Food

Photo of McCall's Cheese

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

Place: California

Herb Vegetable Sauce

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.11
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.11

Pickled Ginger Container

A jar of sushi pickled ginger “gari,” (term for ginger when associated with sushi) with the AFC Corp.
Description
A jar of sushi pickled ginger “gari,” (term for ginger when associated with sushi) with the AFC Corp. brand label, provided an ample supply for an individual or family to keep on-hand at home to supplement their sushi take-out.
A mound of lightly colored pink or yellow pickled ginger, along with a small spoonful of wasabi, is typically presented with sushi. Eating pickled ginger in between different types of sushi helps to cleanse an individual’s palate for the next sushi selection. The Japanese term “gari” mimics the sound that is produced when pickled ginger is being consumed.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980s
maker
Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp.
ID Number
2012.3099.20
catalog number
2012.3099.20
nonaccession number
2012.3099

Wine Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side contained Tipo red wine produced by the Italian Swiss Colony of San Francisco, California during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained Tipo red wine produced by the Italian Swiss Colony of San Francisco, California during the early 20th century. There is an illustration of the wine’s distinctive bottle, wide at the bottom, and wrapped in a twine jacked similar to Italian Chianti bottles. Originally called Tipo Chianti, the Italian-Swiss colony eventually adopted Tipo as their wine’s brand name.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Italian Swiss Colony
ID Number
1979.0441.309
catalog number
1979.0441.309
accession number
1979.0441

Tortilladora, tortilla press

Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this hand-cranked tortilladora to press masa into tortillas. Machines like this were invented in Mexico by 1911. This “La Rotative” press dates from about 1923 but was bought used by the Sanchez family in the 1940s.
Description
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this hand-cranked tortilladora to press masa into tortillas. Machines like this were invented in Mexico by 1911. This “La Rotative” press dates from about 1923 but was bought used by the Sanchez family in the 1940s. Her grandson, Adrian Sanchez, fondly recalls the machine and working with her to make tortillas and tamales:
I recall helping my Grandmother Concepcion Sanchez make corn tortillas for her to sell….[in] 1948 in Fillmore, California. …My uncle Arnulfo [bought] his mother a molino, a machine that grinds corn for masa to make tortillas…a comal, a griddle to cook the…tortillas, and a machine [tortilladora] that actually made the tortillas…the dry corn was cooked [and limed]…The cooked corn was then ready to be ground in the molino…The ground masa was then gathered into large balls to be placed on the machine…when the handle was turned, a tortilla would fall on an attached conveyor belt which…would drop the uncooked tortilla onto the comal…After the tortillas cooked, they were stacked and counted into dozens… The…neighborhood came to buy their warm tortillas…A…batch was sent…to…Tio Nuco’s market …During…Christmas…Grandma [made] masa for tamales…[she]…was into her 80’s when she quit. (Smithsonian interview, 2006)
Concha Sanchez and her family followed the path of many Mexican immigrants who turned their traditional foodways into a staple of community life. Concha and Abundio Sanchez migrated from Mexico in 1912 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Through the 1920s, they worked in Kansas, in Texas, and in the produce fields of California, eventually opening a grocery store. When that failed in the Great Depression, Concha supported her family by creating a tortilleria, making and selling tortillas in her Ventura County neighborhood. Instead of making them by hand, as Mexican women had done for centuries, she used the new electric and gas-fired equipment bought by her son to produce tortillas and tamales for sale.
date made
ca. 1920
ID Number
2006.0236.03
catalog number
2006.0236.03
accession number
2006.0236

Chocolate Mousse

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.10
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.10

Budding Knife

This knife was used by Nathan Fay (1914-2001), the California grape grower credited with planting the first Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the Stag's Leap District of Napa Valley.
Description
This knife was used by Nathan Fay (1914-2001), the California grape grower credited with planting the first Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the Stag's Leap District of Napa Valley. Since Fay's first planting in 1961, the variety has become well established and the district is internationally known for its fine Cabernet Sauvignon vintages. When he donated this budding knife to the Smithsonian in 1997, Fay estimated he had used it to bud some 4,000 to 5,000 plants. He added that, in his prime, he was able to bud about 400 vines in a day, and, in his lifetime, he had probably budded some 12,000 plants.
The first step in budding new vines is to plant rootstock resistant to phylloxera, the devastating insect that attacks the roots of Vitis vinifera, the Eurasian species of grapes from which the world's best table wines are made. Although grapes native to North America are phylloxera-resistant, their fruit does not equal the kind of complex, classical wine produced by the V. vinifera species. Consequently, American viticulturalists have learned to plant "resistant" rootstock, typically hybrids of species native to the New World. It is on this rootstock that they graft the buds from V. vinifera wood.
maker
Henkels Dansk
ID Number
1997.0304.03
accession number
1997.0304
catalog number
1997.0304.03

