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 2145 items.
Page 5 of 215
Y2K Millennium Meltdown R-U-Ready? Hot Sauce Bottle
- Description
- As the “Millennium Bug” gained media attention, some businesses used the hype to market special millennium foods. From cars to breakfast cereal, companies like the Figueroa Brothers, Inc., cashed in on the Y2K name. This bottle once contained Y2K Millennium Meltdown ¿R-U-Ready? hot sauce, a spicy concoction made with jalapeño peppers.
- The Guardian Life Insurance Company's Y2K Project Team spent over three years working to make their company Y2K compliant. This meant many late nights working and thus many visits to the local restaurants. This bottle of hot sauce was given to the team by the owner of the restaurant most frequented by the team.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1990-1999
- recipient
- Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
- maker
- Figueroa Brothers, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2004.3020.08
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3020
- catalog number
- 2004.3020.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
JCPenney Model 863-5610-60 Microwave Oven
- Description
- While conducting experiments with radar in 1945, Raytheon scientist Dr. Percy Spencer noticed that a magnetron was emitting microwaves that were generating heat. He developed and patented a process for heating food by placing it under parallel magnetrons. Within a couple of years his colleagues William M. Hall and Fritz A. Gross patented a microwave heating unit housed within an oven. The first models of the microwave oven were roughly six feet tall and weighed over 750 pounds, clearly not suitable for kitchen counters at home. It wasn’t until the mid-1950s that microwave ovens were manufactured for home use.
- This model 963-5610-60 microwave oven was manufactured in Japan in 1976 by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. for J.C. Penney, a large, American retailer. The operating manual touts some of the oven’s special features, including a 15-minute timer for precise cooking, a built-in recipe guide for “at-a-glance” convenience for common foods, a magnetron tube for even microwave cooking, and an end-of-cooking bell and automatic shut off. The oven’s most unusual features are its door, which is hinged from the top, and a multi-sided observation window, which allowed for watching the cooking in progress. Reflecting the growing popularity of microwave ovens for preparing snack foods like popcorn, the owner’s manual suggests that it can be placed even in the family room due to its low profile design.
- Jeff and Jan Thompson purchased this unit in 1976 on installments for $219.95, plus $28.95 for an Assured Performance Plan (an extended warranty) and $12.45 tax. They donated the oven and documentation, including a service manual, warranty card, operating instructions, warehouse sales slip and pick-up slip, to the museum in 2006.
- Sources:
- Raytheon website, http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/history/
- Patent documents and owner’s manual from S drive, Microwave folder
- date made
- 1976-04
- ID Number
- 2006.0133.01
- accession number
- 2006.0133
- catalog number
- 2006.0133.01
- model number
- 863-5610-60-21
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tastevin
- Description
- A shallow, silver tasting cup, or tastevin, was traditionally used by winemakers to sample wine. Created centuries ago by cellarmasters in Burgundy, the tastevin was essential for judging the maturity of wine in cellars lit only by candles. The tastevin's indentations, and its shiny, convex bottom, reflected even dim candle light throughout the cup and allowed the winemaker to examine the liquid's characteristics. The tastevin is typically attached to a ribbon or chain and worn around the neck
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2006.0157.04
- catalog number
- 2006.0157.04
- accession number
- 2006.0157
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Grape Crate Label, Mont’Elisa
- 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 for Zinfandel grapes, branded “Mont’Elisa Beauty” along with an image of a pretty young girl, was used by the Riolo Brothers, Italian Americans who packed and shipped grapes out of Roseville, California, near Sacramento. The label boasts that the grapes were not irrigated, indicating a traditional approach to vineyard management called “dry farming,” a practice that concentrates the flavors in fruit.
- date made
- before 1950
- ID Number
- 2010.3091.02
- accession number
- 2010.3091
- catalog number
- 2010.3091.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Grape Crate Label, Fresno Bella
- 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
- accession number
- 2010.3091
- catalog number
- 2010.3091.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Grape Crate Label, Bocce
- 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.
