Heritage Lost

I’ve been so busy for the past few weeks that there are several things I could blog about:
*The fact that I made corn muffins out of my normal 1990s-circa cookbook and while ok, the Woman’s Day 1940s rationing corn muffins were far better in taste!
Or
* My 5 year old loves to help me cook but my 7 year old doesn’t seem interested…think I finally found a way to engage her. (Will blog about this later.)

But…one reason I haven’t posted in a few weeks is that I’ve been looking for some new interesting pre-1950s homemaking materials. An old cookbook or perhaps magazine? On the face of this it would not seem to hard a task if I visit the right places, right? Used bookshop or antique stores that carry a lot of print. Well what was a fun, casual way to spend a few weekend afternoons has turned into a quest!

I visited all the used bookstores and was recommended antique stores that specialize in books,records, and magazines. If you want old magazines about movie stars, photography, the arts, old comic books, history, SciFi, short stories, mechanics, trains, etc etc…your search is likely to be successful. But each time I asked the clerks whether they had any women’s interest magazines they looked me like I had two-heads and pointed me to their small collection of cookbooks (post-1970s!)

Think about your mothers, grand-mothers, great-grandmothers…did they not have several cookbooks and get as many magazine subscriptions as your father and grandfathers? Haven’t the super-market checkout aisles been lined with cooking & woman’s interest magazines for as long as you can remember?

Yet to visit today’s bookstores and antique stores you might get the impression that women of even the recent past did not know how to read and kept all their recipes in their heads! Same for all sewing and crafts. Where is all that printed material that we know must have existed? My theory is that so little value is thought of homemaking books, magazines, and materials that most of it is rotting in a landfill right now. When grandpa died perhaps someone bought his old hobby magazines at an estate sale but when grandmother died no value was seen in the plain, common, “boring” details of her life. Sure maybe that one aunt grabbed her box of recipe cards but magazines and battered cookbooks and homecraft books were tossed out.

We all know it’s laughable to think life is fair or that history is ever recorded in a way that truly represents a whole society…but I wanted to let you know that if homemaking history at all holds meaning or interest to you or someone you care about, then if you happen to be in a position someday to judge a aunt’s or grandparent’s battered old things-what gets held onto and what goes in the trash-keep in mind that sometimes the most everyday and ordinary pieces of their lives are also the most rare and will be hard to find items someday. These are the things that give us a glimpse into the values, concerns, tastes, fads, sights, and senses of our female ancestors. This historical information is disappearing fast and only such a small bit of it ever even makes it to a library collection.

Historical Cooking with Kids

Just as cooking old family recipes can help you feel a link with the past and understand the tastes of olden days, so can cooking historical recipes with your children help encourage them to have an interest and enthusiasm for history. But what recipes should you cook with your kids? It’s important that the recipes also have a chance of turning out very good the first time you make them! Well someone out there has actually thought of this and done all the work for you in putting together good collections of historical recipes for kids – The American Girl Company.

1700s Felicity Cooking Studio

So far the company has released recipe collections for these eras:
* 1700s – Colonial (Felicity’s Cooking Studio)
* 1900 – Turn of the Century (Samantha’s Cooking Studio)
* 1930s – Depression (Kit’s Cooking Studio)
* 1940s – WWII (Molly’s Cooking Studio)
* 1970s – (Julie’s Cooking Studio)

Now let me tell you a little secret about these books…you don’t need to be a parent to little girls to LOVE these books! Honestly my girls were more “excuses” to provide as to why I wanted to buy these cook books. When I bought them, my girls were too young to read them or really understand what they were…but they sure helped pour ingredients and stir with gusto! These books are a great introduction for anyone interested in cooking historical recipes in a modern kitchen. I’ve made quite a few of the recipes from the 1700s and 1940s cookbook and while I’ve made little mistakes here & there – every recipe turned out very well! The colonial cookbook recipes in particular were a huge hit with my family. Some of our favorites from this cookbook were: Chicken Pudding, Spiced Nuts, Breakfast Puffs, and Johnnycakes. Some of our favorite recipes from the WWII, Molly’s Cooking Studio were: Toad-in-a-Hole, Vitality Meat Loaf, Volcano Potatoes, PBJ Roll-Ups, and Jelly Flags.

The books are a limited collection of recipes so don’t expect a comprehensive list of all popular recipes from that era. They give a nice variety to help us understand what a fairly typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner might have looked like in times gone by.

