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: Massachusetts

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

Long, flat, thick brass strip with three, equidistant, heart-shaped hooks, each secured in place by a single domed copper rivet; both ends curved and pierced with hole.
Description
Long, flat, thick brass strip with three, equidistant, heart-shaped hooks, each secured in place by a single domed copper rivet; both ends curved and pierced with hole. From a four-piece set of cooking utensils (skimmer, two ladles and hanging rack), 1986.3175.1A-D.
Maker is Kurt P. Strehl (1926-2008), Orpheus Coppersmith, of Agawam, MA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1986
ID Number
1986.3175.1A
nonaccession number
1986.3175
catalog number
1986.3175.1A

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

Dessert Knife

Dessert knife having a blunt-tip blade with integral single-groove ("Yankee") bolster and flat, rounded-edge ivory block handle; tang is secured with a single pin near center of handle. Incuse banded oval mark on blade with “LAMSON & GOODNOW / M.F.G.
Description
Dessert knife having a blunt-tip blade with integral single-groove ("Yankee") bolster and flat, rounded-edge ivory block handle; tang is secured with a single pin near center of handle. Incuse banded oval mark on blade with “LAMSON & GOODNOW / M.F.G. Co” in sans serif and serif letters surrounding a sideways fouled anchor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900 - 1910
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.174
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.0531.174

Tupperware® "Millionaire Line" 16 oz. Square Round

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1985.3014.09
catalog number
1985.3014.09
nonaccession number
1985.3014

Cruet Set

Six-piece set consisting of a stand with central, ogival-arched handle on cyma-molded circular base that is fitted near its midshaft with a revolving frame of 5 large and 4 small rings that holds 5 matching, octagonal, clear, colorless glass bottles (2 cruets with faceted square
Description
Six-piece set consisting of a stand with central, ogival-arched handle on cyma-molded circular base that is fitted near its midshaft with a revolving frame of 5 large and 4 small rings that holds 5 matching, octagonal, clear, colorless glass bottles (2 cruets with faceted square stoppers, 1 caster with screw-on, perforated conical cap, and 2 mustard or condiment jars with hinged conical lids having utensil cutouts). All 5 bottles are mold-blown and wheel-engraved, the taller cruets and caster have faceted necks. Struck once on bottom underside of stand "I. TRASK" in raised serif letters in a rectangle. Bottles not marked.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825 - 1856
ID Number
1986.0027.74
catalog number
1986.0027.74
accession number
1986.0027

Schooner Cook's Bell

This brass bell was used to summon the crew to meals on a Gloucester (Massachusetts) fishing schooner in the late 19th century. Each sailing schooner shipped a cook along with eight to twelve fishermen and a captain.
Description
This brass bell was used to summon the crew to meals on a Gloucester (Massachusetts) fishing schooner in the late 19th century. Each sailing schooner shipped a cook along with eight to twelve fishermen and a captain. Before heading out, the cook provisioned the schooner with food for the trip. George W. Scott served as a cook on the schooner Ocean King in 1879, around the time this bell was in service. His journal lists the following provisions for a four-month journey: 5 barrels beef, 1 barrel pork, 1 barrel hams, 10 barrels flour, 50 gallons molasses, 15 bushels potatoes, and 200 pounds butter.
The cook on a Gloucester schooner produced three large meals a day. Meal times followed the rhythm of work and were likely to change depending on the catch and the weather. Fishing always came first, and a good cook was able to work around changes in the routine. The schooner fare was similar to meals served in the crew’s home towns across New England and Atlantic Canada. Breakfast might consist of doughnuts, pancakes, potatoes, and porridge. The main meal of the day was dinner (lunch), and typically consisted of meat, soup, fish, baked beans, pudding, cakes, and bread or biscuits. Supper might have been leftovers.
Fishing in the North Atlantic was hard work, and three meals were usually not enough to keep the crew satisfied. So the cook left bread, pie, and leftovers in a cupboard where the crew could grab snacks between fishing duties. All meals were announced by the loud ringing of the bell. At meal times the captain and half the crew would eat at the table in the galley set by the cook. The other half would continue working until the second shift was signaled by the ringing of the bell. A good cook was one who could clear the table, wash the dishes, and reset the table in mere minutes, while keeping the hot food coming.
date made
1882
1883
Associated Date
late 19th century
cook on the schooner "Ocean King"
Scott, George W.
ID Number
AG.054697
accession number
012158
catalog number
054697

Whitman Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil with Hypophosphites

