BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Archives -- Exhibit: What's Cooking, Uncle Sam

DC -- Natl Archives -- Exhibit: What's Cooking, Uncle Sam:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: An exhibition at the National Archives through January 3, 2012.
Food. We love it, fear it, and obsess about it.
We demand that our Government ensure that it is safe, cheap, and abundant. In response, Government has been a factor in the production, regulation, research, innovation, and economics of our food supply. It has also attempted, with varying success, to change the eating habits of Americans.
From the farm to the dinner table, explore the records of the National Archives that trace the Government’s effect on what Americans eat.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. WCUS_110607_001.JPG: When the Supreme Court ruled in 1936 that some of the terms of the Agricultural Adjustment Act were invalid, Congress adopted the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. To prevent another Dust Bowl, farmers received benefits to grow soil-building crops on portions of their land.
2. WCUS_110607_008.JPG: Bumper Crops and Bear Markets: During the Depression, reduced demand for farm commodities sent prices spiraling downward. President Roosevelt answered farmers' cries for help with the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA's system of price supports and subsidies is the basis of America's farm policy -- a policy that continues to alter the quality, quantity, price, and variety of foods grown in America. The first farm subsidies and land retirement programs were initiated when over 20 percent of the population worked on farms -- compared to 2 percent today. American farm policy played a role in the transformation of agriculture from small, labor-intensive, family farms to enormous, highly mechanized agribusinesses. The global market, technology, and consumer movements were also significant forces in the agricultural revolution. Weathering Market Storms
3. WCUS_110607_015.JPG: What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government's Effect on the American Diet Food. We love it, fear it, and obsess about it. We demand that our Government ensure that it is safe, cheap, and abundant. In response, Government has been a factor in the production, regulation, research, innovation, and economics of our food supply. It has also attempted, with varying success, to change the eating habits of Americans. From the farm to the dinner table, explore the records of the National Archives that trace the Government's effect on what Americans eat. Follow the story of the Government's role in our complex relationship with food from farm to factory and kitchen to table. Best Before January 3, 2012.
4. WCUS_110607_018.JPG: Uncle Sam's Plant Adventures Braving scorpions, thieves, disease, and harsh climates, American explorers scoured the earth. What was their quest? Giant cabbages, one-pound peaches, and wilt-resistant spinach. Since its inception, the Government of the United States has sought to diversify its food sources with foreign plants. Thomas Jefferson smuggled rice out of Italy in his coat pockets -- a crime punishable by death. From the mid-1800s to the 1930s, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent plant hunters to the far reaches of the Earth in search of specimens that could weather America's various climates. From mangoes, Meyer lemons, and mangosteens to persimmmons, pomegranates, and pistachios, many of the foods now grown in the United States sprouted from seeds gathered on these expeditions. Scouring the Globe for Edible Treasures In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt helped to replant one of the orange trees that grew from Brazilian seedlings. These trees were the parents of hte navel orange industry in California.
5. WCUS_110607_022.JPG: Asia Expedition Map, ca 1912 The yellow line represents ground covered (mostly on foot) by Frank N Meyer during his 1909-11 Asia Expedition. He trekked thousands of miles across deserts and over mountains with meager provisions and little protection from the cold.
6. WCUS_110607_029.JPG: To "skim the earth in search of things good for man" is how Frank N Meyer described his work as an agricultural explorer. Recruited by the Department of Agriculture for his passion for plants and willingness to walk great distances, Meyer spent 10 years in Asia in search of food, fodder, and the occasional ornamental plant.
7. WCUS_110607_035.JPG: Explorers documented information about plants, soils, climates, and growing techniques. They were also careful to note the way plants were used in the local culture. This woman is mashing soybeans in Korea.
8. WCUS_110607_041.JPG: Feed Seeds to Feed the Nation: "The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture." -- Thomas Jefferson To test new plant varieties in different soils, the US Patent and Trade Office began to distribute free seeds to farmers through congressional representatives in 1839. In 1897, at the height of the program's popularity, the Government distributed 1.1 billion packets of seeds. The seed distribution program was both popular and controversial. Popular because the Government seeds were free and superior to the commercial varieties available. Controversial because it cost the nascent seed industry business. In 1924, after a long and intense lobbying effort by the American Seed Trade Association, Congress eliminated the USDA seed distribution program. The Seed Distribution Program
9. WCUS_110607_045.JPG: Sweet Corn. Peep O'Day. A small growing but very vigorous and hardy sort producing ears fits for use very early in the season which are of excellent quality for so early a sort, being tender and sweet. Culture. -- Plant 4 or 5 kernels in hills 36 to 45 inches apart each way in well-prepared, warm, well-drained soil. Thin, leaving 2 talks to each hill. Give frequent but shallow cultivation until tassels appear. US Department of Agriculture -- Congressional Seed Distribution -- Please report the results of your trial to this Department. Seed Packets, 1903-4 The seed distribution program began in the mid-1800s as a way to test "rare and uncommon" plants in a variety of soils and climates. At the height of its popularity, the Government sent out common garden variety vegetables like these.
10. WCUS_110607_050.JPG: There were five areas to the exhibit. Each area had its own color as well as its own base-board pattern. We're in the green kitchen section here.
11. WCUS_110607_058.JPG: "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" is made possible in part by support from Mars, Incorporated and Mars Food.
12. WCUS_110607_059.JPG: Model for a Refrigerated Railroad Car, undated The market for new varieties of fruits and vegetables depended on rapid transit. The USDA tested new and improved methods of distribution -- from refrigerated railroad cars to airplanes.
13. WCUS_110607_066.JPG: America's Crop Testing Grounds Feeding a growing nation requires innovation. The Hatch Act of 1887 was designed to sow the seeds of creativity in every state of the Union. States received Federal land grants to establish agricultural experiment stations -- research centers dedicated to finding solutions and improving methods in agriculture and food production. The Hatch Act also stipulated that the experiment stations share their agricultural discoveries and methods with farmers. In undertaking both scientific research and education, the Hatch Act affected the types of food farmers grew and the methods used to cultivate them. Agricultural Experiment Stations
14. WCUS_110607_070.JPG: The USDA showcased the fruits of its research in expositions across the country and around the world. This apple exhibit was proudly displayed at the Paris Exposition in 1900.
15. WCUS_110607_077.JPG: Hybrid corn, considered by many to be one of the most important discoveries in the history of farming, was cultivated and tested at experiment stations like this one in Iowa, ca 1932. The dense green rows of identical stalks of corn in demonstration fields won over many a dubious farmer.
