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: New York

Electric Coffeepot (Percolator)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
date patented
1924-8-12
ID Number
1992.0338.42
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.0338.42

Waffle Batter Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
ID Number
1992.0338.44
catalog number
1992.0338.44
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.338.44

Individual Bonbon Dish

Small, Art Nouveau, repoussé chased pentagonal dish with slightly convex, cinquefoil well; no footring. Flared sides and everted rim with downturned edge are segmented by five sinuous ribbons overrun by a wreath of wild roses open at one corner, leaving an empty reserve.
Description
Small, Art Nouveau, repoussé chased pentagonal dish with slightly convex, cinquefoil well; no footring. Flared sides and everted rim with downturned edge are segmented by five sinuous ribbons overrun by a wreath of wild roses open at one corner, leaving an empty reserve. No monogram. Underside of well struck incuse with circular mark for "THE VAN BERGH S.P.CO. (arched) / ROCHESTER, NY (curved)" enclosing "QUADRUPLE / PLATE", and "5353" below. From a 7-piece set (one large and six small dishes) for serving bonbons ("sweets") or nuts, 1989.0184.11-.17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
1989.0184.16
catalog number
1989.0184.16
accession number
1989.0184

Pot

Cooking pot on three, semicircular feet with a flared lip, bulbous body and forged bail handle looped around triangular lugs or ears.
Description
Cooking pot on three, semicircular feet with a flared lip, bulbous body and forged bail handle looped around triangular lugs or ears. Hollow cast with three fillets around body, the lower one is a horizontal seam; two vertical seams on upper half and single gate mark on bottom exterior. Partial cast-in mark on side of two dotted surrounds with "SAM[PSON &] TISDALE" in one and "NEW YORK" in the other, both in raised serif letters.
Maker is Sampson & Tisdale of New York, NY; partnership of John Sampson and Samuel F. Tisdale.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1830 - 1840
ID Number
1982.0090.79
accession number
1982.0090
catalog number
1982.0090.79

Toy Stove

Cooking stove with four burners and two ovens on three high legs; scroll and floral decorations in low relief.
Description
Cooking stove with four burners and two ovens on three high legs; scroll and floral decorations in low relief. Multiple disjoint parts including a base, circular burner lids, a dividing panel between two burners, grate inside, drop lid in front, oven lids on sides and a wooden lid lifter (stick).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
1982.0090.65
accession number
1982.0090
catalog number
1982.0090.65

Waffle Iron

Rectangular waffle iron, plier form; both plates feature a grid of squares with raised, eight-petaled rosettes.
Description
Rectangular waffle iron, plier form; both plates feature a grid of squares with raised, eight-petaled rosettes. Two, long, slightly bowed handles, circular in section, the shorter one ending in a flat scroll with shaped locking ring that fits over the ball-and-bulb terminal on the other handle to secure closed. Both handles with arrow-shaped pads double-riveted to plates. Handle pivot is peened over domed washers. Cast-in marks on exterior of both plates "W. S." above "CAIRO" in raised serif letters.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
1810-1840
ID Number
1982.0090.60
accession number
1982.0090
catalog number
1982.0090.60

Infant Food, Nestle's Lactogen

This example of Nestle's Lactogen, a pediatric food product claiming to be "highly suitable for nursing mothers, convalescents and others in delicate health," was collected from the shelves of Tupper's Pharmacy, a neighborhood drugstore that existed in Summerville, S.C., from 190
Description
This example of Nestle's Lactogen, a pediatric food product claiming to be "highly suitable for nursing mothers, convalescents and others in delicate health," was collected from the shelves of Tupper's Pharmacy, a neighborhood drugstore that existed in Summerville, S.C., from 1902 to 1977.
Lactogen is manufactured by the Nestle Company, the Swiss firm founded by pharmacist Henri Nestle, inventor of the first fully artificial infant milk formula, "Farine Lactee." Farine Lactee, a malt- and cow milk-based product, was first introduced in the 1860s. It and other commercial pediatric formulas of the time attempted to reproduce the nutritional formula found in breast milk.
Companies continued to try to create synthetics that more closely replicated human milk. Gerstenberger and Ruh introduced SMA (Synthetic Milk Adapted) in 1919; Nestle introduced Lactogen, and Franklin Foods, Similac, soon after. These new products gained the trust of the medical establishment, and the 1950s saw a sharp increase in infant formula use within the United States. Use of infant formula peaked within the 1970s, when approximately 75 percent of American newborns received formula instead of being breastfed. The reasons for this increase include successful marketing campaigns, including the provision of free products; mid-century consumer confidence in "scientific products"; the acceptance of infant formula's nutritional value by nurses and pediatricians; and the increase of women in the workforce.
The use of infant formulas has decreased greatly in recent years; today only three out of ten newborns in the United States are given formula. This change is primarily due to more recent medical studies determining that while babies can thrive on formula, breast milk is superior, especially in that it strengthens the immune system. Nestle and other commercial infant food manufacturers have come under worldwide censure for the aggressive marketing of formulas within third-world countries.
Location
Currently not on view
founder of the company
Nestle, Henri
retailer
Tupper's Pharmacy
maker
Nestle Company
ID Number
1980.0698.135
accession number
1980.0698
catalog number
1980.0698.135

