Category:
Food

Follies of the Madmen #583

In 1969, everything had to relate to drugs.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 05, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Drugs, Food, Advertising, 1960s

Gladys Sellew’s 15-cents-a-day diet

Back in the 1930s, sociologist Gladys Sellew decided to find out if it was possible to survive spending only 15 cents a day on food. I think, in today's money, that would be about $3/day.

She used herself as a test subject and, five years later, reported that not only was it possible, but she actually only spent an average of 13 cents a day on food.

She said she was going to remain on her frugal diet for the rest of her life.

Austin American Statesman - June 3, 1942



The headline below claimed that she gained weight on her diet, but in the picture above it sure doesn't look like she had any extra weight on her.

Hartford Courant - Feb 24, 1941



A typical day's meal plan:

Austin American Statesman - June 3, 1942



By way of comparison, here's a more recent version of an experiment in frugality: "Spending $5 a day on food. Is it possible?"

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 04, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, 1940s, Dieting and Weight Loss

She sold her body for gingerbread

Requesting "all the ginger-bread she could eat" in exchange for her body after death initially struck me as a bizarre detail. But the more I think about it, the more reasonable it seems given that condemned prisoners often request cookies, candy, junk food, etc. as their last meal.

Whiting Weekly News - Jan 25, 1890

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 18, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Death, Food, Prisons, Experiments, Nineteenth Century

The Acme Barbecue College

Once upon a time, in Alhambra, CA, you could go to school just for BBQ. One presumes that this is where Wile E. Coyote learned how to cook a Road Runner--if one such could ever be caught!





















Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 01, 2023 - Comments (8)
Category: Education, Food, Regionalism, 1950s

Meat-Nik

Sep 1958: The National Live Stock and Meat Board's response to the launch of Sputnik was the creation of "Meat-Nik," aka "intercontinental bologna missile."

The National Provisioner - Sep 6, 1958



The National Provisioner - Sep 20, 1958


Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 22, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s

Miss Frozen Foods

As far as I can tell, the frozen food industry started choosing a "Miss Frozen Foods" in 1956. Sometimes the winner was called Miss Frozen Food Month (or Week). The last Miss Frozen Foods that I can find was named in 1961.

Dillon Daily Tribune - Feb 7, 1956



Miss Frozen Foods of 1958 (Nancy Moss). image source: USC Libraries



Los Angeles Evening Citizen News - Mar 19, 1959



Tampa Tribune - Nov 5, 1961

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 18, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Food, 1950s

Meat Power

"These youngsters have the stamina it takes. They're 'propelled' by Meat power from Swift!"

Life - July 13, 1962

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 15, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, Advertising, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #577

How we did things before there was CGI.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 09, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Food, Advertising, Dogs, 1960s

Cheese Fortune Telling

Add cheese fortune telling (or "tyromancy" as it's called) to the other techniques of using food to predict the future that we've previously posted about (asparagus divination and apple-peel divination).



Some info from BackyardBanshee.com:

The word Tyromancy stems from the Greek words turos (tryro) meaning cheese and manteia (mancy) meaning divination. The history of the practice goes back to around the middle ages, and just like any other form of divination, the art of Tyromancy assists in divining messages. This particular method does so through the coagulation, fermentation or patterns of cheese.

In the middle ages, cheese would be inspected and based on the shape, the number of holes, patterns of mould and other cheesy characteristics one could predict certain things, including rain, love, money, justice, health and death.

One medieval method offered various potential outcomes, with each piece of cheese denoting one path. Depending on which piece was eaten first by a mouse, or a worm, you could see which path was more likely, which links nicely to Myomancy (mice divination).

Another traditional approach was used by young country girls to divine the names of their future husbands. You could write the names of your potential sweethearts on individual pieces of cheese, and the first to grow mould would show the most likely suitor or ideal match.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 07, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Predictions

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