16. WCUS_110607_080.JPG: The yellow section of the display (with the corn motif) is about farming
17. WCUS_110607_084.JPG: Battling the Oleomargarine Invasion: Oleomargarine was introduced in the last 1800s. American dairy farmers immediately demanded protection against the oily imposter. Congress responded with the Margarine Act of 1886 -- raising margarine's price through taxes and licensing. Amendments to the Margarine Act taxed colored margarine at an even higher rate. Public outcry against oleomargarine taxes mounted as the supply of butter dwindled during and after World War II. Federal margarine taxes were finally repealed in 1950. Charles Willie was sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in 1915 for breaking the oleomargarine laws.
18. WCUS_110607_088.JPG: Petition from Waverly Oil Works, 1917 When letters like this one were unsuccessful in preventing taxes and outright bans on colored margarine, oleo producers found a clever solution. They sold it with a capsule of yellow coloring. During World War II mixing the dye into the margarine was a task often given to children. Feb'y 21, 1902 Hon. M.S. Quay, United States Senate, Washington DC Dear Sir: -- In the spirit of fair play and in interest of working people of our state, we respectfully and earnestly protest against the passage of House Bill No. 9205, now pending in the Senate, which imposes a tax of 10 cents a pound on colored oleomargarine, or butterine, which is a wholesome food product largely used by working people. The great mass of laboring people cannot afford to pay 35 cents a pound for creamery butter; and cheap butter generally has been renovated or worked over after becoming rancid, and unfit for consumption. Oleomargarine, which is clean, pure and healthful, can be purchased at from 15 cents to 20 cents a pound at retail. We call upon all friends of workingmen in Congress to use their influence and cast their votes so as to defeat the vicious class legislation proposed in the Oleomargarine Bill. We favor what is known as the Wadsworth Substitute, which will insure oleomargarine or butterine to be sold on its merits, and not as butter. Yours very respectfully.
19. WCUS_110607_095.JPG: Giard, Iowa Jan 28 1886 Hon. W E Fuller, MC Washington DC DEAR SIR: I respectfully request that you use your personal influence for the enactment of a law by Congress requiring ALL imitations of Butter and Cheese, manu- factured or sold in the United States, or used on the table of public eating houses, to be labelled with a US stamp. Yours Respectfully, ... Farmers' Petitions, 1886 "Our soils will be depleted and become barren," "the dairy industry is doomed," and Americans will be robbed of "life-promoting vitamins . . . without which human infants cannot continue to live" are just some of the prognostications made by dairy farmers in their petitions for market controls on imitation dairy products.
20. WCUS_110607_099.JPG: John McMonigle A prison photograph of Leavenworth inmate John L. McMonigle. McMonigle spent nearly a year in prison for violating the Oleomargarine Act of August 2, 1886
21. WCUS_110607_106.JPG: Bertillon Measurement Card for John Seymour, 1916 Taxes on colored margarine were a boon to bootleggers. But while trafficking in yellow oleo may have been profitable, the penalties were severe. John Seymour was sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary for his crimes against butter.
22. WCUS_110607_110.JPG: Food Will Win the War With the world at war, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration mandate was reversed. "Production!" became the rallying cry. Farmers had to feed the troops, civilians, and overseas allies. They were prodded to grow more corn, soybeans, and sugar beets. The increased demand for food was expected to cause inflation. The Office of the Price Administration was established to place ceilings on prices and to ration items that became scarce. These stylish ladies demonstrated what $1.34 bought in 1918 and 1945, thanks to price controls.
23. WCUS_110607_113.JPG: Get Your Farm in the Fight! World War II poster, 1942
24. WCUS_110607_117.JPG: The Office of Price Administration Blues Musicians Pete Seeger, Tom Glazer and other performed a country blues musical program in support of the continuation of the Office of Price Administration (OPA) and its polices after the end of World War I. This portion of the 1946 radio program includes the songs "We Gotta Save the OPA" and "I'm a'going to Starve." Despite the singers' efforts, the OPA was abolished after 1947.
25. WCUS_110607_123.JPG: Sugar Beets Demand for sugar was high during World War II. It was used both for explosives (to create industrial alcohol) and for beverage alcohol. Posters like this one encouraged farmers to convert their fields to sugar beets.
26. WCUS_110607_129.JPG: Soybeans In wartime, soybeans became important in both North America and Europe as substitutes for other protein foods and as a source of edible oil. This poster from World War II exhorts farmers to grow more soybeans.
27. WCUS_110607_134.JPG: Spraying Fertilizer, 1972
28. WCUS_110607_143.JPG: Postcards circulated in South Africa, 1907 A State Department official fittingly named Robert Bacon sent these British postcards to the United States ambassador in London. One of Armour and Company's general managers had complained that the cards were hurting their business.
29. WCUS_110607_162.JPG: Industrial Age Food Frights: Copper sulphate, boric acid, formaldehyde, coal tar, saltpeter... sound appetizing? You might have ingested these substances if you purchased food in America a century ago. And, unless you were a chemist, you might not have known it. Not only were these substances commonly used to preserve foods or disguise foods already spoiled, but food labels back then rarely reported more than the name and manufacturer of the product. Without a regulating body, the industry was free to use any substance it chose to color, or prolong the freshness of products. Buying food for the family was a dangerous and sometimes even deadly enterprise. Greening Pies and Perfuming Meat: Before the Pure Food and Drugs Act, factory conditions were horrific. This candy factory from 1908 probably cleaned up its act for inspection.
