Food - Overview
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
"Food - Overview" showing 127 items.
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James Remind-O-Clock Timer
- Description
- The brainchild of cab driver Henry C. James, Jr., the James Remind-O-Clock was a useful innovation for people in various industries, from hotels to taxi services to laboratories. The electric clock’s unique feature is its mechanism for allowing multiple alarms for a single event, such as a laboratory experiment that requires the timing of various steps. The 48 small keys located around the face of the clock could be set to ring a maximum of 48 alarms or ‘reminders’ at one setting. James established the James Clock Manufacturing Co. in Oakland in 1933, and produced and patented this model in 1937 (Patent number 2,098,965).
- Enologist Andre Tchelistcheff used this Bakelite-housed “Remind-O-Clock,” to time various experiments and processes in his winery laboratories in California’s Napa Valley. Tchelistcheff made significant contributions to the wine industry, helping to improve techniques and raise standards for winemaking in the postwar period. He helped many winemakers improve their operations by adopting the practices of sterile filtration, cold fermentation, and attention to yeasts.
- Andre Tchelistcheff was born in Moscow in 1901; he and his family fled the country at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917. After receiving his degree in agricultural science at the University of Brno in Czechoslovakia, he moved to Paris, where he was employed at the Institute of National Agronomy outside the city. While there he was contacted in 1937 by Georges de Latour, of Napa Valley’s Beaulieu Vineyards (BV). Latour was searching for a highly qualified wine chemist to help improve the stability and quality of BV’s premium wines, which had recently suffered the disastrous effects of microbiological spoilage and volatile acidity.
- When he arrived in Napa in 1938, just five years after the repeal of Prohibition, Tchelistcheff was struck by the primitive conditions of winegrowing and winemaking. It took him several years to improve the winemaking at BV by upgrading equipment and controlling fermentation processes. He also worked in the vineyards, with, in his words, “the voice of nature.” Tchelistcheff was committed to the idea of community and promoted the sharing of both technical data and philosophical musings among the people trying to rebuild the wine industry. He also maintained close relationships with the scientists and scholars of viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis.
- After he left BV in 1973, Tchelistcheff became a consultant, serving dozens of California wineries old and new. He also played a key role in developing the modern wine industry in Washington State. In 1991 Tchelistcheff rejoined Beaulieu as consulting enologist. He died in the Napa Valley in 1994.
- maker
- James Clock Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 2011.0131.02
- catalog number
- 2011.0131.02
- accession number
- 2011.0131
- patent number
- 2098965
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oranges Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Milady Brand orange crate label was in use by the National Fruit Marketing Company, Inc. of San Dimas, California around the early 20th century. The image on the box is a pretty young lady. Using images of attractive women on fruit crate labels was a common practice in the early years of fruit crate labels.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- National Fruit Marketing Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.011
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.011
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Orange Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Happy Landing brand orange crate label was used by the Golden West Citrus Association of Tustin, California during the 1930s. The lithographed label was produced by the Western Lithography Company of Los Angeles, California. The blue label has a diagonal color illustration of a yellow propeller plane landing on a dirt runway at a small airport. The image was copyrighted in 1934 by the G.C. Association.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Goldenwest Citrus Assn.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.019
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.019
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Wine Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This red wine crate side was in use by the Italian Swiss Colony company of San Francisco, California during the early 20th century. The crate reads “Italian Swiss Colony, California Tipo Red, 12 quarts.” The crate bears a label by the Italian Swiss Colony that has a space for the shipping number, serial number, kind of wine, date made, quantity, and alcoholic content. The "Washington State Liquor Control Board" is the Cosignee. The crate also bears a stamp noting that the alcohol tax of 30 cents has been paid.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Italian Swiss Colony
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.048
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.048
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Orange Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Lochinvar brand orange crate label was used by the Gold Buckle Association of East Highlands, California during the early 20th century. The lithographed label was produced by the Schmidt Lithograph Company of San Francisco, California. The label has the Sunkist logo on it, a designation given to high quality oranges grown by the California Fruit Growers Exchange. The label has a red background, with an illustration of a Knight and maiden astride a horse. Lochinvar is a knight from Sir Walter Scott’s poem Marmion.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Gold Buckle Association
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.060
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.060
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Wilko brand apple crate was used by the Wilbur-Ellis Company of Seattle, Washington during the early 20th century. The label has a yellow background with a green border, and a large red apple in the center.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Wilbur-Ellis Company Distributors
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.062
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.062
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Orange Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Bell Cove brand orange crate label was used by the Earlibest Orange Association of Lemon Cove, California during the early 20th century. The lithographed label has an illustration of a bell surrounded by flowers, and an image of a house surrounded by orchard trees on the bell. The label also has the Sunkist orange logo on the lower right, a designation given to high quality oranges grown by the California Fruit Growers Exchange.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Earlibest Orange Association, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.079
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.079
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Orange Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Mupu brand oranges crate label was used by the Mupu Citrus Association of Santa Paula, California during the early 20th century. The lithographed label has a blue and yellow background, with an image of a Native American on the right. Mupu was the name of a Chumash Native American village in what is now the town of Santa Paula, in Ventura County, California. The label has the Sunkist orange logo on it, a designation given to high quality oranges grown by the California Fruit Growers Exchange.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- MUPU Citrus Assn.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.096
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Orange Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Ultimate brand oranges crate label was used by the Paramount Citrus Association of Los Angeles, California during the early 20th century. The label has a yellow semi-circle, emitting yellow rays like a setting sun.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Paramount Citrus Assn.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.098
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.098
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
- This Red Beauty brand apple crate label was used by the Imoto Brothers of Lindsay, California during the early 20th century. The label was lithographed by Stecher-Traung of San Francisco, California. The label has an illustration of two golden apples with some leaves surrounding it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Imoto Bros.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.102
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.102
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center