Food

Part of a nation's history lies in what people eat. Artifacts at the Museum document the history of food in the United States from farm machinery to diet fads.

More than 1,300 pieces of stoneware and earthenware show how Americans have stored, prepared, and served food for centuries. Ovens, cookie cutters, kettles, aprons, and ice-cream-making machines are part of the collections, along with home canning jars and winemaking equipment. More than 1,000 objects recently came to the Museum when author and cooking show host Julia Child donated her entire kitchen, from appliances to cookbooks.

Advertising and business records of several food companies—such as Hills Brothers Coffee, Pepsi Cola, and Campbell's Soup—represent the commercial side of the subject

A poster giving examples of egg sizes and how to cook fried and poached eggs.
Description
A poster giving examples of egg sizes and how to cook fried and poached eggs.
date made
1967
copyright date
1967
associated institution
U.S. Department of Agriculture
maker
U.S. Department of Agriculture
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81724Y42
A poster sponsored by the United States Departmentof Agriculture with examples of how to control the Wheat Jointworm.
Description
A poster sponsored by the United States Departmentof Agriculture with examples of how to control the Wheat Jointworm.
date made
1967
associated institution
U.S. Department of Agriculture
maker
U.S. Department of Agriculture
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81724Y41
Roger Hecht created this poster in 1986 to announce a party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Maryland Food Co-op. Printed on yellow/gold typing paper, it features the Co-op’s slogan, “Food for People Not for Profit,” and the image of a fist punching through a sandwich.
Description
Roger Hecht created this poster in 1986 to announce a party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Maryland Food Co-op. Printed on yellow/gold typing paper, it features the Co-op’s slogan, “Food for People Not for Profit,” and the image of a fist punching through a sandwich. Portraits of the leftist revolutionaries Che Guevara and Augusto Sandino appear in the top left and right corners, respectively. Che is pictured wearing a black beret in the style of the iconic photograph, “Guerillero Heroico,” taken in 1960 by Ablerto Korda. Sandino is shown wearing his characteristic wide-brimmed hat. The evocation of these two figures emphasizes the connection between food movements like the Maryland Food Co-op and broader political activism of the era. Hecht, the artist who created the design, worked at the Co-op from 1981 to 1985 and donated the poster.
The Maryland Food Co-op was founded in 1975 in the midst of unrest. Students at the University of Maryland, College Park, had been advocating for changes to the university’s food system for several years, citing poor food quality, customer service, and questionable sanitation. Their agitation increased when they learned in 1974 that food facilities in the Stamp Student Union might close for failing to meet county food sanitation standards. In August 1975 student Matt Mayer submitted a proposal to the Student Government Association to organize the Maryland Food Collective, which became known as the Co-op. Before Mayer’s proposal for the Co-op was approved, some students are believed to have taken action by making sandwiches at home and selling them on the campus as part of a “Guerilla sandwich line.” This detail in the Co-op’s origin narrative is echoed in the fist and sandwich graphic on the anniversary poster.
The Co-op continues to operate on the university campus, selling sandwiches, produce, and healthy food items. Staffed by both paid workers and volunteers (who exchange their labor for credit at the store), the Co-op is a worker’s collective, where everyone has an equal voice.
date made
1986
ID Number
2012.3009.01
nonaccession number
2012.3009
catalog number
2012.3009.01
This poster depicts recommendations for a healthy diet based on traditional foods associated with certain Mediterranean cultures.
Description
This poster depicts recommendations for a healthy diet based on traditional foods associated with certain Mediterranean cultures. The “Traditional Healthy Mediterranean Diet Pyramid” was published in 1994, in the midst of national debates about how much and which types of food might best improve overall health and nutrition in America. While the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had been offering dietary guidance since 1894, the actual graphic of a pyramid illustrating the recommended varieties of foods and their proportions in a healthy diet was not released until 1992. Coming just two years later and published by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the esteemed Center for Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid was seen as a viable alternative to the USDA’s guidelines.
The creators of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid based their recommendations on the food traditions of Crete, certain areas of Greece, and southern Italy in part because those regions had very low rates of chronic diseases and long life expectancy. They also correlated the food consumption patterns from those areas (using data available from 1960), with data on nutrition revealed by new research and clinical trials. The resulting pyramid shows a broad base of breads, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, bulgur, and other grains; fruits, vegetables, beans, other legumes, and nuts, along with smaller amounts of olive oil, cheese, and yogurt for daily consumption; and fish, poultry, eggs, and sweets recommended only a few times per week. Red meat sits at the top of the pyramid with the note, “A few times per month (or somewhat more often in very small amounts.”
Unlike any other food pyramid, the Mediterranean Diet included wine as part of a healthy diet. The poster shows a glass of red wine with the note “Wine in Moderation,” which was defined as wine usually consumed with meals, “about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women.” The notes included the caveat “from a contemporary health perspective, wine should be considered optional and avoided when consumption would put the individual or others at risk. That this recommendation came from medical experts at the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health made it especially significant. While California’s Wine Institute had long advocated wine in moderation as part of a healthy diet, the publication of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid was a major boon for American wine producers. John A. De Luca, the President and CEO of the wine Institute from 1975 to 2003, and his wife Josephine, donated this poster to the museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
ID Number
2012.0016.01
catalog number
2012.0016.01
accession number
2012.0016
A poster listing 6 ways to use food responsibly in support of the war effort.
Description
A poster listing 6 ways to use food responsibly in support of the war effort.
