Here are a few excerpts from a hundred-year-old article about vitamins and colds.

Have vitamins anything to do with one’s immunity to colds? Through some years of watching the needs of a family, in dietetics, and in nursing, I have concluded that they have.

In the days when the real necessity for raw foods was unknown, when fruits were cooked for winter serving and we used canned vegetables, colds were very common. The longing for spring and fresh things was almost irresistible. The one really well person in the house was great grandma who never left her chair, ate only what she liked, but who always had her morning orange, her cream, and fresh laid eggs. We went through many dense years, fighting through the winter, to spring.

When the children went to college, a wonderful inspiration made me insist that, while there, they ate freely of apples and oranges, to break up the concentrated diet. Soon, the young people joined Grandma in the ranks of those who took few colds.

The children have graduated, but they stick to their love for fresh fruits and salads, and quickly throw off contagion.

Abridged from American Cookery (March, 1922)

Parents both now and a hundred years ago sometime have difficulty getting their children to drink milk. The 1922 edition of Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries had the following tips:

The December, 1921 issue of Ladies Home Journal had several “little forest people” drawings that could be cut out. and used as Christmas decoration or for holiday table place cards. Here’s one I thought you might enjoy.

MERRY CHRISTIMAS

A hundred years ago home economics textbooks sometimes had “Christmas Lessons” where the students learned how to make candy. One book recognized that “small children are better without candy. . . ” before moving on to describing how to make candy.

This lesson reminds me of another lesson that I did a post on several years ago. That lesson was on making candy gift boxes.

How to Make a Triangular Candy (Gift) Box

A hundred years ago, a group of women in Long Beach California belonged to a “Feeding the Family” club. It was organized by the local public schools. There were many similar clubs throughout the U.S. at that time. Here is what a 1921 magazine article said about the Long Beach group:

“Feeding the Family” Club

Women are waking up to the fact that upon their shoulders rests the responsibility of having a healthier nation. Too many people are dying of avoidable diseases. Rich foods have taken more toll of life than war and pestilence, dieticians tell us. More and more stress is being placed upon diet – not for the sick only, but for those in good health, that they may preserve it. By diet we mean the proper combinations of foods and the scientific uses of vitamins, starches, proteins and acids.  What we need is more than a reading acquaintance with those subjects.

A certain group of women in Long Beach , Calif. have decided that the acquisition of knowledge concerning food properties is the only way to better living for their families. They have grouped together under the name of the “Feeding the Family” Club, and under the leadership of the head of the department of domestic science of the public schools, they meet on Wednesday evening each week for two hours to learn how to prepare healthful, nourishing meals for the average family.

There sixteen women in the group, representing fifty-six persons, most of whom are children in school. Think what it means to those children to have mothers who are vitally interested in seeing them grow up to be strong, virile men and women. “Knowledge makes Power” aye, the knowledge of the mothers of today makes for the powerful citizens of tomorrow.

American Cookery (November, 1921)

The November, 1921 issue of American Cookery provided four menu options for Thanksgiving meals:

• Three course dinner for small family in a servantless house
• A simple company dinner of six courses
• A formal company dinner. Eight courses
• Elaborate formal dinner. Ten courses

My Thanksgiving meals clearly lean toward the three course option (though with turkey instead of chicken) – but if I could get in a time machine and go back a hundred years, I’d head to a house serving the ten course meal.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Here’s how a 1921 home economics textbook describes a high-quality pie:

A pie should have a light, flaky, tender crust that is thoroughly baked. Pie crust must be chewed thoroughly, since even the best is hard to digest. It is easier to make tender pie crust from pastry flour because that contains less gluten and more starch than bread flour. Bread flour may be used, however. Many kinds of fat are used in pie crust, such as lard, butter, vegetable fats and oils. Fat make the crust “short” and flaky, and is often called “shortening.” The crust is made tender by careful handling, and by folding and rolling several times so that air is folded into the dough. This air, and the steam formed from the water used in the mixture, expand the dough during baking and make the pie crust light.

Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews