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

This large Chinese export bowl features a panoramic view of the hongs—the office, warehouse, and living spaces for foreign merchants in Canton, China, in the late 18th century.
Description
This large Chinese export bowl features a panoramic view of the hongs—the office, warehouse, and living spaces for foreign merchants in Canton, China, in the late 18th century. There European and American merchants traded with their Chinese counterparts for highly desirable teas, silks, and porcelains. The presence of the Stars and Stripes outside the American factory suggests that the bowl was made in or after 1785, following America’s entry into direct trade with China in 1784. (Note that the Chinese artist painted the stars in blue on the white porcelain background, probably for technical reasons rather than in error.) The flags of France, Britain, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden also can be seen outside their respective factories. Punch bowls depicting the hongs were exotic souvenir items, brought back to America by the East Coast entrepreneurs who sailed to China as independent merchants, thereby breaking dependence on the British East India Company to provide the former colonies with tea and other luxury goods.
The Chinese produced bowls like this in the town of Jingdezhen in southern China specifically for the western market. Undecorated, they were carried five hundred miles overland to Canton, where enamel decoration was applied in workshops close to the hongs. On completion a large bowl like this was packed in a crate with several others and dispatched through the hongs. All goods for export were ferried in the small boats seen painted on this bowl, to the deep-water port of Whampoa farther down the Pearl River.
A large bowl of this kind would have been used to serve punch. The word “punch” is thought to derive from the Hindu word “pànch,” meaning “five”—for the number of ingredients used to make the brew.The custom of drinking punch reached the West through the East India trade. Punch bowls became indispensable at convivial male gatherings in the clubs, societies, and private homes of the port cities on the American East Coast in the late 18th century.
The Smithsonian Institution acquired this bowl in 1961 from dealer Herbert Schiffer. Before coming to the Smithsonian, the bowl had been broken and repaired, and then it was heavily damaged in a 1958 fire. After the fire Helen Kean, a specialist in the restoration of ceramics, reconstructed the bowl from shattered fragments. Once it came to the Smithsonian, conservators performed a radical restoration, referring to very similar hong bowls held in collections at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware, and the Reeves Collection at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Date made
18th century
date made
1785-1795
ID Number
CE.61.8
catalog number
61.8
accession number
234613
Migrant farm workers had to use the short-handled hoe or el cortito for thinning and weeding. Because it required them to stoop during long hours in the fields, the hoe became a symbol of the exploitive working conditions.
Description
Migrant farm workers had to use the short-handled hoe or el cortito for thinning and weeding. Because it required them to stoop during long hours in the fields, the hoe became a symbol of the exploitive working conditions. Campaigns by the United Farm Workers and others helped outlaw use of the hoe in 1975.
American agriculture’s dependence on Mexican labor has always been a source of great conflict and great opportunity for field workers and the agriculture industry. In the U.S., agricultural labor was overwhelmingly Mexican and Mexican American. Issues of legal status, workers rights, and use of domestic workers are issues the unions, agricultural producers, and the federal government have been struggling with since the 1920’s.
ID Number
2009.0134.01
catalog number
2009.0134.01
accession number
2009.0134
This shipping crate side has a label for Gilbert S. Graves Family Gloss Starch that was manufactured by the National Starch Company of Buffalo, New York during the late 19th and early 20th century. The crate contained 16 3-pound boxes of starch.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side has a label for Gilbert S. Graves Family Gloss Starch that was manufactured by the National Starch Company of Buffalo, New York during the late 19th and early 20th century. The crate contained 16 3-pound boxes of starch. The National Starch Company was one of the largest American producers of starch during the early 20th century, controlling a number of companies including the Gilbert S. Graves Company.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
National Starch Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.333
catalog number
1979.0441.333
accession number
1979.0441
This butcher knife belonged to Shigefumi Tachibe, a Japanese chef who helped set up a high end fusion restaurant, Chaya Brasserie, when he came to the US in 1983. The 20” long butcher knife comes with a steel blade and a wooden handle.