Cod liver oil was used in northern European fishing communities for centuries as a remedy for ill health, before it became recognized by the medical establishment.
Description
Cod liver oil was used in northern European fishing communities for centuries as a remedy for ill health, before it became recognized by the medical establishment. Its popularity spread quickly in the United States after Edinburgh physician John Hughes Bennett published the first English-language treatise on cod liver oil in 1841. The oil was used to treat “wasting diseases” such as consumption (tuberculosis), and as a remedy for rickets. By the mid-19th century, the New England coast was producing 24, 000 gallons of the oil annually.
Yet despite its acknowledged medicinal value, the problem with cod liver oil remained its vile, nauseating, oily taste. To mask the taste, the oil was given in coffee, milk, or brandy, or taken with a pinch of salt, smoked herring, or tomato catsup. Pharmaceutical manufacturers created emulsions, made by mixing the oil with an emulsifying agent such as powdered acacia, water, sugar, and flavoring.
This bottle of cod liver oil emulsion was made around 1910 by the Whitman Chemical Company of Boston. The label states that it is one-third cod liver oil and 7% alcohol. It also contains hypophosphites, compounds of phosphorous, which were also thought to be effective in treating tuberculosis. At the time this bottle was manufactured, the value of cod liver oil as a medicine was questioned by many doctors. However, it remained popular as a general tonic and nutritive supplement, especially for children.
The use of cod liver oil would change dramatically after the discovery of vitamins and the role they play in promoting healthy growth and preventing diseases such as rickets (caused by a deficiency of Vitamin D). Cod liver oil is one of the best natural sources of vitamins A and D.
Date made
ca 1910
maker
Whitman Chemical Company
ID Number
1984.0782.045
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.045

Utensil Rack

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1957
maker
Washburn Company
ID Number
1993.0406.11
catalog number
1993.0406.11
accession number
1993.0406

Tupperware "Millionaire Line" Vacu-Mixer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 20th century
maker
Tupperware
ID Number
1992.0605.066
catalog number
1992.0605.066
accession number
1992.0605

View of Wharves and Fish Market, New Bedford

black and white stereograph; handwritten on verso "View on Wharves"; view from elevated vantage looking across to wharves on harbor; Fish Market building visible in midground; fully-rigged sailing ship docked behind fish market building; barrels of whale oil in foreground covered
Description (Brief)
black and white stereograph; handwritten on verso "View on Wharves"; view from elevated vantage looking across to wharves on harbor; Fish Market building visible in midground; fully-rigged sailing ship docked behind fish market building; barrels of whale oil in foreground covered by seaweed (to keep them from drying out)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850s-1880s
ID Number
2012.3033.0307
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0307

Ice Cream Saloon, Oak Bluffs

black and white stereograph mounted on mint green cardstock; handwritten in pencil on verso "Ice cream saloon"; wooden plank boardwalk extending from the right, foreground to the center, midground and an octagonal building with a pointed roof; two young girls walking on boardwalk
Description (Brief)
black and white stereograph mounted on mint green cardstock; handwritten in pencil on verso "Ice cream saloon"; wooden plank boardwalk extending from the right, foreground to the center, midground and an octagonal building with a pointed roof; two young girls walking on boardwalk huddled under a parasol; woman at right, walking down boardwalk also holding a parasol; two people seated near the walking woman on benches that line boardwalk; man standing near open doorway of building; water at right, small pier jutting out in the midground, two masted ship anchored offshore in the harbor
date made
mid-late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.0653
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0653

The Reversette Electric Toaster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1922- 1925
ID Number
1992.0338.15A
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.0338.15A

box, toaster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1920-1925
ID Number
1992.0338.15B
catalog number
1992.0338.15B
accession number
1992.0338

Electric Toaster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1909-1917
maker
Simplex Electric Company
ID Number
1992.0338.18
catalog number
1992.0338.18
accession number
1992.0338

Model D-12 Electric Toaster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1912- 1913
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
1992.0338.31
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.0338.31

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840 - 1880
Date made
DELETE
ID Number
1977.0334.04A
accession number
1977.0334
catalog number
1977.0334.04A

Butter Knife

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1891 or later
ID Number
1977.0918.13
catalog number
1977.0918.13
accession number
1977.0918

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865 - 1885
ID Number
1977.0334.03B
catalog number
1977.0334.03B
accession number
1977.0334

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840 - 1880
Date made
DELETE
ID Number
1977.0334.04D
accession number
1977.0334
catalog number
1977.0334.04D

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840 - 1880
Date made
DELETE
ID Number
1977.0334.04C
accession number
1977.0334
catalog number
1977.0334.04C

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865 - 1885
ID Number
1977.0334.03A
catalog number
1977.0334.03A
accession number
1977.0334

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