- food editors, food history, food journalism, food writing, Polly Paffilas, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Polly Paffilas
Day 24 of Women’s History Month features Polly Paffilas, the longtime food editor at the Akron Beacon Journal. According to her obituary:“”Polly was one of the grand dames of journalism,’ said her former longtime colleague Mickey Porter. “She’d tackle any kind of story.”Her newspaper career covered more than 45 years before she retired in 1987. She and colleague Frances B. Murphey, who died in 1998, broke into the business as temporary hires through Manpower. When the staff was short in the newsroom during World War II, they were called in. It was a male-dominated business when Miss Paffilas signed on in 1942, in the low-tech days of pencils, typewriters and…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- food editors, food journalism, food section, Kay Savage, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Kay Savage
Day 23 of Women’s History Month is Kay Savage of the Detroit Free Press. Kay Savage was the food editor at the Detroit Free Press – from 1945 through the 1960s. She wrote several cookbooks and answered readers’ questions through her column “Tower Kitchen Recipe Box” for years. She had a test kitchen and one assistant – home economist Cecil Fleming. Kay was named to the Detroit reporters’ Hall of Fame. In 1955, she married Howard Kennedy. Kay is featured in my upcoming book, The Food Section.
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- food editors, food journalism, food section, Mary Action Hammond, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Mary Action Hammond
Day 22 of Women’s History Month features Mary Acton Hammond who used the pen name “Frances Blackwood” for the Philadelphia Bulletin. Mary Acton Hammond was hired as the newspaper’s first food editor in 1929. She worked out of her own kitchen where she tested her recipes – for 53 years. In 1941, she traveled to England interviewing British women about how they prepared food during the war. It led to a series of columns which First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt mentioned in her “My Day” column. In looking to normalize and understand the women of war-torn Britain, Philadelphia Bulletin food editor Mary Acton Hammond, who used the pen name “Francis Blackwood,”…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- food editors, food history, food journalism, food section, Julie Duvac Bowes, Times-Picayune food, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Julie Duvac Bowes
Day 21 of Women’s History Month features Julie Duvac Bowes of New Orleans. She began her career of 30 years as the Food Editor of the Times-Picayune in 1949 under the pen name of Sue Baker. She tested on her family the recipes that she used in her twice-weekly column, published on Thursdays and in color on Sundays in the Dixie Roto Magazine. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in home economics in 1942. She married during World War II, and her husband later became a judge. She raised five children and was an accomplished golfer. She is featured in my upcoming book, The Food Section.
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Women’s History Month: Julie Benell
Day 20 of Women’s History Month features Julie Benell. Julie Benell, a reporter and editor on food who worked 25 years at the Dallas Morning News. Benell, a native of San Antonio, was a former concert pianist who switched to the stage and later to performances on radio and television. She was the author of several cookbooks, including the popular Let’s Eat at Home. She had a daily television show about food and fashion for 15 years while she was at the newspaper. It was her show that was interrupted when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. She judged the 1962 great national Cookout Championship for Men Only in Hawaii,…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- Dorothy Chapman, Florida food, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food journalism, food section, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Dorothy Chapman
Day 19 of Women’s History Month features Dorothy Chapman. She had been the women’s page editor at the Orlando Sentinel when Barr was the food editor. When Barr retired in 1969, Chapman became the food editor. In 1971, Chapman became the first restaurant editor at the newspaper. She wrote several cookbooks based on her column, “Thought You’d Never Ask.” According to her obituary: “As the Orlando Sentinel’s first restaurant critic, Chapman wielded her pen and fork with a civil tongue. “We [chefs] gave her a lot of respect because she gave us a lot of respect,” said longtime Orlando restaurateur Major Jarman. “She was fair. Everyone took her comments as…
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
