Rebecca Lukens: A woman of iron
A sudden tragedy thrust Rebecca Lukens into the family business and into history, making her the nation’s first woman industrialist and the...
How one girl helped build a Latinx civil rights movement
As a little girl, Jessica Govea had become accustomed to rising early and making her way to the fields with her family. During the cotton...
Pennies and nickels add up to success: Maggie Lena Walker
Maggie Lena Walker was one of the most important Black businesswomen in the nation, and today too few people have heard of her.Maggie Lena...

Blog Posts in "Food & Shopping"

Happy days are here again banner.
100 years later, do we think Prohibition was good for the nation?
January 17, 1920, was an important day in American history. Why? Because on that day the grand social experiment called Prohibition was...
Jimmy Carter: American homebrew hero?
The next time you raise a glass of craft beer, make sure you toast former President Jimmy Carter. No, really. You should be offering your...
Bringing the outdoors in . . . one squirrel at a time
Squirrels seem to be everywhere until you need a few for your Buttermilk Fried Squirrel recipe.On stage at Smithsonian Food History Weekend...
“Hyperlocal, ultraseasonal, uber-healthy, and utterly delicious”: Reviving indigenous food cultures
When Chef Sean Sherman began speaking about his experiences growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, he shattered all-too-...
Uncle Sam, playing a pipe, leads a group of children armed with farming tools. Text reads: “Follow the Pied Piper. Join the United States School Garden Army”
Who are the Dewdrop Fairies?
While most of us have heard of the victory gardens of World War II, many of us may not realize that those gardens are seeded in a history...
The top of a green wine bottle.
Grape gluts and Mother Clones: Prohibition and American wine
Congress passed the National Prohibition Act in January 1919, and a year later, Americans were barred from making, transporting, selling,...
La Choy and Korean cofounder Ilhan New: Negotiating Asian culinary identities in America
A photograph of Korean food products—rice wine, soy sauce, and galbi (marinated meat) sauce—at a grocery store in Washington, D.C., that I...
Prohibition was fantastic for American beer, or, cheers to homebrewers
Did that title grab your attention? Great.Happy National Beer Day! When you open your fridge shortly after five o'clock this evening (or...
Photo of Oscar the Grouch puppet (green with big eyes, scraggly fur) popping out of an aluminum garbage can
T is for Television, H is for Holiday, F is for Festival
[[{"fid":"24879","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Photo of Oscar...
Family members gather around a Thanksgiving table and smile.
The worker's turkey
Like many homes across America, in my home Thanksgiving meant turkey. Lots of turkeys. Five or six turkeys. The day before Thanksgiving, my...
This October 9, 1944, advertisement for Whitman's chocolate boxes shows a woman embracing a soldier in uniform kissing her cheek. On the bottom right is a box of Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler. The bold font reads, “A WOMAN NEVER FORGETS THE MAN WHO REMEMBERS,” and, “BUY MORE WAR BONDS.” In fine print below the box of chocolates reads, “If you can’t always get your favorite Sampler, remember it’s because millions of pounds of Whitman’s Chocolates are going to all our fighting fronts.”
"Chocolate is a Fighting Food!" – Chocolate bars in the Second World War
"Do you like chocolate?" That's one of the first questions I ask museum visitors during a chocolate program I lead in the museum's Wallace...
Black and white photo: Two men in wine field with mountains in background.
Potable quotables on the 40th anniversary of the Paris Tasting
American wine aficionados know the Judgment of Paris or Paris Tasting as the transformative tasting held in Paris on May 24, 1976, where 12...
Small television with handle and turquoise frame around screen, which is slightly curved
Watching the Super Bowl like it's 1967
For Super Bowl 50, we're sharing some 1960s objects from the museum's collections to add a little retro flare to any game watching party...
One man and two women standing in an office with wooden cabinets, desk, and white walls
A memory of Chuck Williams, kitchenware store founder
Curator and FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000 exhibition project director Paula Johnson recalls a memorable visit...
"Park and Shop" board game
Board games have been teaching us how to shop for more than a century
 This November 27, 2015, the day after Thanksgiving, millions of Americans will kick off the holiday shopping season with what has...
Holiday tree and abstract American flag sculpture
Smithsonian Holiday Fest: What not to miss
What do you get when you mix C-3PO (the real one!), an Oscar-nominated movie, classic toys, heritage chocolate, gorgeous seasonal...
Lobster on a plate
Inside the Demonstration Kitchen: A new way of exploring food history
Our American Food History Project recently introduced Food Fridays, a new cooking demonstration series on the Wallace H...
Santa Claus Soap / made only by / the N.K. Fairbank Company / New York, Chicago / gifts for Santa Claus wrappers. [Trade card.]
13 reasons to attend our Holiday Festival on December 6 and 7
Business Program Manager Kathy Sklar doesn't want you to miss the museum's holiday festivities. Here's why.1. Free screenings of The...
Julia Child's home kitchen, with its hundreds of tools, appliances, and furnishings
Chatting about food history with food leader Lynne Breaux
From the 2012 opening of the exhibition FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950–2000 to its upcoming FOOD in the Garden...
Sourcing food, sourcing food history: Researching FOOD in the Garden 2014