Description
This butcher knife belonged to Shigefumi Tachibe, a Japanese chef who helped set up a high end fusion restaurant, Chaya Brasserie, when he came to the US in 1983. The 20” long butcher knife comes with a steel blade and a wooden handle. Chef Shigefumi Tachibe purchased this knife in 1980 while visiting France, and used it over the years to cut and fillet whole tuna fish. Chaya’s menu, which chef Tachibe developed, reflects the Asian fusion food movement, a product of the large immigrant presence in California, as well as the clientele’s growing partiality toward healthy food options. Fusion sushi, which comprises of both traditional (raw fish) and nontraditional sushi ingredients (avocado, mayonnaise based sauce), is an example of an Asian fusion food that has been popularized over the past few decades, due to chefs like Shigefumi Tachibe who made it an integral part of their menu.
date made
unknown
maker
unknown
ID Number
2012.0137.01
catalog number
2012.0137.01
accession number
2012.0137
Concession stands provided refreshments for park vistors.Currently not on view
Description
Concession stands provided refreshments for park vistors.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1972
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.088
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.088
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894. Companion print to A Flower Piece, also after van Huysum.
Description
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894. Companion print to A Flower Piece, also after van Huysum. In the volume's table of contents, the publisher described these two prints as surpassing, "in point of execution, every print before engraved in this manner."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1781
engraver
Earlom, Richard
publisher
Boydell, John
delineator
Farington, Joseph
original artist
Huysum, Jan van
ID Number
1978.0534.02.90
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.02.90
Original silky-textured, metallic-red matchbook from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang.
Description
Original silky-textured, metallic-red matchbook from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang. Features the restaurant’s original logo, in black, of a Chinese woman in Qing dynasty regalia, framed within a circular design.
In black lettering, the back of the matchbook says “SAN FRANCISCO AND BEVERLY HILLS.” In the bottom left-hand corner is a drawing of a telephone with, “673-8812—SAN FRANCISCO,” “272-0267—BEVERLY HILLS,” to the right of the drawing.
A matchbook is a small paper board folder to encompass a quantity of matches. The manufacturing of matchbooks peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, but declined with the arrival of the lighter. Matchbooks serve as a popular form of advertisement for an establishment. They have become a popular customer freebie at a dine-in restaurant. Cecilia Chiang offered matchbooks at her restaurant The Mandarin, with a customized logo and name. Although the ban on smoking in restaurants was placed into effect in 1998, making the ashtray more insignificant in the restaurant setting, matchbooks have not declined in restaurant culture but have gained popularity.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0115.04
catalog number
2011.0115.04
accession number
2011.0115
Original chopsticks from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang. This ivory-colored, plastic chopstick resembles typical Taiwanese melamine chopsticks, 10 inches long, thicker, with squared and round ends and flat tips.
Description
Original chopsticks from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang. This ivory-colored, plastic chopstick resembles typical Taiwanese melamine chopsticks, 10 inches long, thicker, with squared and round ends and flat tips. Chiang also personalized her sets of chopsticks with her logo. This pair of chopsticks features red Chinese lettering.
Chopsticks are a set of utensils used by billions of people around the world. Chinese people have been using chopsticks since 1200 B.C. and by A.D. 500 spread through Asia to Japan and Vietnam. Early chopsticks were used as cooking utensils, but people began to use them as eating utensils in A.D. 400 when China’s population boom forced them to develop cost-saving habits, such as chopping food into smaller pieces which required less cooking fuel. Knives became obsolete and even killed the mood at the dinner table. Today, there are many different kinds of chopsticks that vary across cultures.
In Cecilia Chiang’s The Mandarin restaurant, chopsticks were part of the place setting for eating utensils. These chopsticks resemble typical Taiwanese melamine chopsticks, 10 inches long, thicker, with squared and round ends and flat tips. Chiang also personalized her sets of chopsticks with her logo. This contrasts from many Chinese restaurants today that use disposable chopsticks, such as the wooden kind a customer has to break apart.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0115.08
catalog number
2011.0115.08
accession number
2011.0115
This sample of wheat came from the first field test designed to chart the movement of genetically modified microorganisms after their release into the environment.