30. WCUS_110607_165.JPG: Toxic Treats In this tiny notebook, a food adulterant investigator wrote, "This sample of candy requires a very careful examination. After eating of it -- one child died and two others were taken sick." Tragic stories like this rallied women's clubs across the country to support the "pure food" bill. Their passionate crusade helped overcome the powerful opposition mounted by drug companies and distillers. Food Adulteration Notebook, Purchases at Schuyler, Nebraska, ca. 1890
31. WCUS_110607_173.JPG: Letter from Upton Sinclair to President Roosevelt, 1906 Upton Sinclair had hoped his book would inspire labor reform. His disappointment in the fact that the public focused on the meatpacking industry instead is reflected in his famous statement, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
32. WCUS_110607_177.JPG: The Jungle Publishing Co. Publishers of the books of Upton Sinclair P. O. Box 2064, New York City. March I0, I906 President Theodore Roosevelt, Washington, D.C. My dear President Roosevelt: I have just returned from some exploring in the Jersey glass factories and find your kind note. I am glad to learn that the Department of Agriculture has taken up the matter of inspection, or lack of it, but I am exceedingly dubious as to what they will discover. I have seen so many people go out there and be put off with smooth pretences. A man has to be something of a detective, or else intimate with the working-men, as I was, before he can really see what is going on. And it is becoming a great deal more difficult since the publication of "The Jungle." I have received to-day a letter from an employe of Armour and Company, in response to my request to him to take Ray Stannard Baker in hand and show him what he showed me a year and a half ago. He says: "He will have to be well disguised, for 'the lid is on' in Packingtown; he will find two detectives in places where before there has only one." You must understand that the thing which I have called the "condemned meat industry," is a matter of hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. I see in to-day's "Saturday Evening Post" that Mr. Armour declares in his article (which I happen to know is written by George Horace Lorimer) that "In Armour and Company's business not one atom of any condemned animal or carcass, finds its way, directly or indirectly, from any source, into any food product or food ingredient." Now, compare with that the following extract from a formal statement transmitted to Doubleday, Page and Company by Mr. Thomas H. KcKee, attorney at law, (III Broadway, New York) who is a personal friend of Mr. Walter H. Page, and was sent out to Chicago by that firm to investigate the situation: "With a special conductor, Mr. B. J. Mullaney, provided for me by Mr. Urion, attorney for Armour interests, I went through the Armour plant again. Mullaney introduced me to T. J. Conners, Manager, who called Mr. Hull, Superintendent of beef plant and said to him: 'I have just told Mr. McKee that we have nothing here to conceal and that he can see anything he wants and can stay as long as he likes. Please see that my promise is made good. ' I expressed my desire to investigate two points, 1st, the system of inspection; 2nd, the by-product food industry.." "I saw six hogs hung in line which had been condemned. A truck loaded with chopped up condemned hogs was in my presence (I followed it) placed in one of the tanks from which lard comes. I asked particularly about this and the inspector together with Mr. Hull stated that lard and fertilizer would be the product from that tank. The tanks are in a long room. The East side is lined with tanks for manufacture of lard and fertilizer; the West side with tanks whose product is grease and fertilizer. The grease is for soap, lubricator, etc. Here is a clear infraction of the law, because it requires that such condemned meat be mixed with sufficient offal to destroy it as food. This seems to be done on the 'Grease' line of tanks; it is not done at the 'Lard' line of tanks. See Department of Agriculture Rules, June 27, 1904, Article IX. The excuse probably is that the inspector has not found the animal unfit for one kind of human food, to wit - lard." "Of the six condemned hogs referred to two were afflicted with cholers, the skin being red as blood and the legs scabbed; three were marked 'tubercular, ' though they appeared normal to a layman, the sixth had an ulcer in its side which was apparent. Two men were engaged in chopping up hogs from this line. The truck load prepared while I stood there was deposited in a lard tank. I asked particularly about the line of demarcation between the carcasses used for lard and carcasses used for grease. No explanation was given by either the inspector or my conductor. 'It all depends on how bad he is, ' was the answer. I gathered the impression, however, that not very many carcasses were placed in Grease tanks." So much for Mr. McKee. For myself, I was escorted through Packingtown by a young lawyer who was brought up in the district, had worked as a boy in Armour's plant, and knew more or less intimately every foreman, "spotter," and watchman about the place. I saw with my own eyes hams, which had spoiled in pickle, being pumped full of chemicals to destroy the odor. I saw waste ends of smoked beef stored in barrels in a cellar, in a condition of filth which I could not describe in a letter. I saw rooms in which sausage meat was stored, with poisoned rats lying about, and the dung of rats covering them. I saw hogs which had died of cholera in shipment, being loaded into box cars to be taken to a place called Globe, in Indiana, to be rendered into lard. Finally, I found a physician, Dr. William K. Jaques, 4316 Woodland avenue, Chicago, who holds the chair of bacteriology in the Illinois State University, and was in charge of the city inspection of meat during 1902-3, who told me he had seen beef carcasses, bearing the inspectors' tags of condemnation, left upon open platforms and carted away at night, to be sold in the city. I quote a few words from Dr. Jaques' statement, furnished to Mr. McKee, and would add that he has written an article which will appear in the "World's Work" for May, and of which a proof could possibly be furnished you, if you cared to see it. "My education as a physician teaches me that disease follows the same law whether in animals or human beings. An accurate post mortem requires close inspection of all the internal organs together with the use of the microscope before a physician can say there is no disease present. How many post mortems could the most expert physician make in a day? Ten would be a big day's work; fifty would tax the endurance of the most strenuous. It is reported that one hundred and fifty thousand animals have been received at the Union Stockyards in a single day. How many animal pathologists are employed by the government who are capable of making a reliable post mortem and saying that an animal is not diseased? In round numbers, say there are fifty ?? a few more or less, for the sake of illustration, are not material. Say there are only fifty thousand animals killed a day at the stock yards. This would be a thousand to each inspector, a hundred an hour, nearly two a minute. What is such inspection as this worth? It is true, there is some inspection that is well done; it is that which is done for the sharp eyes of the foreigner." "Inspection to be effective should include the entire twenty-four hours. Federal inspection is probably effective in day light. City inspectors work during city hall hours. The railroads and express companies bring animals into the city every hour in the day. When John Dyson has access to every room in the packing houses and knows what is done there every hour in the twenty-four; when his army of inspectors know the disposition of the meat brought into the city by more than thirty railroads; when he knows the destination and use of the refuse which the meat and liver wagons gather after nightfall from Fulton market, south Water street and other markets; when he knows the meat that comes to the city by wagon and other ways, then, in my estimation, he can give something like an accurate estimation of the amount of diseased, putrid meat that is converted into meat in Chicago. Until he has this information, he must confess to the ignorance of which he accuses others. No one has this information. There are a hundred streets and avenues by which diseased meat can enter the city and be put on sale in the markets. The public has made no effort to find out and it is left to the men who deal in this merchandise to dump what they please into the stomachs of the blissfully ignorant public. Neither do any of us know how much disease and suffering this food causes. The diagnosis of the best physicians is so often turned down at the post mortem table that the actual results of diseased food are difficult to ascertain." Finally, I might add that I have a long affidavit from a man named Thomas F. Dolan, now at the head of the Boston and Maine News Bureau, who was for many years a superintendent in Armour's plant, and has letters to show that he was considered by Armour as the best man he ever employed. He makes oath to Armour's custom of taking condemned meat out of the bottoms of the tanks, into which they had been dropped with the idea of rendering them into fertilizer. It seems that the tanks are, or were then, built with a false bottom, which lets down on a hinge; and that when you stand at the top and see the meat dropped in, you are flooded by blinding clouds of steam which pour up from a pipe down in the tank. When this affidavit was published, Dolan was paid $5, 000 by Armour to make another one contradicting himself. He took the $5, 000 and went on to give away the whole story, which was published in the "Evening Journal," March I6, 1899. The fact that it is a Hearst story would tend to discredit it; but having investigated the whole thing, and met every man who was concerned in the expos?, I am convinced that the affidavit is worth attention. Baker knows intimately a man who is high in the counsels of Armour and Company, and was present at a conference in which Ogden Armour personally gave the decision to bribe Dolan. This is a very long letter, but I feel the importance of the subject excuses it. It would give me great pleasure to come down to Washington to see you at any time, but I would rather it was after you had read "The Jungle," because I have put a good deal of myself into that. You ask - "Is there anything further, say in the Department of Agriculture, which you would suggest my doing?" I would suggest the following: That you do as Doubleday, Page and Company did; find a man concerning whose intelligence and integrity you are absolutely sure; send him up here, or let me meet him in Washington, and tell him all that I saw, and how I saw it, and give him the names and addresses of the people who will enable him to see it. Then let him go to Packingtown as I did, as a working-man; live with the men, get a job in the yards, and use his eyes and ears; and see if he does not come out at the end of a few weeks feeling, as did the special correspondent of the London "Lancet," whom I met in Chicago, that the conditions in the packing-houses constitute a "menace to the health of the civilized world." [The Lancet for Jan 8, 15, 22, 29 - 1905.] Thanking you for your kind interest, Very sincerely, (Signed, 'Upton Sinclair') P. S. I might add that when I was in Chicago I learned a good deal about the connections which the packers have in Washington, so that I think it most likely that before the Department of Agriculture got anybody started for the purpose of investigating Packingtown, word had been sent there to the packing-houses that things should be cleaned up. I know positively that this was done in the case of Major Seaman, who went out there for "Collier's Weekly."
