food history
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My OKRA Post About German Chocolate Cake
My column about the History of German Chocolate Cake is now live on OKRA, the magazine of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Before there was the Internet, finding a new or favorite recipe could be problematic. For decades, home cooks turned to the food sections of their newspaper for inspiration or replacement of lost recipes. Most food editors ran a recipe exchange column where readers could seek and share recipes. The popularity of the German Chocolate Cake can be traced back to a newspaper exchange column in the June 3, 1957 issue of the Dallas Morning Star. On that day, homemaker Georgia Clay’s recipe ran in the column “Recipe…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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History of Newspaper Food Journalism
I am looking forward to presenting “Newspaper Food Journalism: The History of Food Sections & The Story of Food Editors” at the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium. It will be held at the University of Florida in March. For years, historians considered the food sections of newspapers to be either fluff and/or lacking an ethical framework because the food editors were controlled by advertisers. As I began to challenge those assumptions, I looked at what was covered at the week-long meetings of food editors which ran in the 1950s and 1960s. The meetings were sponsored by advertisers and featured their newest products. Yet, the meetings also featured significant speakers and events. A…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Investigating Food Journalism History
As I go through the page proofs of The Food Section, I was reminded how this research got started. My investigation of food journalism began with a Call For Papers for the Icons of American Cooking chapters several years ago. I responded and pitched Jeanne Voltz’s name. I was familiar with Jeanne’s work as the food editor at the Miami Herald and knew that she went on to a successful career at the Los Angeles Times. Instead, I got assigned the chapter for James Beard. As I did the research for the chapter, I was amazed how much scholarship already existed about Beard. It was difficult to believe that culinary…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- Ann Criswell, dorothy kincaid, Eleanor Ostman, food editors, food history, food journalism, Helen Dollaghan, Janet Beighle, Peggy Daum
Food Editors’ Favorites: Treasured Recipes
I found this 1983 book, Food Editors’ Favorites: Treasured Recipes, at the local Goodwill. It was a fundraising cookbook for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Newspaper food editors from across the country contributed recipes. While my book looks at newspaper food journalism from 1942 through 1975, several of the food editors I studied are in this book. Milwaukee Journal food editor Peggy Daum: “This curry dip served with vegetables has become my price of admission to many friends’ parties.” (p 17) Plain Dealer food editor Janet Beighle French: “This antipasto has earned a permanent place at my annual Christmas bash – a snack buffet for about 100 people.” (p 27) Minneapolis…
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Tomorrow: Women & Food Symposium
For my Austin readers, tomorrow is the Women & Food Symposium at the University of Texas. I will be speaking remotely on the panel Writing about Food in the Age of New Media. I will be sure to mention the work of women’s pages and the food sections in newspapers.
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Recipes From the Tower Kitchen
For Christmas, I received this copy of Recipes From the Tower Kitchen by Carol Haddix. It was produced by the Food Section & Test Kitchen of the Detroit Free Press. According to the introduction (written, I am guessing, in the 1970s), “the Tower Kitchen has been remodeled in contemporary orange and black – designed for efficient testing of each new food idea that appears in the Free Press Food Guide.” Most newspaper food section published recipe booklets and pamphlets, as well as their own cookbooks. Carol, who went on to be the food editor of the Chicago Tribune, was very kind of answer my questions for my book, The Food…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