Description (Brief)
This sample of wheat came from the first field test designed to chart the movement of genetically modified microorganisms after their release into the environment. In November of 1987, genetically modified soil bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas were planted along with winter wheat in a field in Blackville, S.C. The project was a joint effort of Monsanto, which had modified the organisms in the lab, and Clemson University, which carried out the field test.
The microorganisms were modified to contain harmless “marker genes” allowing scientists to distinguish them from naturally occurring Pseudomonas bacteria. After their release, scientists kept track of the movement of the modified bacteria in order to create a model for how genetically modified microbes migrate upon their release. Several months earlier, the release of genetically modified “ice-minus” bacteria (see object number 1987.0770.01) in California was the center of public concern.
Sources:
Accession File
“After Release, Altered Bacteria Stayed Close to Their Roots.” Renseberger, Boyce. The Washington Post. February 22, 1988. p. A3.
“Release of Altered Microbes Is Approved in Tracking Test.” Schneider, Keith. The New York Times. October 21, 1987. p. A19.
“Clemson Scientists Begin Field Testing of Microbe.” The Item. November 3, 1987. p.4B.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1987
ID Number
1995.0055.01
accession number
1995.0055
catalog number
1995.0055.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.I
catalog number
6261I
accession number
238737
During the 1960s and 1970s, as waves of cultural and political change swept through American society, hippies, feminists, religious seekers, ethnic nationalists, and antiwar and civil rights activists rejected the symbols of the “Establishment.” These reformers and nonconformists
Description
During the 1960s and 1970s, as waves of cultural and political change swept through American society, hippies, feminists, religious seekers, ethnic nationalists, and antiwar and civil rights activists rejected the symbols of the “Establishment.” These reformers and nonconformists traveled to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. They made religious pilgrimages, seeking new truths, and volunteered to serve the poor in developing countries and in America. They sampled the communal life in cities and farms, and served in civil rights and peace marches and boycotts. They came home (or left home) to create alternative economic, social, and cultural expressions.
Their new interests were expressed in the food they grew and ate, clothes they wore, the music they listened to, and the religious or spiritual interests they adopted from those worlds. India was a major center of inspiration for new foods and foodways, music, and design, reflected in this Indian paisleycloth dress, a so-called “hippie” dress. Ruth, a member of a farm commune in the early 1970’s, bought it at an alternative store in Florida before she and her husband and friends moved to the farm commune in New York. The design on the dress is the typical tear-drop or kidney shaped plant design (probably of Persian and possibly Indian origin), called Paisley for the Scottish center of textile production and design in the 19th century.
In this generation, hippies and aficionados of the new international styles got the fabrics (and foodstuffs) from India on their travels or purchased them from the increasingly popular sources of such goods in the United States. They dressed in Indian calicoes and paisleys, cover their beds with them, or used the larger cloths as tablecloths. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Indian hand-printed paisleys (introduced in the 19th century) were a decorative sign of the countercultures. The same textiles were marketed elsewhere, in France, for example, from the 17th century onward, where they became absolutely idiomatic of a Provencal style, still, in 2012, sold and marketed as French country style.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0059.10
accession number
2012.0059
catalog number
2012.0059.10
This shipping crate side originally contained Swastika brand ginger snaps produced by the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company of Seattle, Washington during the early 20th century. The swastika has been stigmatized after World War II due to its adoption by the Nazi Party.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side originally contained Swastika brand ginger snaps produced by the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company of Seattle, Washington during the early 20th century. The swastika has been stigmatized after World War II due to its adoption by the Nazi Party. Prior to the 1930s, the swastika was known across cultures as a symbol generally meant to convey “good luck.” The Pacific Coast Biscuit Company called the symbol their “Good Luck” seal in their advertising.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Pacific Coast Company
ID Number
1979.0441.272
catalog number
1979.0441.272
accession number
1979.0441
This small metal pin with a red enamel front was made by Doc Morgan, Inc., an emblem jewelry business based in Illinois. The company was established in 1929 by G.H. “Doc” Morgan, a relative of J.P.