The books also contain party ideas for kid’s birthday and seasonal parties. In this economy with so many more parents switching back to having birthday parties at home…some unique party & recipe ideas could really help your child’s party stand out and be remembered by their friends & classmates.

I’m sorry if I sound like an ad for these cookbooks but I can’t help but get excited about sharing with others something like these books that provide so much value for their cost. Value as in:
* Good recipes with good chance of success.
* A rainy day activity with kids.
* Encourages kids to learn about history in a fun way.
* Family and Kid’s Party Ideas

Those of us with little girls often think of the American Girl Doll brand and cringe because of the cost of their dolls but obviously these cookbooks show that there is some deals at least that can be had at a fair price. They are available on Amazon and I’ve seen them sometimes at Borders & Barnes&Nobles book stores. Price range is $10 – $16.

FYI: For those Gluten free families out there – I’ve had very good luck with most all the recipes in substituting gluten free ingredients for the wheat containing ones. I would call these books Gluten-Free-Compatible!

Nutrition Advice in World War Two (Film, 1943)

This short film from the Prelinger Archives was created by the U.S. Department of War Information in 1943 to promote food rationing and nutrition. The main focus is on nutrition (but they highlight using foods that were not rationed or easier to come by in 1943.) The propoganda message is that poor nutrition is a threat to national security and winning the war.

After taking a look at this video…if you had to evaluate your daily diet in terms of WWII nutrition standards…how well would you do? Could you win a war with the diet you eat?!

Feb 1943: How the System of Point Rationing Will Work

War Ration Book Two

Some of you might not find this longer article interesting but I did…and so here it is. I didn’t realize that during World War II there were stages of rationing. This article addresses the War Ration Book Two. Also as you read the questions & answers part of the article you can really see how complicated the whole system must have been for a family to understand and learn. I don’t know about you but I have a long way to go towards being an effective weekly meal planner…I’d be hopeless if I had to consider nutrition + cost + recipes + limited points…all while working long hours a week at a physically demanding factory job! I really have to admire my grandmas and great grandmas who were able to do all this!

How the System of Point Rationing Will Work

The following information is an outline of how the point system of rationing certain foods will work. It is as accurate as we can make it as we go to press. Complete final details are not yet available. There will be additional information. There may be changes in the information we now have. These would be announced by the government. At the present writing this is how we can buy rationed foods under the point system.

What foods will be rationed?
Canned, bottled and frozen fruits and vegetables; dried fruits; juices; all canned and bottled soups.

How can we get them?
You will use War Ration Book Two.

What is that?
War Ration Book Two will contain point stamps. (See illustration.)

What are the numbers for?
The number on each stamp shows you how many points that stamp is worth.

What are the letters for?
The letters show you when to use the stamp. The year will be divided into rationing periods. You will use A, B, and C blue stamps during the first period. Some of the stamps are red and some are blue.

What is the difference between the red ones and the blue ones?
The blue stamps are for any kind of canned or bottled fruits and vegetables; canned or bottled juices and soups; frozen fruits and vegetables; and dried fruits. The red stamps will be used for meat later on.

But meat isn’t rationed now?
No.

So in the first period I only use the blue stamps marked A, B, and C?
That’s right.

How will I know how many points it takes for each food?
The government will set the number of points necessary to get each kind and size of the rationed foods and send out an Official Table of Point Values. The grocery store wher you shop must post it so that you can see it as you shop. It will also be published in the newspapers. The government recommends that everyone clip a copy of this table and keep it for use when they shop.

Will the points for each kind and size of rationed food be the same everywhere?
The number of points for each kind and size will be the same in all stores in every part of the country.

Do the stamps pay for the food?
No. The stamps have nothing to do with paying for the food. When you pay for the food you also give the grocer the number of stamps the food is worth. If you buy an item valued at sixteen points you have to give the grocer stamps totaling sixteen points.

Can I give him any stamps that add up to sixteen?
Yes but it is wiser to use the larger stamps at first whenever possible so that you’ll have the smaller ones to make combinations with.

Why?
Because you can’t make change in stamps. You can’t give the grocer two eight point stamps for a fourteen point item and expect a two-point stamp in return. You cannot make change because stamps detached are of no use.

How many points will I have for each rationing period?
Every person in you household, including children of any age, is entitled to 48 points for each rationing perod. If you will look at the illustration you will see that all the stamps marked A, B, and C add up to 48 points.

