- food editors, food history, German Potato Salad, journalism history, Peggy Daum, women's page history
German Potato Salad: Recipes & Community Identity
When it comes to community and culinary identity, it is often the dish of a certain city that defines the people who live there. For example, consider Milwaukee and German Potato Salad. According to Milwaukee Journal food editor Peggy Daum: “If you are making German potato salad, you already know how. The right way to make it is the way your mother and grandmother made it. You may argue about it with someone down the block, but you don’t call me.” (Dennis Getto, “Daum Retiring as Food Editor,” Milwaukee Journal, Feb. 17, 1988) This was further proven when no recipe for the popular dish was included in The Best Cook…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food history, food journalism, Virginia Heffington, women's page history
Newspaper Recipes Live On
The recipes of newspaper food editors have lived on into the internet age. From online newspaper food sections to home cooks’ food blogs, requests for or examples of old recipes are available. In August of 2012, a reader from Miami Beach wrote to the Miami Herald and requested a recipe for a dessert called “Heavenly Hash” which included graham crackers and whipped cream. Another reader sent in a Herald clipping of a May 6, 1970 recipe written by Virginia Heffington, who was listed as “homemaking editor.” Heffington explained that the recipe was popular in the 1930s. She wrote: “Long years ago ladies had fun making what they called icebox desserts…
- Bobbi McCallum, Carol Sutton, Dorothy Jurney, Flo Burge, journalism history, Maggie Savoy, Marie Anderson, women, women's page history
How the Tenure Process Can Marginalize Women in History
This post was inspired by Heather Cox Richardson’s post yesterday about mothers in the academy. In addition to excellent points about motherhood, she offered a reminder of what women often bring to research as they sometimes look for new topics or at an issue in a different way. In looking back post-tenure, it worries me that the requirements needed for tenure at an R-1 institution may lead to the marginalization of women in history. At my university, like many other schools, tenure means being a national expert – publishing in national journals. This means that research is largely about national figures, usually men. In fact, in what was intended to…
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Fashion Writers Marian Christy & Bobbi McCallum
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Gender & Restaurant Reviewing
I loved this response published yesterday to a sexist 1961 letter from an university administrator. It was written by journalist and novelist Phyllis Richman. She was the longtime food critic at the Washington Post. This was the part that caught my eye, as she wrote about the mid-1970s: “I co-authored Washingtonian magazine’s restaurant guidebook on the promise that I’d replace the magazine’s critic when he retired. Instead, the editor chose a man who had written nary a restaurant review. I wasn’t really surprised. Besides, in the next year The Post hired me as its restaurant critic. I was the first woman to hold that job at the newspaper, and one…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Roxcy Bolton, Gender & Naming Hurricanes
This is the first week of the hurricane season and the potential names have been announced. The list includes male and female names. That wasn’t always the case. Prior to the Women’s Liberation Movement, hurricanes were only named for women. Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton (pictured below) played a central role in changing the policy. She got tired of reading headlines about hurricanes with women’s names destroying communities. Instead, she suggested that hurricanes be named for senators – since they like to name things after themselves. Roxcy put up a significant fight with government officials. By 1979, the policy was changed to alternate women and men’s names when it came to…
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Green Goddess Dressing History
I recently read about food editor Judyrae Kruse retiring from the Herald, a newspaper in Everette, Washington. According to her retirement story: “To read Judy’s column is to read a diary of life in Snohomish County: Recipes for slow-cooker stew and make-ahead casseroles followed the school year. She shared an idea for dinner pulled from the pantry after a week of snow and ice. When the weather warmed, the recipes cooled: crisp salads and gelatin desserts, ideas for grilling. Occasionally, without warning, a recipe would strike a chord. Who knew Snohomish County residents ate so much Green Goddess dressing? After a request, the deluge of recipes continued for months.” Green…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
