Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear
  • Home
    • Mission and Vision
    • Chudnow Museum Blog
    • Privacy Policy
  • Visit!
    • Review
    • Guía de Tur Español
    • Spark! at Chudnow Museum
    • Education
    • Gift Shop
    • Behind the Scenes Tours
    • Memberships
    • Museum Event Rental
  • About Us
    • Press
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • Staff
    • Donate!
    • Sponsorships
  • Exhibits & Collections
    • Artifact Collection
    • Films
    • 1930 Chevy
  • Upcoming Events
    • Founders Day 2019
  • History
    • The Chudnow Family
    • Milwaukee in the 1910's
    • Milwaukee in the 1920s
    • Milwaukee in the 1930s
    • Milwaukee History Timeline >
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1846-1879
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1880-1911
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1912-1945
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1946-1979
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1980-2013

WWI 100 Years Later

2/23/2018

0 Comments

 
​With the 100th Anniversary of World War One upon us, 100 years seems like an incredibly long time for some people to imagine. Most people can’t imagine anything 100 years old, much less anything that has existed since then. To give a sense of perspective on exactly how long 100 years is, here is a brief list of some things that had not existed in 1918:
  • Sliced bread was first sold in stores in 1928. Otto Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, had developed a prototype bread slicer in 1912, but it was destroyed in a fire. Until then, people had to make do with slicing whole loaves of bread to make toast or sandwiches!  
Sliced Bread, 1928
The invention of the sliced bread machine in 1928 was the greatest thing since...well, you get the picture!
  • Refrigerators gained popularity starting in the 1920s. Prior to having food chilled by Freon systems, people had to make do with iceboxes and order fresh ice every week. However, due to the Great Depression, refrigerators would not become household necessities until after World War II.
  • Combining the innovations brought on by sliced bread and refrigerators, BLT sandwiches would also not become popular until the late 1940s! In 1918, Americans could only dream of having sandwiches made with packaged bacon and fresh tomatoes and lettuce on a regular basis!
  • Penicillin, a lifesaving antibiotic used to treat viral infections, was also first discovered in 1928. Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered this medicine when he left a culture of bacteria on a petri dish, which became contaminated by mold. He was able to synthesize this culture into a medicine and therefore revolutionized the face of treating infectious diseases around the world.
  • Votes for Women in the United States would not be passed until the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1919. Due to the large numbers of women working in factories, farms, and other industries during the war, women felt more empowered about their place in American society. This, combined with the already strong Suffragist Movement, inspired women across the country to push for their right to vote.
  • Citizenship for Native Americans would not be granted until the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. Prior to this act, Native American tribes were treated as foreign governments, whose reservations were treated as sovereign territory within the United States. Cherokee and Choctaw soldiers were among the many tribes who fought alongside the U.S Army during WWI. Some even served as prototype “Code Talkers” before the term gained widespread use during WWII!
  • Civil Rights for African Americans were drastically different in 1918 as well. Many states still had Jim Crow laws on the books, and in Southern states, African American men accused of crimes could still run the risk of being lynched by race mobs. The Civil Rights Movement would not become a reality for another 45 years.
  • The United States Flag only had 48 stars in 1918. The territories of Hawaii and Alaska would not become states until 1960.
Choctaw men holding 48-star flag
A group of Choctaw men about to enlist in the U.S Army during WWI. Note the 48-star flag they are holding
All of these things that we take for granted had not existed when the United States was involved in World War One. 100 years may seem like an incredibly long time to think about, but in the grand scheme of history, it's only the blink of an eye.
​--Jordan
0 Comments

WWI Recipe: Poultry With Peas

2/22/2018

0 Comments

 
As mentioned in my previous blog post, I have begun to cook some recipes from a cookbook published by the U.S Food Administration during World War 1. Because of food rationing and shortages of ingredients that most Americans were used to cooking with, the organization found it appropriate to publish a helpful cookbook to instruct them on how to make the most of their limited culinary resources. The introduction reminded housewives that:
Your Government does not ask you to give up three square meals a day--nor even one. All it asks is that you eat less of the foods we need to keep the armies going and eat all you want of the other things that we have in plenty.
--U.S Food Administration Official Recipe Book, 1918
With that in mind, I decided to try out some of these recipes myself. I find that one of the best ways of learning about history is through experiencing it yourself--even if that means eating it! You can find the entire cookbook and even more delicious recipes at the link below:
​http://exhibitions.theworldwar.org/war-fare/#/in-the-kitchen/book