Description
This small metal pin with a red enamel front was made by Doc Morgan, Inc., an emblem jewelry business based in Illinois. The company was established in 1929 by G.H. “Doc” Morgan, a relative of J.P. Morgan, who over the following 71 years acquired other manufacturing operations to expand production across the United States and abroad.
The pin is shaped like the original Fritos logo and features a small diamond inlaid at the bottom. The back of the pin is stamped with the label “CTO 10K,” which indicates the type of gold used on the pin (10 karat) and the trademark for the company that manufactured the base of the pin (O.C. Tanner Jewelry Company, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.) The pin is held on a small, velvet-topped pad of foam in a plastic box that bears the Doc Morgan, Inc. logo. This lapel pin, along with a matching watch, was regularly worn by C.E. Doolin, along with his suit and fedora, when he went to work at the Frito Company in Dallas, Texas. This pin is part of a collection of objects and archival materials on the Doolin family and the Frito Company donated by Kaleta Doolin, the daughter of C.E. Doolin. See Frito Company Records, 1924-1961, #1263, NMAH Archives Center.
C.E. Doolin launched “Fritos” in 1932, inspired by a recipe he had purchased from Gustavo Olguin, a Mexican-American restaurant owner in San Antonio, where Doolin had worked as a fry cook. Olguin’s “fritos” (the name came from the Spanish word frit, meaning fried) were small fried corn chips made from masa dough. Doolin bought the recipe, Olguin’s hand-operated potato ricer, and nineteen customer accounts for the snack, all for $100. He then patented his own device for extruding the masa dough through a cutter, which produced ribbon-like strips that were then fried in hot oil. Doolin marketed the chips as an ingredient in recipes, many of which were inspired by his mother Daisy Dean Stephenson Doolin’s dishes for entertaining. The chips were used in both sweet and savory preparations, including as crust for fruitcakes, breading for salmon croquettes, and garnish for tuna salad.
In 1945 Doolin connected with Herman Lay, famous for automating the manufacturing process of potato chips and the head of H.W. Lay & Co. Lay took on the nationwide distribution of Fritos at this time. Doolin passed away in 1959, and in 1961 The Frito Company officially merged with H.W. Lay & Co. to become Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay went on to develop more products (including the wildly popular snack foods Cheetos and Doritos) and become the largest snack conglomerate in the world. Initially promoted as an ingredient in foods for entertaining, Fritos were advertised mostly to children, both in print and television campaigns and via cartoon characters such as the cowboy-inspired “Frito Kid.”
Fritos were most successful as a standalone snack. Following the success of the commercial potato chip in the 1930s, there was a growing market for other salty snacks and pre-packaged foods to be eaten on the go and in-between meals. The creation of “snack time” as a new type of American meal helped bolster the popularity of Doolin’s invention. The packaging of these snacks would also prove revolutionary—before 1900, snack foods and sweets were sold in small paper bags and portioned out by the grocer or shop owner. As manufacturers experimented with cans and glassine bags and materials such as wax paper and cellophane, they found new ways to keep food fresh and vacuum-packed until the customer opened it. Over the second half of the twentieth century, snack foods would develop into a $22 billion dollar industry.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0079.01
catalog number
2012.0079.01
accession number
2012.0079
Physical DescriptionPaper candy wrapper over candy bar.General HistoryIn 1943, the procurement division of the army inquired about the possibility of obtaining a heat-resistant chocolate bar with an improved flavor.
Description
Physical Description
Paper candy wrapper over candy bar.
General History
In 1943, the procurement division of the army inquired about the possibility of obtaining a heat-resistant chocolate bar with an improved flavor. After a short period of experimentation, Hershey's Tropical Chocolate Bar in both one- and two-ounce sizes was added to the list of war production items. This bar was destined to exceed all other items in the tonnage produced. The Army-Navy "E" Production Award was given to Hershey Chocolate Corporation on August 22, 1942, in recognition of its outstanding war effort. The corporation received a flag to fly above the chocolate plant and a lapel pin for every employee. The award was presented for exceeding all production expectations in the manufacturing of an Emergency Field Ration. The “E” production award was not easily won nor lightly bestowed. The award recognized companies that consistently met high standards of quality and quantity in light of available resources. Major General Edmund Gregory said of Hershey, "The men and women of Hershey Chocolate Corporation have every reason to be proud of their great work in backing up our soldiers on the fighting fronts." In all, the Hershey Chocolate Corporation received five Army-Navy "E" awards.
date made
1943
maker
Hershey Chocolate Corporation
ID Number
1977.0865.07
catalog number
1977.0865.07
accession number
1977.0865
catalog number
80015M
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
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830 - 1850
ID Number
1977.0918.16
accession number
1977.0918
catalog number
1977.0918.16
This silkscreen print on paper is set in a thin wooden frame, on which the date 1938 is written.
