Foods ot the
30s and 40s
Mary Eccher outlines food fashions
and shows us how to miniaturize them
OCTOBER 1990
by Mary Eccher - page 2 of 7
The Forties
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," wrote Charles Dickens more than 100 years ago. And for many Americans this wraps up the 40s.
In the early part of the decade, it was comfortable just sitting around the oilcloth-covered kitchen table talking about popular subjects such as new movies like Gone With The Wind; the sensational singing rage, Frank Sinatra; and the teenage bobby-soxers and their wild dance, the jitterbug. And the talk definitely included food and cooking.
Shrimp and avocado were enjoying new-found popularity everywhere, zucchini was exciting, brand-new vegetable, vacuum-packed nuts of all kinds were the newest wrinkle for nibblers, and custards were making their first appearance as "respectable" desserts --- not just as baby food and hospital fare.
Chocolate chips made their debut, too, and the whole country seemed to be munching Toll House Cookies. New appliances were being developed and old ones improved considerably. Ranges were being equipped with smokeless broilers, food blenders had come out of the soda fountains and into the kitchen, barbeque equipment was a red-hot item throughout the country; and there was a newfangled gadget called a "dishwasher." Butter cost 40 cents a pound, milk 13 cents a quart; and meat cuts anywhere from 25 cents to 45 cents a pound.
Then came the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, and Americans headed into half a decade of belt-tightening unlike anything most of the population had ever experienced. Every family had to learn to cope with the complex system of food ration coupons, and foods on market shelves now carried two designations --- the price and the amount of ration points needed to purchase the item. Thus, the great age of culinary improvisation was launched.
Substituting one food for another became a necessity, and a nation that was used to eating what it pleased learned to eat what was available. Margarine replaced butter, while jellies, marmalades, and various "spreads" were called into play to make butterless bread tasty. Our national sweet toth suffered only slightly, as scarce sugar was replaced by honey, corn syrup, or molasses in desserts. Fruits became a standard dessert to save sugar. And the imaginative cook learned to use a variety of meats and to extend what meat she had.
Oven meals, in which the main dish, vegetable, and dessert all bake at the same time, became popular during the World War II fuel shortages. Meat loaf, chicken fricassee, and ham steak were oven favorites. Scalloped potatoes, baked spinach or oven rice could accompany the main dish into the oven, followed by desserts such as cobblers, cornstarch-thickened fruit mixtures topped with biscuits, or crumb-topped crisps.
Photo by Mary Eccher
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