33. WCUS_110607_199.JPG: Horrified by The Jungle The sausage-eating public demanded reform after reading about conditions in the meatpacking industry in Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, The Jungle. Although President Theodore Roosevelt considered the author a "crackpot," he had reason to believe Sinclair's allegations. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt saw hundreds of soldiers became ill -- some fatally -- after eating canned meats. Roosevelt wrote Sinclair promising "the specific evils you point out shall their existence be proved, and if I have power, be eradicated. "The sausage girls were moved upstairs where they could get sun and light" -- from a report on packinghouse reforms after The Jungle was published.
34. WCUS_110607_202.JPG: Ketchup -- A Blessed Relief for Mother Food Frights Ketchup was one of the first successful processed foods. By 1900 there were over 100 different brands of this popular condiment. Made from fermented tomato cores and skins, canners added vinegar to flavor and preserve it and dyes to make it red. Because the resulting concoction was prone to explode, canners started adding benzoate of soda as a preservative. Henry Heinz proved ketchup could be made without benzoate in a clean factory using ripe tomatoes.
35. WCUS_110607_213.JPG: Harvey W Wiley's Poison Squad Twelve men volunteer to eat meals containing increasing amounts of potentially harmful substances. Sound like reality TV? In fact, it was a Bureau of Chemistry experiment initiated in 1902 to provide support for a national food and drug policy. Chief Chemist Harvey W. Wiley wanted to prove that additives commonly used in foods -- like borax, sulfuric acid, and formaldehyde -- were harmful. His experiment, gleefully dubbed "the Poison Squad" by the press, gained national attention. Wiley records his subjects' headache, nausea, and vomiting on the page. He used the table to record data about the recovery of boric acid in the study. Although there was no official follow-up, anecdotal reports suggest that none of the volunteers suffered any long-term harm.
36. WCUS_110607_217.JPG: Harvey W Wiley's Notes and Lab Records, 1906 Wiley records his subjects' headache, nausea, and vomiting on the page. He used the table to record data about the recovery of boric acid in the study. Although there was no official follow-up, anecdotal reports suggest that none of the volunteers suffered any long-term harm.
37. WCUS_110607_227.JPG: "Look Before You Eat" Cartoon, 1884 This diner needs a chemistry set to determine whether his food has been adulterated. It wasn't until 1965 that food processors were required to list product ingredients on labels.
38. WCUS_110607_232.JPG: Crank Letter to Dr. Wiley The Poison Squad was the butt of many jokes. The Bureau of Chemistry kept a "Crank and Funny File" for letters like this one. Astonishingly, Wiley never lacked for volunteers during his five-year experiment.
39. WCUS_110607_239.JPG: On Patrol With The Food Police The long held opposition to Federal food and drug regulation finally crumbled under combined public and political pressure. Even the large packing houses and food processors eventually supported the legislation -- especially when the Government agreed to pay for the inspections. They realized that a government seal of approval could restore consumer confidence in their products. President Roosevelt signed both the Pure Food and Drugs Act and the Meat Inspection Act on June 30, 1906. Afterword, the Federal Government found itself in the business of protecting Americans from unsafe steak, misbranded mushrooms, and tainted tomatoes. Uncle Sam Helps Buyers Beware: Inspection of Bananas in Baltimore, Maryland, ca 1906
40. WCUS_110607_242.JPG: The Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906 The Pure Food and Drug Act made it illegal to ship or receive any adulterated or misbranded food or drug. To remove foods deemed "filthy, decomposed, or putrid" from the market, FDA agents had to build scientific and legal cases against them.
41. WCUS_110607_246.JPG: The Bureau of Chemistry inspectors approached their work as detectives on a mission to protect consumers. These photos show inspectors seizing and burning crates of contaminated frozen eggs.
42. WCUS_110607_250.JPG: Meat Inspection Album, 1910 The Meat Inspection Act, unlike the Pure Food and Drug Act, provided for inspection and approval before the products went to market. Early meat inspection activities were documented in this album.
43. WCUS_110607_255.JPG: Inspection of Carcasses, 1910
44. WCUS_110607_267.JPG: Product Labels, 1882-1906: As soon as the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed, product labels began to proclaim the purity of their ingredients. But what were those ingredients? It wasn't until 1965 that manufacturers were required to list them. Lipton's Gossip Blend Coffee, 1906
45. WCUS_110607_269.JPG: Bacon, 1906
46. WCUS_110607_272.JPG: Corned Beef Hash, 1898
47. WCUS_110607_275.JPG: Uncle Sam's Ice Cream Cones, 1906
48. WCUS_110607_278.JPG: Gerber's Milk Food, 1882
49. WCUS_110607_281.JPG: Mock Turtle Soup, 1906
50. WCUS_110607_283.JPG: Pure Food Brand Cream Sugar Corn, 1907
51. WCUS_110607_285.JPG: Cattle in the Great Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 1903
52. WCUS_110607_289.JPG: Standard Pekoe and Regulation Oolong Coffee once took second place to America's favorite drink -- tea. Tons of tea was adulterated to increase its weight to disguise inferiority. Although tea was not the only -- or the worst -- threat to the health and safety of consumers, it was the easiest to control. Congress already had the power to regulate imports and most tea was produced in other countries. The National Board of Tea Experts established the Tea Act of 1897 met annually to set standards for imported tea from 1897 until the Act repealed in 1996.