Who in the family receives the ration book?
Everyone. Every person, man, woman, and child in civilian life — unless he is confined to an institution–receives a War Ration Book.

How do I get the book?
At a date and place to be announced by the government you will have to register. You can get the books for all members of the household.

Do I have to take anything with me when I go?

Yes, you have to take War Ration Book One, the ration book you’ve been using for sugar and coffee for everyone in your family. No one who hasn’t Book One to show will receive Book Two.

What are they going to ask me when I register?
They are going to ask you to fill out the Consumer Declaration Form. On the form you are asked to fill in the names of all the persons in your household for whom you are applying for a book. You will also be asked to write down on the form the total number of cans, bottles and packages of the rationed foods you already have at home, which weigh eight ounces or more. You do not have to list them. If, for instance, you already have fifteen containers packed commercially, not home packed, you simply put down the number fifteen. You do not have to declare any rationed foods in less than eight-ounce containers. And you do not have to declare anything you have put up yourself.

Why do I have to declare any stock I have at home?
Because the object of the point rationing system is to make the food go around and if you already have a certain amount you don’t need as much as the person who has no rationed food at home.

What are they going to do about the amount I already have?
They will take out of your book enough point stamps to cover the food you have at home already.

Well suppose I happen to have a great deal. Does that mean they’d take all my stamps if necessary to cover it?
No. No more than half your points will be removed in any ration period. For example, if you had forty-eight points to be deducted, they would take twenty-four out of the first period’s stamps and twenty-four out of the second.

Do I have to declare anything else?
Yes, you have to declare how many pounds of coffee you had on November 28th, when coffee rationing started. Stamps will be removed from Book One to cover excess coffee.

Does War Ration Book Two cover sugar and coffee?
No, You will continue to use Ration Book One for them.

When do the registration and rationing start?
The date has not been set as we go to press. The present estimate is after mid-February.

So there was an element of honest reporting required by our grandmothers and great grandmothers when getting this book. Do you wonder how honest people were? Was only a small number of people dishonest? With the way neighbors dropped into each other’s houses much more back then…would people have been afraid that a neighbor or relative might out them if they lied?

I remember seeing a fascinating movie short from this time that dealt with rationing and honesty… compared it to the war of good vs evil! Wonder if I can find it for you….not yet. Will have to keep looking

1943 Purse String Recipes: Corn Meal Muffins

Corn Meal Muffins (1943)

Tonight I decided to give one of the recipes from the Feb 1943 Woman’s Day magazine a try. Most of the recipes would have required an extra trip to the supermarket but I happened to have all the ingredients for the Corn Meal Muffins located in the Purse String Recipes section on page 45.

We used to make our Corn Meal Muffins with 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and used margarine or vegetable shortening for the fat. The muffins are just as nice when we use only 1 egg and increase the baking powder to 2 1/4 teaspoons. To conserve fat, we use meat drippings in place of shortening. We save 5 cents by making these 2 changes.

Corn Meal Muffins
Costs 11 Cents (January 1943)
Makes 16 Muffins Woman’s Day Kitchen

1 1/3 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup corn meal
1 egg, grade B
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons melted drippings

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add corn meal and mix well. Combine slightly beaten egg, milk, and melted drippings. Add to dry ingredients and mix only until blended. Do not beat smooth. Drop into hot, well-greased muffin tines; bake in hot oven, 400 degrees F., about 20 minutes.

Mixing the wet ingredients into the dry

This recipe is pretty straight forward. I had to make some substitutions: Used gluten free baking flour with the baking powder already in it, didn’t have “meat drippings” handy so used pure olive oil in the same amount, obviously used a grade A egg as I’ve never seen a grade B egg. I followed the instructions and ended up with a fairly thin batter which thickened up a bit in the time it took me to get the pan ready.

Mixed Batter

I buttered the muffin tray and then poored the batter evenly between the 12 muffins. Followed the instructions to bake for 20 minutes and this seemed the perfect time for my oven.

Cooked Muffins out of the oven

Now an interesting thing was the muffins had risen quite a bit during baking be fell quite flat as they cooled off. These are not fluffly, light muffins. Using a knife around the edges it was not hard to get the muffins out. The muffins tasted like…well old-fashioned corn meal muffins. They were moist, compact, and filling. Everyone enjoyed them. They were easy to make and I think I’ll be making them again.

Let me know if you give the recipe a try. I wonder if the normal flour recipe would turn out any different than making it with the gluten-free flour?