Orange Crate Label

Labels are an important marketing device.
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

Orange Duck

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.16
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.16

Brose Spoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
ID Number
DL.076627
catalog number
076627
accession number
16559

Moroccan Carrots

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.15
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.15

Wine bottle label, “Bargetto’s Johannisberg Riesling,” 1940s

This paper label is for Johannisberg Riesling, a semi-sweet white wine made by Bargetto’s Santa Cruz Winery. Riesling, a grape variety from Germany’s Rhine region, is widely grown there and in the Alsace region of France.
Description
This paper label is for Johannisberg Riesling, a semi-sweet white wine made by Bargetto’s Santa Cruz Winery. Riesling, a grape variety from Germany’s Rhine region, is widely grown there and in the Alsace region of France. In California, acreage devoted to Riesling has declined since the 1940s, when the Bargetto family used this label on its products. Semi-sweet Riesling appealed to many Americans in the years following the Repeal of Prohibition as table wine was reintroduced to a public that had all but forgotten its traditional place with food.
This label would not be permitted in the United States today. Since 2006, the designation “Johannisberg” is prohibited outside the Johannisberg region of Germany, where one of the major producers is Schloss Johannisberg. Wine made from the Riesling grape produced elsewhere, such as in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, can only be called “Riesling” or “White Riesling.”
The Bargetto family’s story reflects in many ways the history of Italians in California, with several themes threaded throughout: multiple migrations between Italy and America, opportunity and work in the wine industry, and the importance of family and community. The first Bargettos to arrive in California were Giuseppe (Joseph) and his eldest son Filippo (Philip), who left their ancestral home in Italy’s Piedmont region, in 1890. They settled among other Italians in the winegrowing area around Mountain View, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they found work at the Casa Delmas Winery. Although Joseph moved back to Italy two years later, Philip remained until 1902, when he returned to Italy to be married. Three years later Philip and his new family arrived back in California, settling first in San Francisco, then, with remarkable prescience, to Mountain View just before the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906.
In 1909, back in San Francisco, the Bargettos opened their first family winery on Montgomery Avenue. Philip’s uncle Giovanni (John) arrived from Italy and, with a third partner, Alberto Colombo, they formed the South Montebello Vineyard and Wine Co., where they fermented, aged, and delivered barrels of wine to local restaurants. The next member of the family to arrive from Italy was Philip’s younger brother, also named Giovanni (John P.), who went to work in a San Francisco restaurant. After two years and suffering from exhaustion, he moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he was joined by his sisters Angelina and Maddalena, both of whom married Italian immigrants. The growing Bargetto family became part of an expanding community of Italian Americans in the town of Soquel.
As Prohibition loomed, the Bargettos closed the San Francisco winery and moved to Soquel in 1917, where they purchased the site of what became the family’s winery after Repeal. Here they began making wine for home use by family and friends. To keep themselves financially afloat during Prohibition’s dry years, the family peddled vegetables and also served meals out of their home on weekends. Customers who wanted a glass of wine with their meal, a longstanding Italian tradition, were served wine from barrels stored in the cellar.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the Bargettos applied for federal bonding, and officially became Bonded Winery 3859. The two brothers, Philip and John P., ran the winery together until Philip’s death in 1936; through the 1940s and 1950s, John P. held the company together with help from his sons Ralph and Lawrence, who took the lead in the 1970s and 1980s.
The winery was still family-owned in 2014, when artifacts associated with the early years of the Bargetto family’s winery were donated to the museum. The donor, John E. Bargetto, with his brother and sister, are the third generation of Bargettos to operate the family’s wine business in the Central Coast region of California.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s
ID Number
2014.3130.01
catalog number
2014.3130.01
nonaccession number
2014.3130

