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

Coffee Cup Lid, Dart 8UL

This is a Dart 8UL Sip Thru strainer type coffee cup lid. Strainer type lids try to have maximum splash protection with minimal lid manipulation from the drinker. There is nothing to peel or pull back.
Description
This is a Dart 8UL Sip Thru strainer type coffee cup lid. Strainer type lids try to have maximum splash protection with minimal lid manipulation from the drinker. There is nothing to peel or pull back. The opening is kept small so liquid will only pass through when a cup is tipped toward a mouth and not when merely jostled while in one’s hands. This lid's design is covered by patent number 4,412,629 that was assigned to Dart Container Corporation on November 1, 1983. The patent covers a lid that is opened with the pressure from the drinker's upper lip, sealing itself again when the pressure is removed.
Architects and collectors Louise Harpman and Scott Specht donated 56 plastic cup lids to the National Museum of American History in 2012. Their donation is a sample from their much larger collection of “independently patented drink-through plastic cup lids,” which they began in 1984 and discussed in a 2005 essay, “Inventory / Peel, Pucker, Pinch, Puncture,” in Cabinet Magazine: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/19/harpman.php. The collectors’ categorization scheme reflects the primary way the lid design functions, which helps differentiate between the varieties and styles of lids.
Plastic, disposable coffee cup lids and other single-use food packages reinforce the social acceptability of eating and drinking on the go in the United States and reflect increasing expectation for convenience products. Cup lids are also examples of how humble, and even disposable, objects are sometimes the result of meticulous engineering. Patents for lid innovations describe peel-back tabs and the pucker-type shapes that make room for mouths and noses, and describe the nuances of “heat retention,” “mouth comfort,” “splash reduction,” “friction fit,” and “one-handed activation.”
ID Number
2012.3047.55
catalog number
2012.3047.55
nonaccession number
2012.3047

Towle's Log Cabin Syrup Tin Can

Tin cans were used to store a variety of different foods, and in this case, it was used to package maple syrup for either personal use or to sell commercially.
Description
Tin cans were used to store a variety of different foods, and in this case, it was used to package maple syrup for either personal use or to sell commercially. If the syrup was stored too long in the tin can, it would take on a slightly metallic flavor and therefore was not the best material to use for this purpose.
Maple syrup production is one of the few agricultural processes in North America that was not a European import but learned from the Native Americans in New England. Sap is typically collected from the Sugar, Red or Black maple, though it can be collected from other tree types. Northeastern North America is the most common area for maple syrup production, with Vermont, New York and Maine leading production in the U.S. Once the sap is collected, it must be boiled down to reduce the water content. It can require anywhere from 20-50 liters of sap to make one liter of syrup, depending on the sugar content of the sap. Each tree is capable of producing 35-50 liters of sap.
Patrick J. Towle started making “Log Cabin Syrup” in 1887, naming the brand after his childhood hero, President Lincoln, and the log cabin of his President Lincoln’s childhood home. After many acquisitions, Log Cabin became part of the Pinnacle Foods Group LLC in 2003.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1990.0018.44
accession number
1990.0018
catalog number
1990.0018.44

Cheese Shipping Crate

This shipping crate side originally contained full cream Lakeshire American Cheese manufactured by the Lackshire Cheese Company of Plymouth, Wisconsin during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side originally contained full cream Lakeshire American Cheese manufactured by the Lackshire Cheese Company of Plymouth, Wisconsin during the early 20th century. The crate side features the Lakeshire’s Company trademarked triangle and L in the center.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Lakeshire Cheese Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.350
catalog number
1979.0441.350
accession number
1979.0441

Apple Sauce

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.01
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.01

Porringer Bowl

Basin-type porringer bowl with narrow-reeded flat rim, tapered sides, and flat bottom; significantly damaged with handle missing, dents and holes in well. No marks apparent.Currently not on view
Description
Basin-type porringer bowl with narrow-reeded flat rim, tapered sides, and flat bottom; significantly damaged with handle missing, dents and holes in well. No marks apparent.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1775
user
Copp Family
ID Number
DL.006818
catalog number
6818
accession number
28810

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1815
1830 or later
ID Number
1977.0918.58D
accession number
1977.0918
catalog number
1977.0918.58D

Soap Crate Label

This soap shipping crate label was used by Benjamin Brooke & Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the early 20th century. Benjamin Brooke & Company produced high quality hand soaps in Philadelphia.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This soap shipping crate label was used by Benjamin Brooke & Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the early 20th century. Benjamin Brooke & Company produced high quality hand soaps in Philadelphia.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Benjamin Brooke & Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.220
catalog number
1979.0441.220
accession number
1979.0441