associated
United States Food Administration
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81724Y40
date made
1967
associated institution
U.S. Department of Agriculture
maker
U.S. Department of Agriculture
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81724Y43
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1976
associated date
1976
ID Number
1986.1035.102
catalog number
1986.1035.102
accession number
1986.1035
A poster sponsored by the United States Food Administration asking citizens to eat more fish.
Description
A poster sponsored by the United States Food Administration asking citizens to eat more fish.
date made
1917
commissioner
United States Food Administration
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81724Y38
date made
April 2004
ID Number
2012.0045.01
catalog number
2012.0045.01
accession number
2012.0045
Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge the widespread attitude—a holdover from the rhetoric of Prohibition—that wine was like all alcoholic beverages and consumed only by those wishing to get drunk.
Description
Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge the widespread attitude—a holdover from the rhetoric of Prohibition—that wine was like all alcoholic beverages and consumed only by those wishing to get drunk. The Board organized various campaigns to convey a different message: that wine could be a positive addition to the American table. Ads and booklets produced during the 1950s and ‘60s reflected this effort, with slogans that encouraged consumers to embrace wine as part of an all-American meal. The Board also commissioned a series of colorful posters in the 1960s to promote California and its reinvigorated wine industry.
This poster produced in the 1960s was one in the “California, Wine Land of America” series based on original artwork by Amado Gonzalez, a Mexican-born artist who taught at San Francisco’s City College. It features California “Champagne,” a term that, technically, refers to a defined area in France and to a process of secondary fermentation in a closed container (hence the bubbles). Since the 1970s, California producers have used the term “Sparkling Wine” to more accurately represent their “champagne.”
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0127.01
catalog number
2012.0127.01
accession number
2012.0127
Since the 1970s, special dinners and social events have become an increasingly important way for winemakers to introduce their products to consumers.
Description
Since the 1970s, special dinners and social events have become an increasingly important way for winemakers to introduce their products to consumers. While the setting and tone of some wine events is formal and “high brow,” the new generation of Zinfandel producers that emerged in California created a different approach. Targeting new wine drinkers seeking new experiences, they combined unique, festive wine events and an edgy sense of humor to take the “stuffiness” out of wine.
This poster advertises the “7th Annual Zinfandel Festival,” held in San Francisco, California, on January 22-24, 1998. Sponsored by the association known as ZAP, Zinfandel Advocates and Producers, the event promised a light-hearted time with “good eats and zinfandel pairings;” “a blue jeans and black tie auction;” and the “world’s largest zinfandel tasting.” The poster’s imagery by artist Peter Nevins—a farm truck full of oversized grapes—suggests the informal, fun-loving perspective of ZAP and its members. ZAP continues to sponsor annual zinfandel festivals and seminars, featuring hundreds of wines and attracting thousands of participants.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1998
ID Number
2012.0017.02
catalog number
2012.0017.02
accession number
2012.0017
Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge the widespread attitude—a holdover from the rhetoric of Prohibition—that wine was like all alcoholic beverages and consumed only by those wishing to get drunk.
Description
Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge the widespread attitude—a holdover from the rhetoric of Prohibition—that wine was like all alcoholic beverages and consumed only by those wishing to get drunk. The Board organized various campaigns to convey a different message: that wine could be a positive addition to the American table. Ads and booklets produced during the 1950s and ‘60s reflected this effort, with slogans that encouraged consumers to embrace wine as part of an all-American meal. The Board also commissioned a series of colorful posters in the 1960s to promote California and its reinvigorated wine industry.
This poster produced in the 1960s was one in the “California, Wine Land of America” series based on original artwork by Amado Gonzalez, a Mexican-born artist who taught at San Francisco’s City College. Featuring symbols of the wine industry—bottles of red and white wine, grapes, and rolling vineyards—it also depicts a hand-operated grape press of the kind used by home winemakers and small producers. A figure of Bacchus is shown operating the press with great athletic effort.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0127.02
catalog number
2012.0127.02
accession number
2012.0127
ID Number
2012.0045.02
catalog number
2012.0045.02
accession number
2012.0045
This poster produced in 1965 was one in a series based on original artwork by Amado Gonzalez, a Mexican-born artist who taught at San Francisco’s City College.
Description
This poster produced in 1965 was one in a series based on original artwork by Amado Gonzalez, a Mexican-born artist who taught at San Francisco’s City College. Featuring symbols of the wine industry—a large, oval wine cask, a bottle and glass of red wine, grapes, rolling vineyards, and a cellar key, the poster proclaimed California to be the “Wine Land of America.” Such posters were shown at trade fairs and wine events to promote the emerging, revitalized California wine industry.
Although the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 meant that California winemakers were back in business, selling their product to American consumers proved to be a significant challenge. Many of the wines that first appeared on the market after 1933 were fortified wines—high in alcohol, sweet, and cheap—while wines imported from Europe were seen as luxuries for the rich, not intended for the average middle-class table. Other consumers continued to reject wine for moralistic reasons, or because they viewed it as a foreign beverage.
Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge these conventional attitudes and promote wine as a positive addition to the American table. Advertisements produced by the Board during the 1950s and ‘60s reflect this effort, with slogans that encouraged consumers to embrace wine as part of an all-American meal. The Board also commissioned a series of colorful posters in the 1960s to promote California and its wines.
date made
1965
ID Number
2012.0126.01
catalog number
2012.0126.01
accession number
2012.0126

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