Several years ago, I posted some menus from the Order of the Eastern Star, from meetings held in Connecticut in 1950, simply because I’m interested in what people eat in different times and places. Here are two more. The first is from the Official Visitation of Mrs. Clara C. Huntley, Worthy Grand Matron, and Associate […]

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Bottoms Up billed itself as “The Paper for People Who Drink… and Eat” and “Long Island’s Favorite Tavern Weekly.” It was edited by Ted Kay, of Roosevelt, NY; I haven’t been able to find out more about him. The issues I’ve seen are from 1957, and run 8 or 10 pages. They consist mostly of […]

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I recently picked up a copy of the Rumford Complete Cook Book, by Lily Haxworth Wallace, published in 1934 by the Rumford Company. Many of the recipes are standard, presented so they can be made with the company’s brand of baking powder. Like many older cookbooks, however, there are some unfamiliar offerings: Marmalade Pudding, Cornstarch […]

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I found this tear sheet in an old copy of Treasure Island. The header reads “The Red-Headed Periodical”; a search only yields one hit, as a subtitle to Ziff’s Magazine, a joke magazine published by William B. Ziff. So maybe that’s where it came from. Here’s the recipe, for those summer parties. (Posted by Doug […]

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Guillaume Apollinaire, in his preface to a French edition of Fanny Hill, offered a look at dinner in that period. He may have paraphrased it from the book (I never read it); at any rate, here it is, in my translation. Here is a description of a fine English dinner in the month of June. […]

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Let us sing the simple radish, Always chic but never faddish, Sing its praise and not its kaddish, Let us sing the simple radish. Radishes are tasty, inexpensive, crunchy, high in vitamins, and low in calories.  Naturally, this makes them unpopular in the US, where people prefer bland and fatty foods.  Radishes have played an […]

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The Ullage Group has long been fascinated by changing customs in diet. Foods go in and out of fashion; what we eat is telling. I have here two menus from meetings of the Order of the Eastern Star, both from September 1950, both from Connecticut. The Eastern Star was founded as an order for wives […]

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I had always thought “imitation butter” was margarine; that is, a spread that imitates butter’s oleaginous properties, and could be substituted if butter was unavailable, or too expensive. This simple gag item, however, reminds me that butter has other qualities as well: in this case, the shape and color. Greasiness is immaterial, because it’s not […]

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The recent neologism “locavore,” meaning “one who eats local food,” has caused some confusion.  Its spelling is not yet standardized; one often sees the variant “locovore.”  Those wishing to use the word are paralyzed by indecision, unsure what to put for that fourth letter. To solve this problem, I propose that “locovore” be treated as […]

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Cold weather is here; now is the time to relax in a comfortable chair with a hot beverage.  May we recommend the Ullage Group Toddy?  It’s a simple drink: ginger tea, honey, and brandy.  We cannot guarantee that we were the first to combine those ingredients (ginger and brandy are, after all, soulmates), but we […]

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