Description
This silkscreen print on paper is set in a thin wooden frame, on which the date 1938 is written. It depicts an image of a Mexican man with a broad mustache, wearing a wide brim sombrero, golden earrings, and a red and yellow striped blanket-like shawl known as a “serape,” draped over a brown poncho and green shirt. He is shown lighting a cigarette.
The print came to the museum as part of a collection of objects and archival materials relating to Charles Elmer “C.E.” Doolin and the Fritos corn chip empire he founded. The Mexican man depicted is not explicitly connected to the Frito Company’s 1967 “Frito Bandito” advertising campaign, which was retired in 1971, due to complaints from the public and the National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee. But the painting does connect to the Mexican heritage of Fritos, and their introduction to American consumers as a Tex-Mex-inspired snack with connections to the masa-based-foods of Mexico.
C.E. Doolin launched “Fritos” in 1932, inspired by a recipe he had purchased from Gustavo Olguin, a Mexican-American restaurant owner in San Antonio, where Doolin had worked as a fry cook. Olguin’s “fritos” (the name came from the Spanish word frit, meaning fried) were small fried corn chips made from masa dough. Doolin bought the recipe, Olguin’s hand-operated potato ricer, and nineteen customer accounts for the snack, all for $100. He then patented his own device for extruding the masa dough through a cutter, which produced ribbon-like strips that were then fried in hot oil. Doolin marketed the chips as an ingredient in recipes, many of which were inspired by his mother Daisy Dean Stephenson Doolin’s dishes for entertaining. The chips were used in both sweet and savory preparations, including as crust for fruitcakes, breading for salmon croquettes, and garnish for tuna salad.
In 1945 Doolin connected with Herman Lay, famous for automating the manufacturing process of potato chips and the head of H.W. Lay & Co. Lay took on the nationwide distribution of Fritos at this time. Doolin passed away in 1959, and in 1961 The Frito Company officially merged with H.W. Lay & Co. to become Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay went on to develop more products (including the wildly popular snack foods Cheetos and Doritos) and become the largest snack conglomerate in the world. Initially promoted as an ingredient in foods for entertaining, Fritos were advertised mostly to children, both in print and television campaigns and via cartoon characters such as the cowboy-inspired “Frito Kid.”
Fritos were most successful as a standalone snack. Following the success of the commercial potato chip in the 1930s, there was a growing market for other salty snacks and pre-packaged foods to be eaten on the go and in-between meals. The creation of “snack time” as a new type of American meal helped bolster the popularity of Doolin’s invention. The packaging of these snacks would also prove revolutionary—before 1900, snack foods and sweets were sold in small paper bags and portioned out by the grocer or shop owner. As manufacturers experimented with cans and glassine bags and materials such as wax paper and cellophane, they found new ways to keep food fresh and vacuum-packed until the customer opened it. Over the second half of the twentieth century, snack foods would develop into a $22 billion dollar industry.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1938
ID Number
2012.0078.02
catalog number
2012.0078.02
accession number
2012.0078
Off-white letter and envelope with red lettering.
Description
Off-white letter and envelope with red lettering. On the upper left-hand corner of the envelope reads in red letters “The Mandarin 2209 Polk Street, San Francisco.” On the white letterhead, in the upper right hand corner of the letter spears a symbol, the name of the restaurant and an address. The symbol is of a woman in Chinese dress wear outlined in gold and underneath it in red letters reads “The Mandarin” and finally an address below “2209 Polk St., San Francisco GR 4-5438” in gold letters.