Grape Crate Label, Fresno Bella

By the 1880s, fruit growers and shippers were marking the ends of their wooden shipping crates with colorful paper labels made possible by advances in lithographic printing.
Description
By the 1880s, fruit growers and shippers were marking the ends of their wooden shipping crates with colorful paper labels made possible by advances in lithographic printing. The labels identified the source of the fruit, while the designs, images, and names helped encourage brand recognition among buyers. California growers used such labels on grape crates until the 1950s, when printed labels on corrugated cardboard boxes replaced the old wooden crates.
This label, depicting a woman with beauty-queen looks and a basket full of gorgeous grapes, begs the question: who is the “Fresno Bella,” the lady, the grapes, or both? Distributed by the Heggblade-Marguleas-Tenneco Corporation, Fresno Bella brand grapes were shipped using labels like this out of Del Rey, California, a crossroads town located in the Central Valley’s Fresno County.
date made
before 1950
ID Number
2010.3091.03
nonaccession number
2010.3091
catalog number
2010.3091.03

Concession Stand

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

Lumetron Colorimeter

This Lumetron Colorimeter Model 400-A was introduced in the 1940s by the Photovolt Corporation in New York, NY. It was used for many years by the Russian-born enologist André Tchelistcheff, at his various winery laboratories in California’s Napa Valley.
Description
This Lumetron Colorimeter Model 400-A was introduced in the 1940s by the Photovolt Corporation in New York, NY. It was used for many years by the Russian-born enologist André Tchelistcheff, at his various winery laboratories in California’s Napa Valley. Tchelistcheff had a tremendous impact on the development of the modern American wine industry.
Housed in a wooden box, the electrically-powered instrument includes two filter holders, a test tube carrier, a meter, and detailed instructions inside the lid. The instrument’s six glass filters cover the color spectrum—red, yellow-green, blue, orange, blue-green, and violet. The test tube carrier and the filter holders have metal knobs for ease of removal and the carrier has two holes for tubes with metal plaques noting “BLANK” and “SAMPLE” affixed above and below the holes respectively.
An ad for this instrument, published in the May 23, 1947 issue of Science Magazine, touted its use as a highly accurate device for determining the acidity (or pH) of a sample. It could also be used for the chemical analysis of color and turbidity in a liquid. All of these applications—measuring the pH and analyzing color and turbidity—are important aspects of work in a winery laboratory. Acid levels influence the flavor and texture of wine, and changes in a sample’s color and clarity indicate changes in its sensory characteristics as well.
André 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 California 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
Photovolt Corp.
ID Number
2011.0131.01
catalog number
2011.0131.01
accession number
2011.0131
model number
400-A
serial number
16356

American Japanese Cocoanut Tin

This large, red rectangular tin with gold and black lettering was used to store and market "Extra Cocoanut Bon Bons."Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers
Description
This large, red rectangular tin with gold and black lettering was used to store and market "Extra Cocoanut Bon Bons."
Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2010.0043.059
catalog number
2010.0043.059
accession number
2010.0043

Apple 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 Hi Buy All brand apple crate label was used by the Butler trading Company of Wenatchee, Washington during the early 20th century. The lithographed label was produced by the Spokane Lithography Company of Spokane, Washington. The blue label features an illustration of two red apples on the branch in the center, promoting the idea of fresh and tasty produce inside.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Butler Trading Co., Inc.
ID Number
1979.0441.046
accession number
1979.0441
catalog number
1979.0441.046

Raisins Shipping Crate

This shipping crate contained Sound brand seeded raisins that was used by the Tacoma Grocery Company of Tacoma, Washington during the early 20th century. The crate contained 45 cartons of raisins.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate contained Sound brand seeded raisins that was used by the Tacoma Grocery Company of Tacoma, Washington during the early 20th century. The crate contained 45 cartons of raisins.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Tacoma Groc. Co.
ID Number
1979.0441.153
catalog number
1979.0441.153
accession number
1979.0441

Presto Flour

Metal "sanitary cake tester." A long pin with celluloid button at top in blue with yellow and white print. The reverse is white with blue print. An advertisement for Presto Cake Flour is on one side and for Hecker-H-O Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., on the other.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Metal "sanitary cake tester." A long pin with celluloid button at top in blue with yellow and white print. The reverse is white with blue print. An advertisement for Presto Cake Flour is on one side and for Hecker-H-O Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., on the other.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1902
maker
Hecker-H-O Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0790
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0790

