In the 1930s, the Great Depression was a time when Americans had food front and foremost in their minds and were worrying about it every day. Due to limited funds and government imposed food rationing, the Depression-era cook had to learn to work with what little they had in the kitchen. Homemakers created cakes without flour and eggs, and they also made pie crusts from crackers. And meat was notable scarce - even if you raised your own livestock (as you wouldn’t want to eat your profits). Many recipes from this era used rice, beans, and cheese instead of meat as they didn’t require an icebox, let alone a refrigerator. Nutritionists placed a tremendous importance on milk, and many people included this in their recipes.
Many people had to stretch every dollar and pinch every penny to get the most food for their buck during difficult economic times. Here are seven recipes that may seem strange today, but were regular features at mealtime during the Depression Era.
- Poor Man’s Meal
Because potatoes and hot dogs were so inexpensive, many means included either or both ingredients. In the video below, 91 year old Clara (who lived through the Depression) walks her viewers through the process of making the Poor Man’s Meal: peel and cube a potato, fry it in a pan with oil and chopped onions, then add slices of hot dog.
- Creamed Chipped Beef
Affectionately called S.O.S (“Sh*t on a Shingle” or “Save Our Stomachs”), this dish made with dried and salted beef was an easy and cheap dish that originated in Eastern Pennsylvania Dutch Country, New Jersey, and the Mid-Atlantic. It was also a staple of the U.S. military during World War I (and World War II). To make it yourself, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pot over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of flour to make a roux. Slowly whisk 1.5 cups of milk until it thickens and boils. Then add 8 ounces of dried beef and serve over toast
- Hoover Stew
Hoovervilles, shantytowns that sprang up during the Depression, weren’t the only things named after our 31st president. Hoover Stew was the soup from soup kitchens or similar thin broths. One recipe calls for one 16 ounce box of noodles, like macaroni or spaghetti. While that’s cooking on the stove, slice hot dogs into a round shape. Drain the pasta when it’s almost done and add in the sliced hot dogs. Add two cans of stewed tomatoes and one can of corn or peas to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until the pasta is finished cooking.
- Egg Drop Soup
In another cooking how to, Clara tells us how to make Egg Drop Soup as she remembers a story about her brother. Peel and dice a potato and an onion, then slowly brown them in a pot with oil until soft. Add bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Once browned, add half a pot of water to the mix to make broth and simmer on the stove. Add more salt and pepper to taste. While boiling, crack two eggs into the pot and stir until scrambled. Add two more eggs into the soup until the yolk hardens. Add cheese and serve over toast.
- Corned Beef Luncheon Salad
In the 1930s, gelatin was a modern, cutting edge food. Dishes like Corned Beef Luncheon Salad—which consisted of canned corned beef, plain gelatin, canned peas, vinegar, lemon juice, and occasionally cabbage—were very popular and inexpensive to make. According to Andy Coe, the co-author of A Square Meal, the recipe was just "wrong in every possible way" when compared with today’s modern tastes and palate.
- Frozen Fruit Salad
Usually served during the holiday season, Frozen Fruit salad was made with canned fruit cocktail, egg yolks, honey, and whipping cream. For the time, the recipe was a relative luxury and made an appearance only at the most special occasions.
- Spaghetti with Carrots and White Sauce
One of the foods that Eleanor Roosevelt and the home economics programs in schools was Spaghetti with Boiled Carrots and White Sauce. It was cooked for 25 minutes to a mushy texture and combined with carrots cooked until they are incredibly soft. Then, the white sauce, a sauce which was poured over everything for budget meals, was made with a mixture of milk, flour, salt, butter, and pepper. Then, mix all the ingredients in a tray and bake into a casserole.
This was a very interesting choice of topic! I like the thorough explanations of what the food was and what its origin was, and the links for more information. While we focused on what the poorest of the poor ate, we didn't read about the food that the average person was eating. This blog post helps us understand more about the way people got by during the Great Depression. Another interesting factor of food during the Great Depression is the length farmers went to to keep food on the table. They would work nonstop, hunting whatever they could. https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_04.html
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a unique blog post. The descriptions of what occasions the dishes would be served on really helped me to understand how the diets of people changed during this time in order to adjust to the financial circumstances they faced. Also, I am curious about whether or not people's diets varied depending on the area of the country they lived in. For example whether or not where they lived affected their access to vegetables or to meat? Did you encounter any information like this in your research? Thanks again for the great post!
ReplyDeleteInteresting question! Of course, every area has some unique recipes and diets based on what foods were available. For example, more rural areas had access to fresher fruits and vegetables from their farms while more urban areas had more canned and preservable items for long shelf lives. There are a few more examples in this article from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/dining/great-depression-food-square-meal-book.html
DeleteFood is one of the most basic necessities to human survival, so uncovering how food was impacted during this time period is extremely interesting and rather important to note. As inferred from your post, the changing economic structure and stability of the country negatively impacted even the most basic things such as one's meals. I wonder how significantly conflicts with food changed people's morale in comparison to other factors. Also, which social classes of people were impacted by this? Were some groups of people impacted more than others?
ReplyDeleteElise, this is an awesome blog post! I think it really helps to capture the desperation of an average American during the time period. It is a really unique way to describe the details of the Great Depression while personalizing the experience for the American people. You mentioned that gelatin was a new thing at this time period- which I found to be very interesting. Indeed, although Jello emerged int he early 1900s (and history shows that it was available even before then) the war and the Great Depression impacted the Jello industry. During WW1, sugar sale and Jello sales were rationed, but in the 1920s and 30s, the sales soared. The Depression made it so families would have to stretch their supplies, and gelatin allowed them to preserve and add taste to their food. Gelatin was a huge part of the Great Depression diet, but with time, its consumption continued to change.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/history-of-jell-o-salad.html
This is such an interesting post. I realize that many Americans were starving during this time, however it is really cool that they managed to make such interesting dishes with what they had. None of these recipes do seem that bad. Apparently, it was during the depression that Kraft Mac and Cheese was born and even Eleanor Roosevelt attempted to promote many of the dishes during the era. As a result, in the White House, some of these Great Depression dishes were served.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ranker.com/list/food-during-the-great-depression/kellen-perry
I like how you chose to display the Great Depression through a different aspect. When we know the depression to one of the greatest economic drops in US history you chose to display it through a lighter and more positive way. As well as show the different ways families had to adapt to the decline in money but still have enough to eat.
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