Woman’s Day Magazine Feb 1943

Woman's Day Magazine February 1943

 

 

 

This inexpensive impulse buy from a used book shop really turned out to be a treasure.  This Woman’s Day Magazine was the first issue to include the “Woman’s Day War Food Bulletin” during the World War 2 timeframe.  It’s likely that our Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers would have turned to these commonly read women magazines of the time to help them make sense of the new rationing and point system rules.

Think about what it must have been to be a 1940’s housewife (who is likely also working some wartime job outside the home for the first time) and not only do you work long days, have a budget to follow, and need recipes that don’t take all day to cook… you also have to carefully monitor whether you have the points to buy the staples that go into your favorite recipes! Freezers weren’t really common back then so their idea of a ready prepared meal might be to use canned vegetables or canned meat. Canned food was a concern due to the fact that the metal in the cans were needed for the war effort.

But more helpful to understanding those times is an excerpt from the First article of the first Food Bulletin:

Enough to Eat

by Roy F Hendrickson
Director of Food Distribution, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When American troops thrilled the free world by going into Africa, enough food to supply them for many weeks went with them. Dehydrated, some of it; but most of it the kind of canned goods we use here at home, for dehydration takes water and water on the rocky sands of Africa is a scarce article.
Food has a triple-threat value as a weapon of war. It powers the men who make the weapons of ware and the men who use them. The promise of food helps to pave the way by weakening resistance. It encourages conquered peoples to hold on – to revolt, if they have the strength.
Food produced on American farms has been pledged to all these uses. It has been going to war now, in increasing tonnages, for more than a year. And this year, in 1943, a fourth of all the food we produce must go to our armed forces – to our soldiers, our sailors, and our marines – and to our fighting allies.
That doesn’t mean a fourth of every single farm product, but a fourth of it altogether. Some things are going to be drawn upon much heavier than others. Foods that pack the most power for their size and foods that are best able to stand the rigors of war travel are going to be the ones most heavily drawn upon. Out of our 1942 pack of canned fruits and vegetables, for example, 35 percent is going for war purposes and more than half of our 1943 pack must be set aside for this vital use.
That doesn’t mean that Americans are going to go hungry in 1943. It just means that the housekeeper who still thinks of her job in the light of her 1942 shopping experiences in in for some rude awakenings. She is going to be in a perpetual state of disappointment from her tips to the grocery store. She will find plenty of cereal foods, plenty of poultry. Meat counters will nto be well stocked. When it is rationed meat will be more fairly distributed. There will be less cheese and butter, and those shelves of canned goods will show real gaps. Home canning will help to offset that in many homes. In total, on a strict per capita basis, we civilians likely will have about the same amount to eat that we had in 1935-1939. Perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less.
A sobering picture, but war is a sober business.
In 1935-1939, some Americans were buying so much food that they wasted enough to keep another, less fortunate family going. Now, all of us have been drawn out of our self-centered lives by the war. We know that we must think as one and act as one, if we are to win it.
The housewife who is ready now to shift to a 1943 point of view will be a jump ahead. And she can help to insure a continueing adequate food suply for her family, with all the nutrients needed for healthy and active living. All she has to do is to face the fact that she isn’t going to be able to buy all the things that she would like to buy and, therefore, must make more of what she can get.
By thrift and common sense, we can make our food supply cover all the wartime demands upon it – and be making at the same time – each of us – a contribution toward winning the war.

The article goes on for a few more patriotic paragraphs (which I’ll try to add later.) but what are your thoughts on reading this article? I’d love to hear your comments. Did it appeal to the patriot in you…make you feel part of the war effort? How hard would it be if you had to give up almost all canned/prepared food and were limited on some of the recipe staple ingredients?
I found it very interesting that they bring up the Depression food levels:
1 – To scare you and make you take rationing seriously…get you in the right mind frame.
2 – As an object lesson in what can go wrong if “greed” is valued above teamwork and fair sharing of resources.

I plan to add more articles from this magazine and even try out some of their suggested rationing recipes… so please come back to visit!

Welcome to the Historical Housewife

1940's Coffee Ad

Welcome to The Historical Housewife blog.  This blog combines two passions of mine: history and cooking! (With other housewife related topics sure to be featured.)  This blog is my way to honor the generations upon generations of women going back far into history that lived lives I could hardly begin to understand.  Perhaps through trying some of their recipes, tips, trends, books, and crafts you and I might create a link to our past… and understand better who we are and where we come from.