53. WCUS_110607_292.JPG: Tetley Tea Tins, 1915
54. WCUS_110607_297.JPG: Tea Inspection Act, 1882 This Act to "prevent the importation of adulterated and spurious teas" was passed in 1882. It was replaced in 1897 with a more comprehensive act that gave the secretary of the Treasury the authority to adopt Federal tea standards.
55. WCUS_110607_299.JPG: Letter from Tetley Tea Company to the Bureau of Chemistry, 1915 The Tetley Tea Company wrote to the Bureau of Chemistry (forerunner to the FDA) in 1915 to ask if they might call one of their products "Russian Style Tea" without running afoul of the Pure Food Laws. These tea tins were sent with the letter.
56. WCUS_110607_308.JPG: Loopholes in the New Law: Some food processors still found ways to deceive the public under the Pure Food and Drug Act. To protect people from substandard and deceptive products like "Bred-Spred" -- a concoction of pectin, coal tar, and grass seed -- the Food and Drug Administration began to press for reform in the 1930s. A new Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed in 1938. It mandated the creation of the first food standards and directed they be based on the "interests of consumers."
57. WCUS_110607_310.JPG: Article from the Evening Star, Washington DC, 1933 A reporter who visited the FDA exhibit called it a "Chamber of Horrors." Coverage of Eleanor Roosevelt's visit to the exhibit generated a swell of public support.
58. WCUS_110607_316.JPG: The FDA created a simple display in 1933 to illustrate problems with the current food and drug laws. The exhibit generated buzz in the media. These photos from the show demonstrate the way that consumers could be fooled or endangered by certain products. This "superfluous hair devitalizer" contains thallium acetate. It was widely used and caused many cases of baldness, severe muscular pains, weakness, general nerve impairment and paralysis.
59. WCUS_110607_320.JPG: Candy containing "prizes" may injure the teeth of children, or may be aspirated into the child's throat or bronchial tubes. In a recent case, the court held that the addition of candy of a coin did not constitution a violation of the Food and Drugs Act. Lead from the trinket has been deposited on this candy.
60. WCUS_110607_323.JPG: The Promise of Food Processing Although the Federal Government serves as a watch dog to the food processing industry, it has also championed new food technology. The USDA and agricultural experiment station developed their own food processing innovations, including a method to improve the flavor of frozen orange juice patented in 1948. President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended a USDA "research luncheon" in 1953 where he dined on powdered orange juice, potato chip bars, and "dehydrofrozen peas." The caption on this World War II photo reads, "76, 606 College students and teachers will do war work this summer in laboratories of the nation's food processing plants."
61. WCUS_110607_326.JPG: Lewis and Clark Expedition Receipt, 1803 Portable soup was used by seamen and explorers like Lewis and Clark in the 18th and 19th centuries because it kept for many months. This early convenience food -- similar to bouillon cubes -- was made from soup that was degreased, reduced, and dried.
62. WCUS_110607_331.JPG: Method of Preparing Food Products Patent, 1930 Frozen food was not the instant success that Clarence Birdseye had anticipated. Few Depression-era kitchens had freezers. Business picked up after World War II, but it wasn't frozen fish or peas that were selling. It was frozen orange juice concentrate -- a product that USDA scientists helped improve.
63. WCUS_110607_340.JPG: Modern Housewife This U.S. Information Agency photograph depicts the modern American housewife in 1958 -- freed from long hours in the kitchen by the cornucopia of processed foods available to her at her local market.
64. WCUS_110607_346.JPG: American National Exhibit in Moscow The 1959 American National Exhibit in Moscow showcased the wonders of capitalism, including processed foods. Vice President Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khurshchev's exchange at the opening of the exhibit became known as the "Kitchen Debate."
65. WCUS_110607_358.JPG: United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition Chart, 1943
66. WCUS_110607_360.JPG: Eat It, Because It's Good For You! Over the years, Uncle Sam has made attempts to change the way Americans eat. The reasons for these nutrition campaigns have varied, but it appears that our bad habits have remained constant at least in the last century. W.O. Atwater, the USDA's pioneering nutrition scientist, concluded in the 1890s that Americans eat too much fat and sweets and do not get enough exercise. In his crusade to improve the American diet, Uncle Sam has funded ground-breaking nutrition research, deployed an army of home economists into the kitchens and classrooms of Americans, and printed reams of pie charts, posters, and pyramids . Pitted against cultural traditions, advertising, and socio-economic forces; the quest to change American eating habits was an uphill battle. Nourishing a Growing Country: The serious scientific approach to home economics is evidenced in this photo. Wearing her lab whites, this nutritionist weighs broccoli for her study.
67. WCUS_110607_364.JPG: Respiration Calorimeter Atwater and his team used this contraption -- a respiration calorimeter -- to measure the heat produced and the metabolic rate of individuals performing different activities like reading, ironing, and riding a stationary bicycle. This cutting edge technology cost over $10,000 annually to operate in the 1890s.
68. WCUS_110607_372.JPG: Food Scientists Break it Down: Fat, protein, carbohydrates, calories -- thanks to W.O. Atwater, these words entered the consciousness of Americans in the 1890s. Atwater's federally funded nutrition studies were the first of their kind in the U.S. Atwater quantified the energy values (calories) of different types of food. He also studied the amount energy expanded in different activities to determine the number of calories required to maintain a healthy body. His discoveries formed the basis of today's knowledge of nutrition. "The evils of overeating may not be felt at once, but sooner or later they are sure to appear -- perhaps in an excessive amount of fatty tissue, perhaps in general debility, perhaps in actual disease." W.O Atwater
69. WCUS_110607_375.JPG: Trading Aprons for Lab Coats Teaching Home Economics to rural families was one of the directives of the Cooperative Extension Service of the USDA established in 1914. By providing jobs for home economists and publishing their research, the government helped this new discipline to become established as a legitimate field of study. The movement's scientific approach to food and application of business principles to the home changed the way Americans eat. Hitting their stride in the 1930s, home economists emphasized simple meals with nutritional content that could be easily calculated. Dishes with numerous ingredients, seasonings, and multi-step cooking procedures were considered inefficient and nutritionally dubious. They came to see the homemaker's principle job as one of wise consumption rather than skilled production. Home Economists on the March: Home economists preparing turkeys for cooking method tests.
70. WCUS_110607_378.JPG: Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes, 1931 In 1926 the USDA did some matchmaking for Uncle Sam. They created a character named "Aunt Sammy" to teach domestic science over the radio. So many requests came in for her recipes -- like watermelon pickle and asparagus on toast -- that the USDA published this booklet in 1931.