Tuna Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side contained Mission brand flaked tuna that was packed by the Van Camp Seafood Company of Los Angeles, California during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained Mission brand flaked tuna that was packed by the Van Camp Seafood Company of Los Angeles, California during the early 20th century. The Van Camp Seafood Company changed its name to Chicken of the Sea after the exceedingly popular 1960s jingle: “Ask any mermaid you happen to see…what’s the best tuna? Chicken of the Sea!”
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Van Camp Sea Food Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.207
catalog number
1979.0441.207
accession number
1979.0441

Oranges Shipping Crate

This shipping crate label was used by Strathmore brand oranges grown and packed by the Strathmore Packing House Company of Strathmore, California during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate label was used by Strathmore brand oranges grown and packed by the Strathmore Packing House Company of Strathmore, California during the early 20th century. The lithographed label has a red and green tartan border, with a blue background and an image of a Scottish man wearing a kilt and playing a bagpipe. The label also has an illustration of the Scottish thistle on the left. The label has the Sunkist orange logo on it, a designation given to high quality oranges grown by members of the California Fruit Growers Exchange.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Strathmore Packing House Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.380
catalog number
1979.0441.380
accession number
1979.0441

Toaster

Toaster or broiler made from a single iron strip, rectangular in section, hand forged into an irregular spiral that tapers in depth at center. Long, angled handle terminates in a clockwise rattail hanging loop. No feet. No marks.Currently not on view
Description
Toaster or broiler made from a single iron strip, rectangular in section, hand forged into an irregular spiral that tapers in depth at center. Long, angled handle terminates in a clockwise rattail hanging loop. No feet. No marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850 - 1900
ID Number
DL.64.0507
catalog number
64.0507
accession number
251849

Concannon Vineyards Sherry Wine Bottle

This bottle once held Sherry produced by Concannon Vineyards in Livermore, California, in 1929, at the height of Prohibition in the United States.
Description
This bottle once held Sherry produced by Concannon Vineyards in Livermore, California, in 1929, at the height of Prohibition in the United States. National Prohibition, the 18th amendment to the Constitution, was passed by Congress in January 1919 to prohibit the manufacture, transport, sale, export, and import of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Lasting almost 14 years (Repeal took effect on December 5, 1933), Prohibition had a tremendously negative impact on the American wine industry. Yet this Sherry was produced legally during Prohibition, due to an exception in the law, which permitted certain wineries to make wines for sacramental and medicinal purposes. The Concannon family made altar wine for the Catholic Church during this period.
The bottle includes a stamp indicating that taxes had been paid on the wine and the permit information: “Bonded Winery 616 / 11th Permissive Dist. Calif. / Permit Calif. A 854"
Concannon Vineyards was established by James Concannon, a native of County Galway, Ireland, who arrived in Boston in 1865 and San Francisco in 1878. As a rubber stamp salesman whose territory extended into Canada and Mexico, he was a well-traveled entrepreneur. In 1883 he bought 47 acres of land in California’s Livermore Valley and established vineyards there, with a winery to follow in 1895. James’s son Joseph took over the business and kept it going through Prohibition. By the 1950s another generation—Joseph Jr. and James (Jim)—were running the company. Although the winery has been owned by the Wente family since 1992, the Concannon family is still very much involved in the management of the operation. John Concannon is now the fourth generation vintner at his family’s historic vineyards and winery.
date made
1929
ID Number
2014.0095.03
catalog number
2014.0095.03
accession number
2014.0095

James Remind-O-Clock Timer

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.
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

Orange Crate Label

Labels are an important marketing device.
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

Salt Brick Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side contained salt bricks manufactured by the Leslie-California Salt Company of San Francisco, California during the first half of the 20th century. The crate side has a center image of a circle with an illustration of a cow in the center.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained salt bricks manufactured by the Leslie-California Salt Company of San Francisco, California during the first half of the 20th century. The crate side has a center image of a circle with an illustration of a cow in the center. Salt bricks were used to supply cattle and livestock with important nutrients and minerals.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Leslie Salt Company
ID Number
1979.0441.291
catalog number
1979.0441.291
accession number
1979.0441