Van with sign, "Ground Zero Food Service"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Occi, James L.
ID Number
2003.0073.14
accession number
2003.0073
catalog number
2003.0073.14

W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

A letter opener advertising W. Atlee Burpee Co. Made of cream celluloid with green printed details, it has an image of a lima bean pod on the front and back.
Description (Brief)
A letter opener advertising W. Atlee Burpee Co. Made of cream celluloid with green printed details, it has an image of a lima bean pod on the front and back. The handle section of the opener is in the shape of a pod, described as "Natural size pod of Burpee's bush lima."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1877
advertiser
W. Atlee Burpee & Co.
maker
Baldwin & Gleason Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0899
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0899

Hog Farm Free Kitchen at the Woodstock Music Festival

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa Bachelis
ID Number
1998.0139.162
accession number
1998.0139
catalog number
1998.0139.162

Slide Chart, Shopper's Guide Calorie Counter

This red, white, and blue cardboard slide chart has logarithmic scales for calculating the cost per ounce or unit of goods selling at prices ranging from ten cents to ten dollars apiece.
Description
This red, white, and blue cardboard slide chart has logarithmic scales for calculating the cost per ounce or unit of goods selling at prices ranging from ten cents to ten dollars apiece. The cost is given on the envelope, the number of ounces or units on the sliding scale, and the cost per ounce or unit on a scale below on the slide. Windows in the envelope reveal the scales.
The reverse side of the slide has a listing of the calorie content of a single serving of selected common foods and beverages.
A mark on the front reads: Hudson Shopper’s Guide. A mark on the back reads: Hudson Calorie Counter. Other mark there read: Copyright 1969 I. Taxel, Woodmere N.Y., and: Hudson Pulp & Paper corp. (/) 477 Madison Avenue (/) New York, N.Y. 10022. Hudson sold napkins, towels, and bathroom and facial tissue, and urged consumers to compare prices before making purchases.
The I. Taxel mentioned is most probably Irving Taxel, who established Promotional Slideguide in Woodmere, New York, after World War II. His son Nelson Taxel took over the business.
Compare 1988.3078.03.
Reference:
F. Lowery, “Irving Taxel, Helped Found Boca Lodge, B’nai Brith,” Sun Sentinel, July 9, 1994.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1969
maker
Hudson Pulp & Paper Corp.
ID Number
2001.3103.03
nonaccession number
2001.3103
catalog number
2001.3103.03

Sugar Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
ID Number
1992.0338.45
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.0338.45

Pie Plate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
ID Number
1992.0338.40
catalog number
1992.0338.40
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.338.40

Tea Ball Pot

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
ID Number
1992.0338.43
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.0338.43

Creamer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928 - 1939
ID Number
1992.0338.46
catalog number
1992.0338.46
accession number
1992.0338
catalog number
1992.338.46

Oyster Plate

Porcelain factories responded to the American passion for oysters by designing special plates on which to serve the delicacy, accompanied by silver-plated forks also designed for the purpose.
Description
Porcelain factories responded to the American passion for oysters by designing special plates on which to serve the delicacy, accompanied by silver-plated forks also designed for the purpose. During the long and lavish dinners characteristic of evening entertainment among the wealthy on the East Coast in the 1870s and 1880s, guests were frequently served their first course on oyster plates such as these gilded examples produced by the Union Porcelain Works, in Greenpoint, New York, around 1881. American and European porcelain factories met increasing affluence and elaborate dining etiquette with an extensive range of items designed for specific foods and beverages. Oyster plates represent one such refinement in response to a newly acquired taste for the shellfish.
date made
About 1881
about 1881
maker
Union Porcelain Works
ID Number
CE.75.123B
catalog number
75.123B
accession number
317832

Pastry Server (Pie Knife)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908 or later
patent date
1908-01-14
ID Number
DL.380489
catalog number
380489
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491C
catalog number
380491C
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491B
catalog number
380491B
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491F
catalog number
380491F
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491D
catalog number
380491D
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491A
catalog number
380491A
accession number
153231

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905 or later
patent date
1900-10-09
ID Number
DL.380491E
catalog number
380491E
accession number
153231

Cold Meat Serving Fork

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908 or later
patent date
1908-01-14
ID Number
DL.380488
catalog number
380488
accession number
153231

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