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Society Reporters Hide Marriages
As I work on my revisions for my book chapter about the role of gossip in the women’s pages, I came across the above story about Miami Herald society editor Eleanor Ratelle. Interesting that it was her job to write about weddings and she hid her wedding from her editor. Eleanor’s advice column is a key part of the book chapter. Here is a link to her papers. Lance & I are presenting a paper about that advice column at NCA this fall. Location:Society coverage
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Oral History with Cecily Brownstone
I was so excited to receive a package from the Fales Library at New York University yesterday. In it was an oral history that food writer Laura Shapiro conducted with longtime A.P. food editor Cecily Brownstone. (The photo above is in her papers – this was taken at a 1951 party for the author of The Joy of Cooking.) Some highlights from the oral history:* Unlike the charges of food editors taking advertising money: “I stayed away from manufacturers in my A.P. days.” She would not mention brand names in stories or recipes. She said: “A.P. would not have allowed that. And I was smart enough not to want to…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Women’s Page Journalism on Facebook
Women’s Page History is now on Facebook. It can be found here. The women’s pages included forms of social media in their day – from answering the phone with household cleaning tips to helping readers with recipe exchanges.
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Jane Nickerson & Steak Diane
I came across this neat blog: The Lost Foods of New York City . In one post, the blogger wrote about the dish, Steak Diane. What the writer does not include is the reference to New York Times food editor Jane Nickerson being one of the first journalists to write about the dish. That fact is noted on this food history blog. Nickerson’s work is often overshadowed by Craig Claiborne at the NYT. He is given credit for including news in the food section in 1957 but Jane had been doing that since World War II. I will be presenting a paper about Nickerson’s career at the National Communication Association…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Great Marjorie Paxson Image
The Missouri Historical Society recently posted this great image of women’s page editor Marjorie Paxson to its Facebook wall. I had never seen an image of Marjorie in her younger years.
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Writing Women into the Curriculum
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Florida food writer Virginia Heffington
Last month, the Miami Herald cited a recipe from its 1960s food editor Virginia Heffington. Above is the book that Heffington wrote in 1968 when she was the Homemaking Editor of the Miami Herald. At that point she had been at the Herald for five years and had won a Vesta Award – the top recognition for food journalism. In the introduction to the book, she mentioned that she was a graduate of Iowa State in home economic journalism – an area that I am researching for my book. A librarian at Iowa State was helpful in tracking down information about Virginia. I also found an archive in Canada that…
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