Apricots Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side originally was used for Golden-Glory brand apricots that were packed by Libby, McNeill, & Libby of Chicago, Illinois in the 1930s. The crate contained 25 pounds of choice Blenheim apricots.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side originally was used for Golden-Glory brand apricots that were packed by Libby, McNeill, & Libby of Chicago, Illinois in the 1930s. The crate contained 25 pounds of choice Blenheim apricots. The crate side has a National Recovery Administration stamp that reads “We Do Our Part.” In an attempt to end the Great Depression, the National Industrial Recovery Act was passed and consumers were encouraged to only buy products from companies that adhered to the stipulations of the NRA, shown by the Blue Eagle stamp.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Libby, McNeill & Libby
ID Number
1979.0441.262
catalog number
1979.0441.262
accession number
1979.0441

Miso Paste Bottle

A plastic miso paste bottle from the first generation AFC line.The bottle has a green plastic top, with a printed plastic label wrapped around the body.
Description
A plastic miso paste bottle from the first generation AFC line.
The bottle has a green plastic top, with a printed plastic label wrapped around the body. The label reads “NATURAL MISO PASTE” with the original AFC logo printed in the center and an image of a bowl of miso soup in the background. The word ‘Natural’ implies that this paste is made from all natural ingredients, without preservatives, additives and MSG. Underneath, “No dashi needed” is written in black to inform the consumer that no added stock is necessary when using this product. The barcode is placed on the left, as well as the ingredients and a two-step instructions list. The other side lists the nutrition facts and the distributor.
Miso paste is dissolved in hot water and served with other garnishes to produce miso soup, which is a common soup in Japanese cuisine. It is also a popular dish at sushi bars to accompany sushi, and help cleanse the palate in between different flavors.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980s
maker
Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp.
ID Number
2012.3099.23
catalog number
2012.3099.23
nonaccession number
2012.3099

Protective Jumpsuit

This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus
Description (Brief)
This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.
The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas, were sprayed on test fields of strawberry plants in Monterey County, Calif., to increase their resistance to frost.
In nature, Pseudomonas can be found on the surface of many plants. The bacteria contribute to problems with frost on crops because they produce a protein that promotes the formation of ice. In hopes of reducing frost damage to crops, scientist Steve Lindow at the University of California altered the bacteria to stop producing this protein. The University patented these “ice-minus” bacteria and licensed the technology to Advanced Genetic Systems, a company based in Oakland, Calif. AGS hoped to bring the bacteria to market as an ice-proofing spray for crops called “Frostban.”
After careful review, the U.S. government approved field tests of Frostban. Despite the review, public fear of releasing these bacteria into the environment remained. Some scientists raised concerns that the ice-minus bacteria could replace the natural bacterial population. Because of their ice-forming abilities, the natural bacteria play a role in the creation of precipitation. This fact led some to worry that damage to the natural population could have repercussions for rainfall and weather patterns.
Activists against Frostban broke into test fields and uprooted plants to be sprayed several times throughout the field trials. After four years of tests, Frostban was found to be effective in reducing frost damage to crops. Due to continued public discomfort with genetically modified organisms, however, AGS never marketed the product. The company feared that the expense of fighting legal battles to get it to market would outweigh possible profit.
Sources:
“Public Fears Factored Into Gene-Altered Bacteria Tests.” Griffin, Katherine. The Los Angeles Times. April 18, 1988. p. AOC11.
“Bacteria on the Loose.” Fox, Michael W. The Washington Post. November 26, 1985. p. A16.
“Chapter 5: Ecological Considerations.” Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States. Field-Testing Engineered Organisms: Genetic and Ecological Issues. 2002. pp.94–95.
“Chapter 4: The Release of a Genetically Engineered Microorganism.” Schacter, Bernice Zeldin. Issues and Dilemmas of Biotechnology: A Reference Guide. 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1987.0770.01
accession number
1987.0770
catalog number
1987.0770.01

Anchovy Stuffed Eggs

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.02
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.02

Carving Knife

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
DL.65.1379
catalog number
65.1379
accession number
280280

Dried Eggs Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side contained Keith’s brand dried eggs that were shipped by the Bianchi Poultry and Produce Company of San Francisco, California during the first half of the 20th century.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained Keith’s brand dried eggs that were shipped by the Bianchi Poultry and Produce Company of San Francisco, California during the first half of the 20th century.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Bianchi Poultry & Produce Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.210
catalog number
1979.0441.210
accession number
1979.0441

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