Pollio Dairy Deposit Box

This rectangular wooden box features two wood and metal strips along its upper edges, indicating its use for carrying packaged cold cheeses, bottles of milk, and other dairy products.
Description
This rectangular wooden box features two wood and metal strips along its upper edges, indicating its use for carrying packaged cold cheeses, bottles of milk, and other dairy products. Both sides of the crate are marked in black with the name 'POLLY-O' written over the Pollio Dairy Corporation’s logo, an image of a parrot wearing a chef’s hat and carrying a fork. The numbers “4-65” in the lower right-hand corner indicate the box was manufactured in April 1965. The telephone number, “MI 7-3600,” is stamped on the upper right-hand corner, confirming the dairy’s location in Midwood, Brooklyn, in the mid-1960s. In addition to the dairy’s name and location, the crate is stamped with the words “Deposit Box.” While the box would have been used to carry filled bottles of milk, it was also a deposit box or transport pack, into which consumers would place their empty milk bottles to be returned to the dairy for washing and reuse.
Giuseppe Pollio, founder of the Pollio Dairy Company, immigrated to America at age 19 and arrived at Ellis Island in 1879. He settled in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York, a popular location for other immigrants from Italy. Pollio established his company in 1899, just four years after machines for the commercial pasteurization of milk were introduced to the U.S. dairy industry. Over the following two decades, as almost 3 million Italians emigrated to America, there was a substantial new audience for traditional Italian products such as fresh cheese. Pollio was the first entrepreneur to manufacture and distribute mozzarella and ricotta on a large scale in the United States. Although mozzarella and ricotta are considered the most important types of Italian cheese, having been enjoyed in Italy since the 15th century, such fresh cheeses were uncommon in America prior to the 20th century. Polly-O became a significant distributor and helped turn American palates toward the newly available cheese, and to Italian cuisine in general.
During the first boom of the dairy industry, from 1875-1940, milk was transported from farms to processing plants or industrial dairies, where it was bottled in glass containers and sealed with a paper cap seal. The filled bottles were packed into wooden crates to be stored over ice. Such crates generally withstood the moisture from melting ice, but dairies switched to hard plastic crates when they became widely available by the 1970s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-04
ID Number
2014.0210.01
accession number
2014.0210
catalog number
2014.0210.01

Prunes Shipping Crate

This shipping crate end panel is imprinted with the “Libby’s” script of the manufacturing firm Libby, McNeil, and Libby. This crate contained Santa Clara, California Prunes. Archibald McNeil and Charles and Arthur Libby founded the Chicago based company in 1868.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate end panel is imprinted with the “Libby’s” script of the manufacturing firm Libby, McNeil, and Libby. This crate contained Santa Clara, California Prunes. Archibald McNeil and Charles and Arthur Libby founded the Chicago based company in 1868. Originally specializing in canned meats, Libby’s began to produce canned fruits and vegetables in the early 20th century. The company was purchased by Nestle in 1971.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Libby, McNeill & Libby
ID Number
1979.0441.354
catalog number
1979.0441.354
accession number
1979.0441

Leaf Chocolate Mold

This single piece, spatula style metal chocolate mold was used to produce two chocolate leaves.Molds began appearing in the late 1840s to early 1850s in Europe. In the late 1880s, U.S.
Description (Brief)
This single piece, spatula style metal chocolate mold was used to produce two chocolate leaves.
Description
Molds began appearing in the late 1840s to early 1850s in Europe. In the late 1880s, U.S. companies began manufacturing chocolate molds, but Germany remained the largest supplier to the U.S. until the early 1900s. During the First World War, U.S. firms began to gain more ground against their European counterparts.
The design of molds often followed the trends of the time. The “classic period” of 1880-1910 consisted of very realistic pieces made to resemble an object as closely as possible. Chocolatiers would often set up small vignettes depicting a complicated scene. These were time consuming and painstakingly complicated. From 1910-1930, molds were redesigned to be simpler and rounder in appearance. Fantasy began replacing realism. The mechanical design of the molds also began to change to accommodate changes in technology, such as new rotary machines that were developed to spin multiple molds at the same time to evenly distribute the chocolate.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AG.76-FT-04.0013B
catalog number
76-FT-04.0013B
accession number
315132

Advertising Button, Apple

This square button has green text on a white background that reads: Feeling Lucky? Visit the Apple Suite Sunday 6-8pm. (Enter to win a Mac). It has an image of a green shamrock covered by a fabric multi-color Apple logo.Currently not on view
Description
This square button has green text on a white background that reads: Feeling Lucky? Visit the Apple Suite Sunday 6-8pm. (Enter to win a Mac). It has an image of a green shamrock covered by a fabric multi-color Apple logo.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s
maker
Apple Computer, Inc.
ID Number
2009.3071.167
catalog number
2009.3071.167
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Oil Shipping Crate