The first recipe I attempted to make was Poultry With Peas. It calls for:
  • 1 cup cold chicken, duck or turkey, leftover from a roast (I used chicken)
  • 1 cup canned peas, or frozen
  • 2 tablespoons fat (bacon fat, butter or drippings from poultry roast) (I used bacon fat)
  • 2 tablespoons rice flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Once you have all the ingredients gathered,
  1. Melt fat in a saucepan, add the flour and whisk until brown.
  2. Whisk in the milk gradually, cook until thick.
  3. Add the chicken, peas and seasoning.
  4. Serve over savory rice or biscuits. (I used frozen biscuits)


Poultry With Peas, WW1 Recipe
Preparing the gravy for the recipe
One thing that struck me as I was making the recipe was that housewives and cooks in 1918 didn't have the luxury of using nonstick pans and plastic utensils to aid with their cooking!

Overall, the recipe was very simple to cook and doesn't require a lot of advanced knowledge of cooking to make. It took no more than 30 minutes to complete.
Poultry With Peas, WW1 Recipe
Mixing the gravy, peas, and chicken all together
After baking the biscuits and letting the gravy sit, the time came to sample the finished product. It was quite tasty and made for a simple, if hearty, dinner. You can definitely taste the peas in the meal, so adding salt and pepper to taste is highly recommended. Since my dad and I enjoyed it for dinner, there was plenty left over for, well, leftovers! 
Poultry With Peas, WW1 Recipe
The finished product, served over biscuits
If you're in the mood for a simple dinner to cook, I would highly recommend this recipe. Uncle Sam and Herbert Hoover would thank you!

​--Jordan
0 Comments

Cooking to Win the War

2/2/2018

0 Comments

 

We may think of World War One as having been exclusively fought by the "doughboys," sailors, and airmen over in the trenches of France and Belgium. However, civilians in the home front--especially housewives--were encouraged to do their part to ensure their support for the American war effort. In no place was this more evident than in grocery stores and kitchens across the country. For the first time in American history, civilians were encouraged to drastically change their eating habits in order to aid the military.

Shortly after declaring war on Germany in April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson realized that food was just as vital as munitions and fuel in aiding the American war effort. He established the U.S Food Administration in order to set guidelines for food production and rationing among the American populace. In addition to feeding its own army, America also had to provide food for its allies and refugees in Europe. Americans could no longer afford to be wasteful in their eating and grocery shopping habits. 

Seeking the perfect man to lead this new task, Wilson recruited mining magnate and foreign aid worker Herbert Hoover to head the Food Administration. Having earned a reputation for effectively distributing food and humanitarian aid to the refugees of France and Belgium early in the war, Hoover was well suited to the task of managing the culinary needs of Americans. Hoover's Food Administration successfully convinced Americans from all walks of life to do with less: eat less, buy only what is needed, and conserve food products whenever possible. He also encouraged Americans to observe "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" to further drive his point home. So pervasive was this sense of voluntary thriftiness that making do with less came to be known as "Hooverizing!" 
​
Herbert Hoover, U.S Food Administration
Herbert Hoover, head of the U.S Food Administration (and future President)
For the remainder of the war, Americans tightened their belts and learned how to eat food that was not fancy by any means. Whether it was eating more chicken and fish instead of beef, substituting more vegetables in their diet, or using less wheat and sugar in baking, they did it with the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts made a difference to the men fighting "Over There."
U.S Food Administration Poster, Food, Rationing
For more information about the phenomenon of "Hooverizing" food during the war, I would highly recommend browsing the "War Fare: From The Home Front To The Frontlines" project published through the National WWI Museum's website. They have also reproduced some recipes from official U.S Food Administration cookbooks, with rationing and ingredient substitution in mind. From time to time, I will be cooking some of these recipes myself and sharing the results on this blog! I have included the link to the "War Fare" online project below:

 http://exhibitions.theworldwar.org/war-fare/#/

​-Jordan

0 Comments

    Archives

    November 2019
    June 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013

    Categories

    All
    Events
    Local History
    Museum Exhibit
    National History
    People
    State History



    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @ChudnowMuseum
Web Hosting by ReadyHosting