A letterhead is the heading at the top of a piece of stationary, usually signaling the name and contact information of the company. An envelope is the packaging stationery that encloses the letterhead. The letterhead was first known as “letter paper” in the late 19th century. In the beginning of the 20th century, letterheads were customized to fit typewriters. By the 1940s, many companies began to place their logos on letterhead.
The Smithsonian holds several letterheads and envelopes from different locations of Mrs. Cecilia Chiang’s restaurant, The Mandarin. The letters and envelope signal a formal business culture and the reliance of correspondence through the post office. These letterhead and envelopes certainly take us back to a time before computers and the internet.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960s
ID Number
2013.0127.05a
accession number
2013.0127
catalog number
2013.0127.05a
Original ashtray from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang.When one thinks of smoking and Chinese American history, one may think of the early Chinese laborers and opium dens in the early Chinatowns of California.
Description
Original ashtray from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang.
When one thinks of smoking and Chinese American history, one may think of the early Chinese laborers and opium dens in the early Chinatowns of California. Although many Americans, particularly the anti-Chinese movement, portrayed these images to show the deviance of Chinese immigrants, they had grown accustomed to another form of smoking in its heyday in the first half of the 20th century: the cigarette.
An ashtray is a tray where cigarette or cigar ashes can be discarded. Cecilia Chiang made an ashtray designed specifically for her restaurant, with the famous logo of Madame Chiang. The ashtray refers to a time period in American restaurants when smoking in public places was allowed and even embraced as an important pastime of American culture. In fact, when Cecilia Chiang opened her first restaurant during the 1960s, over half of adult Americans were regular smokers. But the public health movement against smoking led to the public ban on smoking and ultimately, a decline in smoking in general. In 1998, California laws declared smoking illegal in bars, restaurants, and public places.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0115.03
catalog number
2011.0115.03
accession number
2011.0115
Original silky-textured, metallic-red matchbook from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang.
Description
Original silky-textured, metallic-red matchbook from The Mandarin, in San Francisco, California, a restaurant owned by Cecilia Chiang. Features the restaurant’s original logo, in black, of a Chinese woman in Qing dynasty regalia, framed within a circular design.
In black lettering, the back of the matchbook says “SAN FRANCISCO AND BEVERLY HILLS.” In the bottom left-hand corner is a drawing of a telephone with, “673-8812—SAN FRANCISCO,” “272-0267—BEVERLY HILLS,” to the right of the drawing.
A matchbook is a small paper board folder to encompass a quantity of matches. The manufacturing of matchbooks peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, but declined with the arrival of the lighter. Matchbooks serve as a popular form of advertisement for an establishment. They have become a popular customer freebie at a dine-in restaurant. Cecilia Chiang offered matchbooks at her restaurant The Mandarin, with a customized logo and name. Although the ban on smoking in restaurants was placed into effect in 1998, making the ashtray more insignificant in the restaurant setting, matchbooks have not declined in restaurant culture but have gained popularity.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0115.05
catalog number
2011.0115.05
accession number
2011.0115
Made in a San Diego sign shop, this metal menu board formed one side of a speaker box at a Jack in the Box drive thru restaurant. Drivers approached the menu, made their selections, and proceeded to the speaker box to place their orders.
Description
Made in a San Diego sign shop, this metal menu board formed one side of a speaker box at a Jack in the Box drive thru restaurant. Drivers approached the menu, made their selections, and proceeded to the speaker box to place their orders. This menu is from the early 1960s and features an 18-cent hamburger and 25 cent tacos.
Since 1951 when the first Jack in the Box opened in southern California, the restaurant chain has catered to serving customers in their cars. The restaurants were drive-thru only and, to attract drivers from a distance, the company employed unusual architecture and signage featuring a giant clown head springing from a box, like the toy.