71. WCUS_110607_383.JPG: Food Safety Poster, 1942 The USDA used posters like this one to teach food safety.
72. WCUS_110607_388.JPG: This Dairy Product has Merit Home economists helped standardize a simple meat, potato, and vegetable as the typical American meal. It was easier to calculate the nutritional value of simple dishes with few ingredients. Elaborate, multi-step cooking methods didn't meet the efficiency standards of the home economist.
73. WCUS_110607_394.JPG: Family on a Budget In 1932, home economists championed this thrifty couple's use of home canning to provide fruits and vegetables for the family throughout the year.
74. WCUS_110607_399.JPG: Pie Judges Dr. Louise Stanley, first head of the Department of Home Economics, and Mary Lindsay judging a pie contest in the 1920s.
75. WCUS_110607_404.JPG: Farm Woman Checking Pantry Supplies, 1936
76. WCUS_110607_408.JPG: Meat Cookery During the Progressive Era, many food reformers came to believe that the poor could afford to eat nutritious meals if they used their money more wisely. This exhibit on "meat cookery" emphasized the nutritional value of economical cuts of meat.
77. WCUS_110607_414.JPG: Wheatena Promotion, 1942 The Nutrition Division of the Federal Security Agency designed a logo for foods with government-approved nutrition value. At first they were flooded with requests for the official-endorsement. But food companies soon realized they could tie nutrition claims to the war effort without government sanction.
78. WCUS_110607_418.JPG: New York Bakery Letter, 1942 The "oomph vitamin," thiamine, was most commonly found in wheat bread. Nutritionists determined that it would be easier to add B1 to flour than to convince Americans to eat whole wheat. This letter shows how quickly the public began to request enrichment for other types of bread.
79. WCUS_110607_422.JPG: Margaret Mead Memo, 1942 Margaret Mead, famous cultural anthropologist and author of "Coming of Age in Samoa," served as the Executive Secretary of the "Committee on Food Habits," an agency charged with applying social science to the WWII nutrition effort. Mead saw food as integral to culture as a whole. Her recommendations often required more complex solutions than the government was able to take on.
80. WCUS_110607_438.JPG: The caption for this photo is simply, "digestion study."
81. WCUS_110607_442.JPG: Signs of Good Nutrition Poster, 1931 How was a mother to know if her child was truly well-nourished? She could look for the "signs of good nutrition" illustrated in this poster. After child labor was abolished and compulsory education laws established, child welfare advocates turned their attention to the care and feeding of children.
82. WCUS_110607_453.JPG: Eat Carp Poster, 1911 This Bureau of Fisheries poster seems unlikely to have swayed many people to eat carp. Saying that the "muddy taste" can be cooked away doesn't exactly whet the appetite. Carp were cultivated in America in 1877 but the hardy fish soon threatened other species.
83. WCUS_110607_459.JPG: Tilefish Poster, 1916 During World War I, the Bureau of Fisheries produced a series of posters to encourage people to eat fish instead of meat. The government wanted to save the meat supply to feed U.S. troops and hungry citizens of Allied countries.
84. WCUS_110607_464.JPG: Product Labels, 1906-33 During the period between the discovery of vitamins and the development of practical methods of measuring them, advertisers seized the opportunity to make unsubstantiated claims about the healthful properties of their foods. Grains of Health
85. WCUS_110607_467.JPG: Nutro-Links Intensified Food
86. WCUS_110607_473.JPG: Pantry Whipping Cream
87. WCUS_110607_479.JPG: Country Club Evaporated Milk
88. WCUS_110607_482.JPG: Floodwood Brand Sweet Corn Butter
89. WCUS_110607_489.JPG: Wheaties
90. WCUS_110607_491.JPG: Food Groups, Pie Charts, & Pyramids Ever since the first food guide was published in 1894, Uncle Sam has tried to persuade Americans to eat what's good for them. When malnutrition was a concern in the 1930s, the emphasis was on getting enough nutrients. In the 1970s, food guides began to warn against over-consumption of certain foods, like those high in cholesterol. Now that obesity has become a problem, Uncle Sam is urging Americans to eat in moderation and pursue and active lifestyle. A bottle of milk at the end of the rainbow on this Department of Agriculture parade float, part of a campaign to promote milk's nutritious qualities.
91. WCUS_110607_498.JPG: Milk Pamphlet, 1912 The circulation of laboratory photos of scrawny rats that had been fed a dairy free diet helped promote milk to the status of "miracle food." The USDA published this pamphlet in 1912, just 2 years before Vitamin A was identified.
92. WCUS_110607_501.JPG: Food for Young Children Pamphlet, 1917 USDA nutritionist Caroline Hunt created this food guide for children. She categorized foods into the following 5 groups: milk and meat, cereals, vegetables and fruits, fats and fatty foods, and sugars and sugary foods.
93. WCUS_110607_506.JPG: A Week's Supply of Food Poster, ca 1921 This guide suggested the amounts of different types of food needed to meet the nutritional requirements of a family of five for one week. The USDA published food plans at 4 different cost levels in response to the economic hardships many suffered during the Great Depression.
94. WCUS_110607_511.JPG: 100 Calorie Portions of a Few Familiar Foods Apparently, the idea of 100-calorie packs goes back at least to the 1930s.
95. WCUS_110607_527.JPG: Food Pyramid Poster, 1992 In 1992 the USDA published its first food pyramid -- a graphic illustration designed to convey the principles of a healthy diet in an easy-to-understand visual diagram.
96. WCUS_110607_529.JPG: Food Group Poster, ca. 1945 Some of us might like to reinstate this food guide from World War II because butter has its own food group. Not to mention the fact that it recommends eating any other foods you want in addition to the Basic Seven.
97. WCUS_110607_533.JPG: A Recipe for Victory They were outnumbered. The enemy was entrenched. Their resources were limited. But nothing stopped the government from waging war against the eating habits of the American people. The government made its most concerted efforts to affect the diets of Americans during World Wars I and II. The battle was fought with squadrons of celebrities, anthropologists, and cartoon characters, and a flotilla of films, radio programs, pledge drivers, and posters. Often, recent nutrition discoveries provided a nutritional basis for the changes being advocated. There were some victories. During World War I, the middle and upper classes conserved food by about 15%. And in World War II, Americans ate more fresh fruits and vegetables -- but only because canned goods were rationed. Food Will Win The War: This inventive store display ca. 1917-18 promotes the potato as a "good soldier" and recommends people eat it "uniform and all."
98. WCUS_110607_536.JPG: Patriots Eat Doughnuts Around 1940, the result of 2 small studies set off a panic. A handful of subjects deprived of Vitamin B1 (thiamine) became sluggish and apathetic. One experiment concluded that thiamine deficiency was causing Americans to lack energy and motivation -- conditions a country mobilizing for war could not afford. Consequently, the government endorsed products enriched with thiamine. After many letters, it was determined that these doughnuts could be called "enriched flour doughnuts" but not "enriched doughnuts" or "vitamin doughnuts."
