Food - Overview
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
"Food - Overview" showing 161 items.
Page 1 of 17
Bread Box
- Description
- This box was used to transport loaves of bread by wagon or train from Meinburg's Bakery of Washington DC to establishments in the city and outlying counties. Delivering goods by rail meant a larger customer base for businesses like this bakery. After reaching its destination and unloaded, the grocery would return the box to the bakery where it was reloaded for another shipment.
- The box is constructed of wood with rope handles and could be carried by one person. The box is numbered so agents could track the shipment.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1890-1900
- ID Number
- 1985.0709.01
- accession number
- 1985.0709
- catalog number
- 1985.0709.01
- 85.0709.01
- accession number
- 1985.0709
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Trout brand apple crate label from Chelan, Washington was in use around 1900-1940. The label features a lithographed image of a leaping trout, meant to evoke a sense of nature popular among fruit crate labels during this period. Washington was one of the largest producers of apples during the early 20th century, and Wenoka Apples is the growers cooperative that marketed their fruits collectively.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Lake Chelan Fruit Growers
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.001
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- Description (Brief)
- This Lake Wenatchee brand apple crate from Wenatchee, Washington was in use around 1900-1940. The wilderness depicted on the Lake Wenatchee label invokes an American longing for nature through the pastoral image of snowy mountains, blue lakes, and a log cabin on the shore. The Pacific Northwest was renowned for its apple production at this time, and Wenatchee was called “the apple capital of the world.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Cascoa Growers
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.002
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.002
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Foot Hill brand apple crate label was in use in Wenatchee, Washington around 1900-1940. The image of a rising sun over the mountains and the slogan "From the Foothills of the Cascades" evokes a sense of nature that was often used in fruit crate labels. The apples were shipped by Tyrrell’s of Wenatchee, Washington. Wenatchee was one of the largest American apple producing regions during the early 20th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Tyrrell's
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.003
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.003
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Northern Line brand apple crate label from Wenatchee, Washington was in use during the beginning of the 20th century. The apples were shipped by the Northern Fruit Company, Inc., an apple grower cooperative in Washington. The label features a picturesque nature scene of a lake surrounded by pine trees with mountains rising in the background. Fruit crate labels often depicted landscapes like this to evoke the idea of rich, natural produce.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Northern Fruit Co. Inc.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.005
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.005
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Rivas brand apple crate label was used by the Oneonta Trading Corporation of Wenatchee-Yakima, Washington during the first half of the 20th century. The blue and red crate label was lithographed by the Ridgway Lithograph Company of Seattle, Washington. The Wenatchee-Yakima region of central Washington was a large producer of apples during the early 20th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Oneonta Trading Corp.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.006
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.006
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Keystone Brand apple crate label was in use by the Keystone Fruit Company of Entiat, Washington during the beginning of the 20th century. The Keystone brand belonged to Nuchief Sales Inc., a grower cooperative in Wenatchee, Washington whose logo of a young male Native American wearing a full headdress is on the right of the label.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Keystone Fruit Co.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.008
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.008
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Butler’s Pride apple crate label was used by the Butler Trading Company of Wenatchee, Washington during the early 20th century. The paper label on wooden crate side is blue with a colorful image of a red apple hanging from a branch.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Butler Trading Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.009
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.009
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 apple crate label was used by Spark’s Orchards during the beginning of the 20th century. Spark’s Orchards was based in Wenatchee, Washington, a region that was well known for its apple production, especially in the early 1900s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Sparks Orchards
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.010
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.010
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Crate Label
- 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 Chelan View apple crate label was used by the J.D. Hamilton Fruit company of Wenatchee, Washington during the early 20th century. The lithographed label has an illustration of two red apples in the foreground, with an orchard on a hill next to a lake, with mountains looming in the background. Fruit crate labels often depicted landscapes like this to evoke the idea of rich, natural produce.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- J. D. Hamilton Fruit Co.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.013
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.013
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center