Jack in the Box restaurants suited southern California’s automobile-focused culture. Small buildings without indoor seating kept operating costs low. They also discouraged competitors: the drive-thru-only operations gave the mistaken impression that the place was empty since cars would drive in and out so quickly, never forming long lines, but all while conducting brisk business. Founder Robert O. Peterson credits the idea for his burger place with ideas borrowed from other recently opened California burger chains. He noticed that after McDonald’s got rid of carhops their profits soared, and at In-N-Out Burger, a very limited menu seemed to work well. Peterson incorporated both of these ideas (no carhops, limited menu), and focused on developing the model of customers driving up, placing their orders, and then driving away.
ID Number
2012.0012.02
catalog number
2012.0012.01
accession number
2012.0012
This sturdy plastic panel with the words “Jack will speak to you” in red lettering formed one side of a speaker box at a Jack in the Box drive thru restaurant in southern California. It directed drivers to the speaker where they placed their orders.
Description
This sturdy plastic panel with the words “Jack will speak to you” in red lettering formed one side of a speaker box at a Jack in the Box drive thru restaurant in southern California. It directed drivers to the speaker where they placed their orders. The concept of ordering through a two-way intercom was unfamiliar to many customers in the 1950s and this panel not only directed customers but prepared them for the voice of “Jack” to respond.
Since 1951 when the first Jack in the Box opened in southern California, the restaurant chain has catered to serving customers in their cars. The restaurants were drive-thru only and, to attract drivers from a distance, the company employed unusual architecture and signage featuring a giant clown head springing from a box, like the toy.
Jack in the Box restaurants suited southern California’s automobile-focused culture. Small buildings without indoor seating kept operating costs low. They also discouraged competitors: the drive-thru-only operations gave the mistaken impression that the place was empty since cars would drive in and out so quickly, never forming long lines, but all while conducting brisk business. Founder Robert O. Peterson credits the idea for his burger place with ideas borrowed from other recently opened California burger chains. He noticed that after McDonald’s got rid of carhops their profits soared, and at In-N-Out Burger, a very limited menu seemed to work well. Peterson incorporated both of these ideas (no carhops, limited menu), and focused on developing the model of customers driving up, placing their orders, and then driving away.
ID Number
2012.0012.01
catalog number
2012.0012.01
accession number
2012.0012
This small porcelain cup was recovered by a sport diver from the wreck of the steamer Indiana. Its findspot was not recorded, so it is not known whether it belonged to a crewman or was aboard for use by passengers at mealtimes.
Description
This small porcelain cup was recovered by a sport diver from the wreck of the steamer Indiana. Its findspot was not recorded, so it is not known whether it belonged to a crewman or was aboard for use by passengers at mealtimes.
Date made
ca 1858
ID Number
1993.0441.01
catalog number
1993.0441.01
accession number
1993.0441
Off-white letterhead and envelope with black lettering. At the top of the letterhead, a line of black flowers goes across the letterhead, in the middle is a table with a black circle.
Description
Off-white letterhead and envelope with black lettering. At the top of the letterhead, a line of black flowers goes across the letterhead, in the middle is a table with a black circle. Inside the circle features more flowers, a vase with Chinese characters, and “THE MANDARIN” written in gold letters. Underneath the line of flowers, written in black: “430 – N. CAMDEN DR. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CA. 90210 Tel: (213) 272-0267.” On the bottom of the letterhead sheet appears another line of black flowers.
On the envelope, in the upper left corner appears the logo of the circle in black, and inside the circle appears flowers, a vase with Chinese lettering, and “THE MANDARIN” written in gold letters. Underneath the logo is one straight thin black line that runs across the envelope, and underneath that line appears the address: “430 – N. CAMDEN DR. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CA 90210.”
A letterhead is the heading at the top of a piece of stationary, usually signaling the name and contact information of the company. An envelope is the packaging stationery that encloses the letterhead. The letterhead was first known as “letter paper” in the late 19th century. In the beginning of the 20th century, letterheads were customized to fit typewriters. By the 1940s, many companies began to place their logos on letterhead.
The Smithsonian holds several letterheads and envelopes from different locations of Mrs. Cecilia Chiang’s restaurant, The Mandarin. The letters and envelope signal a formal business culture and the reliance of correspondence through the post office. These letterhead and envelopes certainly take us back to a time before computers and the internet.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2013.0127.05d
accession number
2013.0127
catalog number
2013.0127.05d

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