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 6 items.
Cunard [menu]
- Summary
- Menu for a meal on a cruise, July 17 1969. Illustration showing a large English woman with boat on her head being led by a much smaller marching black man
- Date
- 1969
- advertiser
- R.M.S. Mauretania
- Local number
- 040060173.tif (AC Scan No. front and back cover)
- 040060174.tif (AC Scan No. inside menu)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Children's World Restaurant [menu]
- Summary
- Approx. a dozen pairs of non-American children entering a restaurant and being greeted by three American children at the door
- advertiser
- Childrens World Restaurant
- Local number
- 040060171.tif (AC Scan No. front and back cover)
- 040060172.tif (AC Scan No. inside menu)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Duryeas' Maizena Bill of Fare [menu]
- Notes
- Civil War series, Box 1, Folder 29
- Civil War Selections from the Archives Center
- Summary
- Bill of Fare for Duryeas' Maizena, United States Great Central Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia, June 1864. Maizena is cornstarch or corn flour. Front page has patriotic illustration
- Cite as
- Civil War series, Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1864
- June, 1864
- sponsor
- Great Central Fair for the U.S. Sanitary Commission (1864 : Philadelphia, Pa.)
- agent
- Duryea, Wm
- Subject
- Duryeas' Maizena
- Local number
- AC0060-0001209a (AC Scan No.: back and front of item)
- AC0060-0001209b (AC Scan No.: inside pages)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Virginia Mericle Menu Collection, ca. 1960s-1990s
- Notes
- A collector of restaurant menus, Mericle compiled the collection by writing to restaurateurs asking for copies of menus
- Summary
- A collection of menus from restaurants all over America, and a few in Europe
- Cite as
- Virginia Mericle Menu Collection, ca. 1960s-1990s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1960
- 1960-1999
- ca 1960s-1990s
- collector
- Mericle, Virginia
- donor
- Henderson, Vanessa
- Local number
- 2010.3081 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
El Chico Restaurants Collection, 1908-2006
- Notes
- Texas-based restaurant chain, and its products, that grew out of a cafe started in the 1920s by Adelaida Cuellar
- Summary
- The collection documents the history of the El Chico chain of Mexican restaurants in Texas, and includes photographs, menus, product packaging and labels, place mats, newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, brochures, and annual reports
- Cite as
- El Chico Restaurants Collection, 1908-2006, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1908
- 1908-2006
- 20th century
- creator
- El Chico Restaurants
- donor
- Benson, Fifi Caballero
- Summers, Carmen
- Cueller, John A
- Subject
- Cuellear, Adelaida
- Local number
- 2011.3061 (NMAH Acc.)
- 2011.3062 (NMAH Acc.)
- 2011.3063 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Darrell F. Corti Food and WIne Collection, 1931-1965 (bulk 1940-1960)
- Notes
- A food and wine critic, Corti owns and runs a gourmet and wine shop in Sacramento, California
- Summary
- The collection contains wine and food menus from a variety of events, including cruises, banquets, parties and honorary dinners. Some of the menus are autographed and a few are hand-drawn or hand-lettered. A large number of the menus are for events organized by the WIne and Food Society of San Francisco
- Cite as
- Darrell F. Corti Food and Wine Collection, 1931-1965 (bulk 1940-1960), Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1931
- 1931-1965
- bulk 1940-1960
- 1930-1970
- donor
- Corti, Darrrell F
- Subject
- WIne and Food Society
- Local number
- 2011.3076 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