- While many packers used imagery of attractive women to decorate their labels, Cesare Mondavi and his two sons turned to the popular Italian sport of Bocce to brand their products. The label shows two young men playing bocce while an older gentleman watches and presides over a table of bread and wine. The meaning here is clear: Cesare Mondavi and his sons, Robert and Peter, and their Italian heritage, were an integral part of the branding message.
- Cesare Mondavi was born in Le Marche, in northern Italy, in 1883 and immigrated to the United States in 1906. His wife Rosa was also born in Italy and, in 1908, came to the U.S. as a young bride. They settled on the “Iron Range” in northern Minnesota, an area that attracted miners from various European countries including Finland, Poland, Sweden, and Italy. Mondavi worked for a time in the mines, but left to run a saloon and grocery business in Virginia, Minnesota. The Mondavis had four children: Mary (born 1910), Helen (1912), and sons Robert and Peter, who were born in 1913 and 1914, respectively.
- Prohibition had a major impact on the course of the Mondavi family’s history. Wine and winemaking were important traditions among Italian immigrants and members of the Italian American community in the small mining towns of northern Minnesota designated Cesare Mondavi as their grape buyer for home winemaking. Prohibition’s Volstead Act allowed families to make up to 200 gallons of wine per year for their own use and, beginning in 1919, Mondavi traveled to California to purchase wine grapes on behalf of his Italian neighbors. In 1922 he moved his family to Lodi, California, in the Central Valley’s grape-growing region. From there he began buying grapes wholesale and shipping them to customers in the Midwest and on the East Coast. This was the beginning of what became one of California’s most significant and innovative winemaking families, with sons Robert and Peter, and their children, continuing the tradition shaped by Cesare Mondavi.
- date made
- before 1950
- ID Number
- 2010.3091.05
- accession number
- 2010.3091
- catalog number
- 2010.3091.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
McDonald's Uniform Top
- Description
- This short sleeve, dark and light blue shirt is made of polyester fabric, embroidered with the double arches logo on the left front and has a light blue zipper. Maker's tag inscribed "Made expressly for McDonald's® personnel by Ottenheimer & Co., Career Apparel Division.” It is a women's medium and was worn by the donor in 1973 while working for McDonald's®. The donor’s primary position was cashier/clerk, but each employee was trained to be able to perform each task in the restaurant in the event someone called off and they had to fill in for the day. The location where the donor worked was located close to a college campus and the staff pool primarily consisted of college students.
- The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
- In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- ID Number
- 2011.0091.01
- catalog number
- 2011.0091.01
- accession number
- 2011.0091
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
McDonald's Employee Name Badge
- Description
- This black plastic badge is embossed with McDonald’s® and the double arches logo in gold on the front. It was worn by the donor in 1973 while working for McDonald’s®. The donor’s primary position was cashier/clerk, but each employee was trained to be able to perform each task in the restaurant in the event someone called off and they had to fill in for the day. The location where the donor worked was located close to a college campus and the staff pool primarily consisted of college students.
- The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
- In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2011.0091.02
- catalog number
- 2011.0091.02
- accession number
- 2011.0091
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lumetron Colorimeter
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
James Remind-O-Clock Timer
- Description
- The brainchild of cab driver Henry C. James, Jr., the James Remind-O-Clock was a useful innovation for people in various industries, from hotels to taxi services to laboratories. The electric clock’s unique feature is its mechanism for allowing multiple alarms for a single event, such as a laboratory experiment that requires the timing of various steps. The 48 small keys located around the face of the clock could be set to ring a maximum of 48 alarms or ‘reminders’ at one setting. James established the James Clock Manufacturing Co. in Oakland in 1933, and produced and patented this model in 1937 (Patent number 2,098,965).
- Enologist Andre Tchelistcheff used this Bakelite-housed “Remind-O-Clock,” to time various experiments and processes in his winery laboratories in California’s Napa Valley. Tchelistcheff made significant contributions to the wine industry, helping to improve techniques and raise standards for winemaking in the postwar period. He helped many winemakers improve their operations by adopting the practices of sterile filtration, cold fermentation, and attention to yeasts.
- Andre 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 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
- James Clock Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 2011.0131.02
- catalog number
- 2011.0131.02
- accession number
- 2011.0131
- patent number
- 2098965
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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