This shipping crate end is imprinted with the Zerolene Polar Bear logo. Zerolene (also sometimes called Polarine) was an engine lubricant first manufactured by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1907.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate end is imprinted with the Zerolene Polar Bear logo. Zerolene (also sometimes called Polarine) was an engine lubricant first manufactured by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1907. The Standard Oil Company of California became its own entity after the 1911 breakup of Standard Oil. In 1977, the Standard Oil Company of California became the Chevron Corporation.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Standard Oil
ID Number
1979.0441.228
catalog number
1979.0441.228
accession number
1979.0441

Knife (Dinner Knife)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1855 - 1866
ID Number
DL.61.0394G
catalog number
61.0394G
accession number
232677

Microwave Turntable

Nordic Ware, a family-owned manufacturing firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1946 by brothers Dave and Mark Dalquist, as “Plastics for Industry.” In 1950, the brothers bought Northland Aluminum Products, a small firm with a line of “Nordic Ware” products including gri
Description (Brief)
Nordic Ware, a family-owned manufacturing firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1946 by brothers Dave and Mark Dalquist, as “Plastics for Industry.” In 1950, the brothers bought Northland Aluminum Products, a small firm with a line of “Nordic Ware” products including griddles and steak platters. The same year, Dave Dalquist created a cast aluminum, fluted cake pan and trademarked it as the “Bundt” pan. The company continued to grow its product line to include specialty baking and cookware items, including the microwave turntable. Nordic Ware is notable due to its history of product innovation through engineering, and its continued production of cookware in the United States.
Nordic Ware manufactured the original Micro-Go-Round in 1980 to take advantage of the surging popularity of microwave ovens. Without a rotation mechanism, early microwaves produced food that had hot and cold spots. Identifying this problem, Nordic Ware developed and patented the Micro-Go-Round, which could be wound up and turned on, and would rotate a plate of food for up to an hour to produce evenly heated food.
Description
In 2007 the Museum collected thirty-six objects and twenty cubic feet of archives from Minneapolis-based Nordic Ware, a producer of cookware since 1946. The family-owned manufacturer is best known for its Bundt pan, the world's most popular specialty cake mold.
Over the course of several years company engineers tested an array of plastics to determine which could be used safely in a microwave oven. They also spent a good deal of time designing a turning mechanism that could rotate the plastic surface while supporting a heavy food item, and still be small enough to fit inside the housing. By 1978 they had several working models and, in 1980, introduced the patented "Micro-Go-Round." Between 1981 and 1987, the company shipped about twenty-four thousand Micro-Go-Rounds to suppliers per week.
maker
Nordic Ware
ID Number
2007.0034.17
accession number
2007.0034
catalog number
2007.0034.17

Herald Brand Crystallized Ginger Tin

This yellow, rectangular container with cream, yellow and brown design was used to store and market Herald Brand Crystallized Ginger.
Description
This yellow, rectangular container with cream, yellow and brown design was used to store and market Herald Brand Crystallized Ginger. The lid of the container has the name of the product, the distributor and a picture of an old time trumpeter.
Sweet treats have been a part of the human diet nearly since the beginning of human existence. The type of treat has changed over time, but human desire for sweetness has not. Candy can be hard or chewy, may or may not contain chocolate and can be sweet or sour. Sugar cane was introduced to Europeans when crusaders brought the substance back from the Middle East, and it was with these Europeans that sugar gained its highly prized status as an art form and a gift to be given away on special occasions. A status that persists to this day when a suitor gives their beloved chocolate for Valentine’s Day.
At one time, small family owned confectionary shops dominated the American landscape. Opening a candy making business was a relatively low cost investment, all one needed was a kitchen and a basket to sell their treats from on the street. As demand grew, they could grow their business. Today, many of these small businesses have been absorbed into large corporations who command a much greater market power. Crystallized ginger was and still is popular for adding into baked goods as well as eating on its own.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1990.0018.0154
accession number
1990.0018
catalog number
1990.0018.0154

Glass Dinner Plate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date produced
1946
date designed
1941
associated dates
1992 06 02 / 1992 06 02
maker
Federal Glass Company
designer
Kogan, Belle
maker
Federal Glass Company
ID Number
1992.0257.02
catalog number
1992.0257.02
accession number
1992.0257

Lobster-shaped chocolate mold

This chocolate mold was manufactured between 1952 and 1972 by Randle & Smith, a company founded in Birmingham, England at the end of World War II.
Description
This chocolate mold was manufactured between 1952 and 1972 by Randle & Smith, a company founded in Birmingham, England at the end of World War II. The owners of Randle & Smith sought out workers from the leading chocolate mold company, Anton Reiche, of Dresden, Germany, who had been displaced by World War II bombings. Reiche was well known for its quality and intricate designs.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Randle & Smith
ID Number
AG.76-FT-04.0018
catalog number
76-FT-04.0018
accession number
315132

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