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

Date: 1950s

Ceramic Relish Dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1951
date designed
c.1939
date made
c.1950
ca. 1939
date produced
1947
date designed
c. 1939
designer
Kogan, Belle
maker
Red Wing Potteries, Inc.
ID Number
1993.0234.03
catalog number
1993.0234.03
accession number
1993.0234

Tacup Iron Prototype

Charles Elmer Doolin, founder of the Frito Company, was an inventor with a restless mind. In 1932 he bought the recipe for Fritos (“little fried things”) for $100 from Gustavo Olguin, the owner of a small restaurant in San Antonio, Texas.
Description
Charles Elmer Doolin, founder of the Frito Company, was an inventor with a restless mind. In 1932 he bought the recipe for Fritos (“little fried things”) for $100 from Gustavo Olguin, the owner of a small restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. The following year Doolin began large-scale production of Fritos in Dallas and Houston, using a hybrid corn from his experimental farm. He continued to expand production while developing a nationwide ad campaign. By 1947, Fritos were being produced in factories across the United States.
In addition to making Fritos and Cheetos (production of which began in 1949 in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City), Doolin continued to tinker with other recipes and food products. One of his ideas was the “Tacup,” a taco shell shaped liked a small, round tart. He built this prototype of a “Tacup” iron, which consists of two tart molds that fit one inside the other and are connected by handles that operate like tongs. A tortilla is pressed between the molds to form the scalloped-edged shell, which is then dipped into hot oil. Holes in the bottom mold exposed the tortilla to the hot oil, enabling it to cook evenly. Doolin designed a machine based on this prototype, receiving a patent for it in 1959. The Tacup, filled with various taco ingredients and Mexican flavors, was first introduced in the Dallas area at a chain of Dairy Marts. By 1955 visitors to Disneyland in southern California could order a “Taco in a Tacup”at Doolin’s restaurant, “Casa de Fritos.”
See Kaleta Doolin. Fritos Pie: Stories, Recipes, and More (Stephenville, TX: Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities), 2011.
date made
1959
1950s
ID Number
2012.0078.03
catalog number
2012.0078.03
accession number
2012.0078

Glass Tumbler

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1955
date made
ca. 1955
designer
Diamond, Freda
maker
Libbey Glass Company
designer
Diamond, Freda
ID Number
1997.0157.15A
accession number
1997.0157
catalog number
1997.0157.15A

Ceramic Creamer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date designed
1954
date made
c.1954
date produced
ca. 1960
designer
Kogan, Belle
maker
Gailstyn Company
ID Number
1992.0257.11C
catalog number
1992.0257.11C
accession number
1992.0257

Glass Sherbet Goblet

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Introduced 1957
date made
c.1956
c. 1956
ca. 1956
designer
Diamond, Freda
maker
Libbey Glass Company
designer
Diamond, Freda
ID Number
1997.0157.01C
accession number
1997.0157
catalog number
1997.0157.01C

Mee Sum Restaurant Menu

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
maker
Mee Sum Restaurant
ID Number
2013.3078.01
nonaccession number
2013.3078
catalog number
2013.3078.01

Patch, L’Ecole Des Trois Gourmandes

Julia Child and her French cookbook collaborators, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, started an informal cooking school in Paris in 1952.
Description
Julia Child and her French cookbook collaborators, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, started an informal cooking school in Paris in 1952. Called L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Hearty Eaters), the school was held in Julia's kitchen, where the three women, who really thought of themselves as home cooks, taught American students how to cook and appreciate French food. Julia’s husband, Paul Child, designed the logo for the cooking school, which the friends proudly wore on their aprons. Julia’s role in the school diminished when the Childs moved to Marseilles in 1953. Years later, Julia pinned the patch to her blouse for cooking demonstrations and during her first television series, The French Chef.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1952
designer
Child, Paul
ID Number
2001.0253.0031
catalog number
2001.0253.0031
accession number
2001.0253

Campbell's Soup Company

Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1940s-50s. The print is an advertisment for Campbell's Soup Company. Large bowl of noodle soup, salad and crackers on blue stripped table cloth.Recto: Signed by artist in bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray Stamp. "#21" (pencil).
Description (Brief)
Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1940s-50s. The print is an advertisment for Campbell's Soup Company. Large bowl of noodle soup, salad and crackers on blue stripped table cloth.
Recto: Signed by artist in bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray Stamp. "#21" (pencil). "Campbell Soup" (pencil).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940s-1950s
depicted
Campbell Soup Company
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.007933
catalog number
7933
accession number
258415

Child's Knife

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Oneida Ltd.
ID Number
1987.0492.1C
accession number
1987.0492
catalog number
1987.0492.1C

Child's Fork

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Oneida Ltd.
ID Number
1987.0492.1A
accession number
1987.0492
catalog number
1987.0492.1A

Boxed Set of Child's Flatware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
Date made
DELETE
maker
Oneida Ltd.
ID Number
1987.0492.1D
catalog number
1987.0492.1D
accession number
1987.0492

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" Cheese or Butter Keeper

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1954
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3015.01
catalog number
1985.3015.01
nonaccession number
1985.3015

Tupperware® "Wonderlier Bowl"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1954
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.01
catalog number
1985.3014.01
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" Kit Kup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1954 - 1955
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.04
catalog number
1985.3014.04
nonaccession number
1985.3014

set, place-setting

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1956
ID Number
1988.0608.18
accession number
1988.0608
catalog number
1988.0608.18
patent number
2729267

Child's Spoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Oneida Ltd.
ID Number
1987.0492.1B
accession number
1987.0492
catalog number
1987.0492.1B

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" 30 oz. Square Round

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.08
catalog number
1985.3014.08
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Tupperware® Kit Kup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1955
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.06
catalog number
1985.3014.06
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" Wonderlier Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1954
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.02
catalog number
1985.3014.02
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Tupperware® Kit Kup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953 - 1954
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.05
catalog number
1985.3014.05
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" Wonderlier Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1954
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.03
catalog number
1985.3014.03
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Utensil Rack

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1951
1951-10-23
maker
Ekco Housewares Company
ID Number
1988.0617.48
accession number
1988.0617
catalog number
1988.0617.48

Tupperware® Kit Kup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1955
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.07
catalog number
1985.3014.07
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Pie Plate and Holder

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920s - 1950s
1945 - 1960
plate maker
Corning Glass Works
holder maker
Everlast Metal Products Corporation
ID Number
1988.0306.2
accession number
1988.0306
catalog number
1988.0306.2

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