly boiling water, beat constantly with rotary egg beater, and cook and beat until thick enough to spread. Makes enough frosting to cover tops and sides of two 9-inch layers.

Here is an easy recipe to try!

Coconut Salad Delicious

2 cups cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup grated pineapple, drained

1 cup Baker's Coconut, Premium Shred

3/4 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise

dash of salt

Crisp cabbage by allowing it to stand in ice water. Drain and dry thoroughly. Toss lightly together with remaining ingredients. Serve on crisp lettuce. Garnish with strips of pimento and chopped chives. Serves 6

 Imperial Tutti-frutti Cake

2 2/3 cups sifted Swan's Down Cake Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter or other shortening
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, and sift together three times. Cream butter thoroughly, add sugar gradually and cream together until light and fluffy. Combine milk, water, and flavoring. Add flour to creamed mixture, alternately with liquid, a small amount at a time, and mix after each addition until smooth. Add salt to egg whites and beat until stiff, but not dry. Fold gently into cake mixture. Bake in two greased 9-inch layer pans in slow oven (300 degrees F) for 10 minutes; then increase heat to moderate (374 degrees F) and bake 15 minutes longer. Put layers together and cover top and sides of cake with California Tutti-frutti Frosting and Filing or frost with Coconut Seven Minute Frosting.

California Tutti-frutti Frosting
2 egg whites, unbeaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
dash of salt
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup walnut meats, toasted and coarsely broken
1/2 cup currants
8 maraschino cherries, finely cut
1 can Baker's Coconut, Southern Style

Put egg whites, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt in upper part of double boiler. Beat with rotary egg beater until thoroughly mixed. Place over rapidly boiling water, beat constantly with rotary egg beater, and cook 7 minutes or until frosting will stand in peaks. Remove from fire, add lemon rind and almond extract. To 1/3 mixture, add nuts, currants, and cherries. Spread between layers of cake. Cover top and sides with remaining frosting and sprinkle thickly with coconut. Makes enough frosting and filing for tops and sides of two 9-inch layers.

Coconut Brambles

2 cups sifted Swan's Down Cake Flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup blackberry jelly

Baker's Coconut, Southern Style

Sift flour once measure, add salt and 1/2 cup sugar, and sift again. Add cream, milk, and baking powder to egg whites, and beat with rotary egg mixer until mixture thickens; then add flavoring and remaining sugar. Fold in flour gently. Bake in two greased pans, 8 x 8 x 2 inches, in moderate oven (325 degrees F) 25 minutes or until done. Cook. Put layers together with blackberry jelly. Cut into 2-inch squares or diamond-shaped pieces, cover with Seven Minute Frosting and sprinkle with coconut. Makes 25.

Stuffed Prune Salad

2 packages cream cheese

1/2 can Baker's Coconut, Southern Style

2 tablespoons Hellmann's Mayonnaise

24 cooked prunes, seeded

Blend cheese, coconut and mayonnaise. Stuff prunes with mixture. Serve on crisp lettuce. Garnish with additional mayonnaise. Serves 8.

Yum!

Here is a history of Baker's Coconut founded in 1894 in Philadelphia by Franklin Baker:
http://www.franklinbaker.com/about-us/history.html

Here's a nice blog post on the history of the rotary beater at Cake, Oil and the Kitchen.