99. WCUS_110607_546.JPG: U.S. Needs Us Strong In the 1930s some nutrition scientists believed they had evidence that 1/3 of Americans were malnourished. As part of the war effort in the 1940s, the Federal Security Agency was tasked with addressing "vitamin starvation." They responded with "Recommended Daily Allowances," flour enrichment programs, and a government seal to identify nutritious foods. They hired social scientists to apply new insights into human behavior to their efforts. What was the effect of these programs? Small potatoes. Until rationing forced them to change, Americans continued to eat much as they always had.
100. WCUS_110607_548.JPG: Vitamin Wheel, ca. 1942 The government's nutritional message had to compete with food companies' expensive advertising campaigns. In order to get the word out, the government enlisted their support. Many obliged by producing nutrition charts and guides like this vitamin wheel.
101. WCUS_110607_552.JPG: Poster Persuasion Posters were at the heart of wartime campaigns to change American eating habits. WWI posters spelled out the reasons why conservation was necessary. They were somber and appealed to a sense of patriotism and virtue. WWII posters used the colorful, upbeat imagery of advertising. They showed Americans that with careful planning, housewives could provide plenty of nutritious food for their families. During both wars, home economists made sure campaign recommendations were nutritionally sound.
102. WCUS_110607_560.JPG: United States Food Administration, ca 1918 No child was too young to contribute to the war effort. This poster explains how "Little Americans" could do their part.
103. WCUS_110607_565.JPG: United States Food Administration Poster, ca. 1917
104. WCUS_110607_571.JPG: World War I poster, ca. 1917 With canned goods in short supply during World War I and II, people ate more fresh fruit and vegetables -- many from their own back yards. It has been estimated that 40% of the fresh produce consumed during World War II was home grown.
105. WCUS_110607_575.JPG: War Ration Book Four, ca. 1943 (facsimile)
106. WCUS_110607_579.JPG: 2nd Generation of Marketers These eager school children are learning about one of the new rationing programs introduced by the government. Many people felt changes in the rationing system caused chaos and confusion.
107. WCUS_110607_582.JPG: Shortages and Suspicion When rumors of food shortages circulated during World War II, some Americans responded by stampeding grocery stores and hoarding food supplies. Rationing was instituted when voluntary conservation methods proved inadequate. Black markets for meat and other prized items popped up. The Government's attempts to convince cynical members of the public that rationing ensured a fair share for everyone didn't prevent the spread of conspiracy theories. Nutritionists promoted WWII's sugar shortage as an opportunity for Americans to break their sugar habit. Fat chance. People hoarded their weekly half pounded sugar with surprising fervor.
108. WCUS_110607_585.JPG: Office of Price Administration Poster, ca. 1943 This poster was part of a failed campaign to persuade Americans to voluntarily cut back on cutlets. The patriotic family depicted here might have been trampled in a mad rush for meat following the news of impending shortages.
109. WCUS_110607_590.JPG: Square Meals for Soldiers Although soldiers routinely complained about the "chow" -- many picked up eating habits in mess halls Purchasing, cooking, and serving food is the most direct way the Government affects what people eat. The military is one of those groups regularly subjected to Uncle Sam's cooking. Beginning in the 1940s, dietitians standardized menus -- carefully calculating nutritional content and scouring out all but the most familiar and popular dishes. In a variation on an old saying, "heaven sent them meat, but the devil sent them nutritionists." Soldiers from a variety of regions and ethnicities became accustomed to "square meals" served on divided trays. Meat and potatoes washed down with a tall glass of milk came to mean "dinner" to millions of soldiers -- an expectation they carried home to their families. Cafeteria Lines at Naval Barracks Area, Hastings, Nebraska, 1944
110. WCUS_110607_593.JPG: Soldiers The "First Passover Seder Dinner" given by the Jewish Welfare Board in 1919 to Jewish men in the American Expeditionary Forces, Paris, France.
111. WCUS_110607_598.JPG: Point Rationing was so easy, even young children could do it -- or so this 1943 photograph suggests.
112. WCUS_110607_601.JPG: World War II Ration Tickets and Tokens, ca. 1943 Red and blue tokens were used to make changes for red and blue ration stamps. Red stamps were used for meat and butter. Blue stamps were used for processed foods.
113. WCUS_110607_606.JPG: I'll Have What He's Having The contents of the President's refrigerator have long been a source of fascination for the American people. While most people don't change eating habits each inaugural season, some do adopt dishes that are favored by the current President. Countless citizens have written to the White House requesting recipes. Many First Ladies have been influential as well, especially in the area considered their domain -- entertaining. The Presidents' and First Ladies' tastes have ranged from the simple to the gourmet. They have hired or inherited cooks with experience ranging from world class chef to army quartermaster. Regardless of the President's tastes, "what's cooking" at the White House is a popular and well-documented subject. The Presidential Palate: President Clinton visiting the Varsity Diner in Atlanta with Georgia Governor Zell Miller, 1996. Although he was known for eating fast food during his Presidency, he is now an advocate for a healthy diet.
114. WCUS_110607_610.JPG: Lyndon B. Johnson's apron, ca 1963-69
115. WCUS_110607_613.JPG: Custom Candies for the Chief Executive President Ronald Reagan preferred simple, light meals and was fairly healthy eater. But it wasn't the bran cereal he ate for breakfast that became a national craze; it was jelly beans. President Reagan picked up his bean habit after he quit smoking in the 1960s. He served his favorite candy at cabinet meetings and on Air Force One. The company even created a flavor -- blueberry -- so that he could serve red, white, and blue beans at his inauguration.
116. WCUS_110607_617.JPG: Barbeque Diplomacy President Lyndon B. Johnson's first state dinner was a Texas-style BBQ for 300. The pinto beans, barbecued spare ribs and coleslaw were served on paper plates, buffet style -- in stark contrast to the formal, elegant affairs staged by his predecessors, the Kennedys. The Johnsons hosted so many of these casual events that the term "barbecue diplomacy" was coined. Many Americans tried their first chile con queso or threw "Tex Mex" themed parties while Johnson was in the White House.
117. WCUS_110607_621.JPG: Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson claimed this chili recipe was "almost as popular as the government pamphlet on the care and feeding of children."
118. WCUS_110607_623.JPG: Letter to Mrs Johnson, 1967 Pedernales Chile Recipe, ca 1963-69 The White House received hundreds of letters like Mrs. Brazeau's asking how to throw an LBJ-style barbeque. To accommodate the requests, Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson had copies of the Pedernales River Chili recipe printed. She claimed they were "almost as popular as the government pamphlet on the care and feeding of children."
