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Patio-Daddy-O
The Manly Art of Outdoor Cookery According to chef Bobby Flay and author Daniel Duane, the kitchen is fast becoming the new man cave. However back in the prehistoric days of mid-century America, the...
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Wag The Dog
Hot Summer…. Cold War Pt III As the world poised for a showdown between those 2 cold warriors the USA and the Soviet Union, the risk of military conflict between the 2 heated up the summer of 1961...
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Kitchen Garden All Year Round
Thanks to war-time research and American know how, growing up in suburban mid-century America I would be the happy recipient of a veritable bushel basket of sun-kissed vitamin rich fruits and...
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Coke, Corn and the Drought of 2012
Have a Coke and a Smile There seems to be a whole lot less to smile about these days. As the good cheer of Coke comes under blistering attack for its empty calories contributing to the obesity...
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Picnic in the Post-War Park
Long before we became a fast food, disposable nation, picnicking required something more substantial and permanent than a Styrofoam clamshell tossed in a brown paper bag. According to a 1948...
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How Hostess Cakes Helped the Housewife
(L) Vintage illustration Club Women of America 1927 by David Robinson (R) Vintage Hostess Cakes Logo 1928 The Great Sugar Rush Americans with a sweet tooth are rushing to stock up on Ding Dongs, Ho...
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Stay As Sweet As You Are- Sugar Seduction
Sugar Seduction Being a typical up-to-date-mid-century American baby, my very first mouthful of nourishment was a doctor prescribed, sugar sweetened bottle formula. Modern babies, we were advised,...
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Mom’s Suburban Supermarket Adventures
One day while flipping through a 3 year old, dog-eared magazine while waiting for her hair to dry at the Glam-A- Rama Beauty Parlor, my mid-century Mom happened upon an article in the May 1955 issue...
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Heinz Ketchup Beckons a Man
Vintage ad Heinz Ketchup 1934 Mad Men’s Don Draper was not the first man to be tempted by the beckoning allure of Heinz Ketchup. During the dark days of the Depression, Babs Johnson learned how to keep...
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July 4th Hot Diggety Dog
Gathering for the Family Backyard Barbecue-Vintage illustration McCall’s Magazine 1955 A summer staple at my 1960′s family barbeques was the ritual hot dog competition not in competitive eating but...
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Candy is Dandy
“Modern nutritionists agree that when the body calls for energy, candy is one of the quick and happy answers.”Vintage ads (L) Mars bar 1957 (R) DuPont Cellophane 1958 With Halloween approaching,...
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Thanksgiving Treats
Butch Bradley was nervous. Normally a cool cucumber, he was sweating bullets. You see, he was invited to his best girl Rosalie’s home for Thanksgiving for the very first time. Wanting to make a good...
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Transformative Power of Trans Fats
Heartwarming Memories Tis the season for trans fats….tra la la la la! What better time of year to don your apron, and get busy in your kitchen, baking heartwarming holiday treats to fill your home...
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Viva Velveeta
American cheese meltdown- Will Velveeta run out before the biggest dipping day of the year? The Case of the Vanishing Velveeta Americans beware; your nachos are in danger! Last week Kraft issued a...
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Viva Velveeta – Dependable Dishes for the Depression
Though some might wish for Velveeta to be vanquished permanently from the culinary landscape, to others venerable Velveeta has earned a place of honor in the America kitchen. Like Faith Channing. For...
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Velveeta for Victory in WWII
(L) Vintage ad WWII Nash Kelvinator 1944 The cheesepocalypse is upon us and we are approaching ground zero! Shell shocked Americans are going through a meltdown over the shortage of velveeta...
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Mac & Cheese and the Pursuit of Happiness
Vintage illustration from Budweiser Beer Ad 1948 “Great Contributions to Good Taste” Thomas Jefferson was an enthusiast for macaroni George Washington may be the father of our country but it is Thomas...
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Crisco and Kosher Kitchen Culture
Vintage advertisement Crisco 1915 Once upon a time to a transfixed nation, trans fats were not the troublesome substance we now view them as but were the very symbol of scientific progress. If the FDA...
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The Occidental Oriental
Vintage Ad Chun King American Chinese Food 1957 My Mom was one smart cookie…fortune cookie that is. When my mid-century Mom wanted to go exotic..she’d go Oriental and thanks to Chun King canned chow...
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Passover Tears
Like Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix produced no tears. That dehydrated marvel of mid-century cookery was a staple in my Mothers repertoire. Mom joined the legion of...
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