This September, we join Smithsonian Gardens in hosting our annual FOOD in the Garden series. We'll explore four maritime regions impacted...
A vintage ad features monkeys in human clothing
From electric hairbrushes to toning sneakers: Absurd advertising for over 100 years
Although many of the products that Americans consume today would have been unimaginable to our forebears, the means by which they are...
A pine tree shilling coin from the Massachusetts Bay colony
Before your kid opens a lemonade stand, try this fun activity
Educator Victoria Altman introduces a new book-based summer activity to share with youngsters, especially budding entrepreneurs.Most...
Red, white, and blue food (puddings, candies, lollipops) displayed on a table
Sweet smell of celebration: Spicing up your Flag Day spread
A friend of mine is getting married this year on June 14. When she told me, I got really excited. "You're getting married on Flag Day?!...
Starry snacks and sips to help your Flag Day guests Raise It Up!
This summer, we're celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner with Raise It Up! Anthem for America. On Flag Day,...
An April Fool's "assalt" on history
If you're offended by that first pun, the rest of this post about our high sodium "Conference on Stuff" by Curator Katherine Ott may rub...
silver bowl with fancy handle
Super bowls, too
With the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks set to square off in the big game on Sunday, it's time to take a look at some more of our own...
Uniquely Smithsonian: 500 Civil War objects get a fresh look
Fair warning: If you get a holiday gift from a staff member of this museum this year, it'll be this book (and no, we are not getting it...
Pinball wizard...of Oz
Dorothy's ruby slippers from the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz are one of our most popular objects here at the museum...
"Gaston and Josephine"
The poky puppy that changed how and what kids read
This weekend, the 13th Annual National Book Festival will take place on the Mall in Washington, D.C. and we hope that many bookworms will...
Saying so long to "Sweet & Sour"
Curator's note: The following post is the latest from our Sweet & Sour series, part of a project to explore the culture and...
An aspiring Top Chef talks about "The French Chef"
The first episode of The French Chef aired on WGBH on February 11, 1963, starring Julia Child. To celebrate the show’s...
Copper bowl
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Julia Child's "The French Chef"
The first episode of The French Chef aired on WGBH on February 11, 1963, starring Julia Child. To celebrate the show's 50th anniversary,...
The quest for Grandmere’s cookies
On your next visit to the museum, take a look at our new exhibition FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000, which...
Last-minute holiday gifts for history lovers, nostalgic baby boomers, and the French chef
The best gifts come with a story. One holiday, my mom gave my sister and I homemade cookbooks with our favorite recipes in them. Each dish...
What was in colonial cups besides tea? Cider, water, milk, and whiskey!
Editor's note: Yesterday, museum fellow Melissa Swindell gave us a peek into colonial cups in her blog post about hot chocolate. Today she...
George Washington drank hot chocolate…
...but, so did everyone else. Turns out, hot chocolate was a pretty common beverage in colonial America—before and after the Revolution....
Chef holding a tray of apple pies
As American as apple pie
Editor's note: If you're planning a visit to the museum after Thanksgiving, save room for dessert—and check the hours of our cafés. In...
Cranberries in a pot, set on dried leaves
5 questions with a colonial culinarian
It's not everyday that you get to meet an expert on colonial foodways—especially not one dressed in a historically accurate pilgrim outfit....
Chris Kimball remembers eating and cooking with Julia Child
Chris Kimball of the cooking show "America's Test Kitchen" shares memories of cooking in Julia Child's kitchen with museum curators.Peering...
Tomatillo
The tomatillo (tohm-ah-TEE-oh)
Editor’s note: The Smithsonian’s kickoff celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month takes place on September 15, 2012 here at the...
Memories of a photo shoot with Julia Child
Editor's Note: The Museum recently marked Julia Child’s Centennial with a special display of her kitchen. This limited engagement (...
Last-minute gifts for history lovers
The holidays are upon us, and in case you’re still hunting for that perfect gift for the history lovers in your life, we have some ideas:...
Julia Child's Kitchen
7 ways to survive while Julia Child’s kitchen is closed for 7 months
On December 3, the museum announced the temporary closing of Bon Appetit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian. The last day to see...
Food culture, supermarkets, and packaging: A researcher’s perspective
Why is there a tiger instead of a manatee on my cereal box? And why is cereal sold in a box at all? In what ways does packaging affect the...
Everyday discoveries in Julia Child's kitchen
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the fourth in a series of six about the museum’s work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Anneliese Bustillo is a...
Thanksgiving in a can
For early Thanksgiving meals, I bet someone went out and hunted a turkey, gathered some cranberries, and harvested some spinach and...
Chulitos, a recipe made with the vegetable yucca
Don’t say “yuk” to yucca
Much of what we do at the museum is for the visitors: exhibits, programs, lectures, and performances. We want our guests to enjoy...
No chop suey here
How long is a long bean? And who was General Tsao? These are questions you might ask after you visit our Stars and Stripes Cafe during the...

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