119. WCUS_110607_628.JPG: Send in the Clams Jacqueline Kennedy hired a world-class French chef to orchestrate elaborate state dinners. The same chef prepared daily meals for the President and his family. Kennedy preferred the heartier foods of his New England upbringing. Clam chowder was one of his favorites and a recipe frequently shared with the public.
120. WCUS_110607_632.JPG: Eisenhower's vegetables soup recipe doesn't skimp on details, including directions for the disposal of leftover meat scraps -- give them to your dogs or your neighbor's chickens. Eisenhower began cooking as a boy. As a young army officer he took special interest in the feeding of his troops. Although he worked to become a first-class cook, he didn't like what he called "hifaultin' gourmet stuff." Many people wrote to request his recipes.
121. WCUS_110607_635.JPG: Eisenhower's Vegetable Soup Recipe, ca 1953-61
122. WCUS_110607_643.JPG: Queen Elizabeth's Scone Recipe Queen Elizabeth wrote this note after seeing a photo in the newspaper of President Eisenhower barbecuing quail. She was reminded that she had promised him her recipe for scones during his visit to Balmoral. The recipe includes castor sugar, an English term for superfine sugar.
123. WCUS_110607_650.JPG: Dinner Plate, Abraham Lincoln "Royal Purple" State Service, 1861
124. WCUS_110607_654.JPG: Dessert/Fruit Plate, Rutherford Hayes State Service, 1880
125. WCUS_110607_657.JPG: You Are What You Eat The President's eating habits can have political repercussions. Presidential candidate Martin Van Buren was cast as an aristocrat by virtue of his love of French food. He lost his bid for reelection in 1840 to William Henry Harrison, who lived on "raw beef and salt." Early in his presidency, photographs of Gerald Ford toasting his own English muffins became iconic of his popular "every man" persona. Gerald Ford at home in Alexandria, Virginia, 1974
126. WCUS_110607_660.JPG: Muffin Tongs, ca 1974 The photograph of President Ford preparing his own breakfast inspired several people to present him with gifts of muffin tongs.
127. WCUS_110607_664.JPG: Beyond Chop Suey The sight of President Nixon eating Perking Duck with chopsticks on his trip to China inspired many Americans to seek out authentic Chinese cuisine. Prior to Nixon's historical visit, chop suey was the closest thing to Chinese food many Americans had experienced. Nixon himself preferred standard Americans fare, like the cottage cheese pictured in the photo of his last meal at the White House. But his willingness to try dishes like lotus seeds porridge opened up new worlds for American taste buds. Nixon's last meal at the White House, 1974
128. WCUS_110607_668.JPG: Petit Fours and Peach Cobbler State dinners reflects the tastes and preferences of their hosts. Jacqueline Kennedy ushered in an era of glamour and elegance. French food was "de rigueur" -- as evidenced by the menus below. Rosalyn Carter, on the other hand, tried to make state dinners less elitist and more down-home. Menus like the one above feature simple dishes with a Southern influence. Many Americans sampled grits for the first time when Carter was in office. Dinner in honor of the Minister of State for Cultural Affairs of France, 1962.
129. WCUS_110607_673.JPG: Schmidt Dinner Menu Formal dinner menu for Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany, 1977
130. WCUS_110607_676.JPG: When fresh beef wasn't available, Civil War soldiers ate canned food. 150 years later, grocery stores still stock some of the foods that sustained the blue and gray -- like Van Camp's Pork and Beans, Underwood Deviled Ham, and Borden's Condensed Milk.
131. WCUS_110607_682.JPG: Civil War Soldier's Letter to his Mother, 1863 Although the variety and quantity of rations had increased greatly since the Revolutionary War, they still weren't enough for some. In this letter, a young man explains to his mother that he hasn't been able to send home any of his pay because he spent it all on extra food.
132. WCUS_110607_686.JPG: Flying Camp Rations Broadside, 1776 The Revolutionary War rations promoted in this broadside included one pint a day of spruce beer, a drink made from spruce tips and molasses thought to prevent scurvy. For colonists not fully motivated by cries of "Freedom" the promise of generous rations was a major incentive to enlist.
133. WCUS_110607_692.JPG: Fresh Beef Broadside, 1829 Providing fresh beef to the battle-weary was a complicated endeavor. During the Revolutionary War, emaciated cattle that had been driven directly to the camps were slaughtered because there wasn't enough fodder to keep them alive. In 1827 the Army tried outsourcing its beef supply.
134. WCUS_110607_696.JPG: World War II Poster, 1944 The World War I motto, "Food Will Win the War" should have been replaced by "Vitamins Will Win the War" according to World War II era nutritionists. The newly vitamin-conscious emphasized fruits and vegetables and admonished military chefs not to overcook them.
135. WCUS_110607_701.JPG: World War II Poster, 1944 In 1941 Life Magazine proclaimed, "Army appetites are the best fed in history." Indeed -- World War II era soldiers gained an average of 10-20lbs during their tours of duty. Little wonder then that cooks were encouraged to "use leftovers" to help come up with the 5,000 calories a day allotted to each soldier.
136. WCUS_110607_705.JPG: Reading, Writing, and Rigatoni Uncle Sam has touched more taste buds through the school lunch program than any other. Approximately 7.1 million children participated in the National School Lunch Program the year President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act (1946). Since then, filling post "lunch ladies" with plastic trays has become a rite of passage for many Americans. Under the USDA, the program's dual goals of feeding hungry children nutritious food and supporting farmers have sometimes coincided. Passionate public outcry has met attempts to eliminate or cut program costs. The school lunch program is one of the most popular social welfare programs in our nation's history. From Surplus to Salisbury Steak
137. WCUS_110607_708.JPG: War Food Administration Poster, 1944 In its early years, school lunch was a child welfare program. Later it became a matter of national security. Malnourished children did not grow up to be good soldiers. In 1943 the War Food Administration took over -- and dramatically expanded -- the federal school lunch program.
138. WCUS_110607_713.JPG: School Lunch Recipes for 100, 1946 Before the government began to allow commercial food companies to provide school lunches in the 1970s, meals were usually prepared on site. These recipes are from 1946, the year the National School Lunch Act made it a permanent, nationwide program.
139. WCUS_110607_718.JPG: Letter to President Johnson, 1966 Handwritten on a school lunch menu, this letter expresses "hope that this program can continue at a reasonable price for all students in our district." The school lunch program is the most popular, long-lasting, Federal aid program.
140. WCUS_110607_734.JPG: World War II poster, ca. 1941 Seventy-five percent of Americans rallied to the cause by pickling and preserving fruits and vegetables during World War II. The home canning troops did conserve food, but they weren't without casualties. Cuts, burs, and botulism were some of the calamities suffered by first-time canners.
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