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 2145 items.
Page 2 of 215
[Children.] Interpositive
- Notes
- Currently stored in box 1.2.17 [4], moved from [17]
- Date
- 1900-1910
- Creator
- ed 129
- publisher
- H.C. White Co
- Local number
- RSN 8355
- Video number 07519
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Cunard [menu]
- Summary
- Menu for a meal on a cruise, July 17 1969. Illustration showing a large English woman with boat on her head being led by a much smaller marching black man
- Date
- 1969
- advertiser
- R.M.S. Mauretania
- Local number
- 040060173.tif (AC Scan No. front and back cover)
- 040060174.tif (AC Scan No. inside menu)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Don't / wait until the last minute... [trade card]
- Summary
- Illustration: woman talking to a tiny Chinese man, standing on a table before her. He has a long queue and holds a fan. Text on verso advertises raisins, currants, nuts, figs, dates, etc
- Date
- 1890
- 1900
- advertiser
- Finley Acker & Co. (Atlantic City, N.J.)
- Local number
- AC0060-0000110.tif (AC Scan, obverse)
- AC0060-0000111.tif (AC Scan, verso)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[Contact sheet with 27 images of product packaging for Goya Foods, Inc. : black-and-white photoprint: contact sheet]
- Notes
- In Box 36, Folder 5
- Summary
- Photographer unidentified
- Publications
- Used April 27, 2010, on the Smithsonian Photographic Initiative web site, "click! photography changes everything" (http://click.si.edu) to accompany contributor Jeremy Wolfe's (a professor at Harvard School of Medicine who investigates visual attention) story, which reflects on how photography changes what and how much we remember
- Cite as
- Goya Foods, Inc., Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1970
- 1990
- Ca. 1970-1990
- 1970-1990
- advertiser
- Goya Foods, Inc
- Local number
- 03069443.tif (AC Scan)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Reception at Liberian Embassy, Oct[ober] 1963 [cellulose acetate photonegative]
- Summary
- Posed group of men standing behind a table laid with food. One of the men wear traditional African dress. There is a cabinet and two windows with closed drapes behind them. No ink on negative. Ink on envelope: caption and "2 of ea glossy". "KODAK - SAFETY -- FILM" edge imprint. Retouching on faces with New Coccine
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1963
- October 1963
- 1960-1970
- photographers
- Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.)
- film manufacturer
- Eastman Kodak Co
- Subject
- Liberia Embassy (U.S.)
- Local number
- Box 618.04.109
- AC0618.004.0001644.tif (scan number)
- No Scurlock number
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Children's World Restaurant [menu]
- Summary
- Approx. a dozen pairs of non-American children entering a restaurant and being greeted by three American children at the door
- advertiser
- Childrens World Restaurant
- Local number
- 040060171.tif (AC Scan No. front and back cover)
- 040060172.tif (AC Scan No. inside menu)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Ronald McDonald Doll
- Description
- This object is a Ronald McDonald stuffed doll dressed as a clown figure. The doll is made of two pieces of fabric, sewn together in one long seam. Various colors have been screened onto the fabric to look like a yellow jumpsuit with red zipper, red boots and a red and white striped shirt and socks. The doll has red hair, with a red nose and lips and white face. On the back side McDonald’s® is written in black letter with the golden arches logo. Ronald McDonald made his national debut for McDonald’s in 1966 during a nationwide television commercial. He was later provided several friends and nemeses who lived in McDonaldland, which was all part of an advertising campaign created to appeal to children.
- The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
- In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- trademark holder
- McDonald's Corporation
- ID Number
- 1983.0366.01
- accession number
- 1983.0366
- catalog number
- 1983.0366.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mayor McCheese Doll
- Description
- This object is a Mayor McCheese stuffed doll dressed in purple pants, pink jacket and a yellow shirt sporting a purple sash that says “Mayor” but the “M” is a golden arches logo. The doll is made of two pieces of fabric, sewn together in a single seam. The “clothing” has been screened directly onto the fabric. He has a cheeseburger head and is wearing a purple and yellow hat with the double arches logo on it. On his back, “Mayor McCheese” is written in yellow lettering. Mayor McCheese joined the McDonaldland crew in 1971 as part of McDonald’s® advertising campaign aimed at children.
- The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
- In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- trademark holder
- McDonald's Corporation
- ID Number
- 1983.0366.02
- accession number
- 1983.0366
- catalog number
- 1983.0366.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Officer Big Mac Doll
- Description
- This object is an Officer Big Mac stuffed doll dressed in the blue uniform of a police officer with a Big Mac for a head. The object is made of two pieces of fabric sewn together in a single seam. All clothing and accessories have been screened directly onto the fabric. He is wearing a belt with a double golden arches logo for a buckle and a whistle. He has a large gold star on his chest. On the back the words “Big Mac®” appear in gold lettering. Officer Big Mac joined the McDonaldland crew in 1971 as part of McDonald’s® advertising campaign aimed at children.
- The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
- In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- trademark holder
- McDonald's Corporation
- ID Number
- 1983.0366.03
- accession number
- 1983.0366
- catalog number
- 1983.0366.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Bread Box
- Description
- This box was used to transport loaves of bread by wagon or train from Meinburg's Bakery of Washington DC to establishments in the city and outlying counties. Delivering goods by rail meant a larger customer base for businesses like this bakery. After reaching its destination and unloaded, the grocery would return the box to the bakery where it was reloaded for another shipment.
- The box is constructed of wood with rope handles and could be carried by one person. The box is numbered so agents could track the shipment.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1890-1900
- ID Number
- 1985.0709.01
- accession number
- 1985.0709
- catalog number
- 1985.0709.01
- 85.0709.01
- accession number
- 1985.0709
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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