How Did Our Ancestors Eat? Part 1

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      Family, food, faith, fashion, friends and furnishings. These were assumed to be the only topics of interest women had in the 1880s and ‘90s. President Grover Cleveland was hardly alone in his firm belief that “a woman should not bother her head about political parties and public questions.”

  But advertisers realized women made most of the household purchasing decisions, so they wanted them reading the newspaper. The “Women’s Pages” were born. To me, the recipes and menus are fascinating. They are a glimpse of how our ancestors ate. Some of the menus and recipes were probably aspirational. One thing I’ve learned is how much bread and cornmeal mush people ate, and how prevalent molasses was in their diet.When was the last time you poured some molasses on your food? It is also interesting how much the mid-day meal was the big meal, and that supper was so light. The word “luncheon” did not begin substituting for “dinner,” until about 1910.

       I stumbled upon three menus that were not on women’s pages. They were specialty menus, one for tight budgets, one for vegetarians and one for prisoners. The prisoner menu sent me on a deep dive into the institutional fare of the day – the almshouse and the orphanage in addition to prisons. They constitute a separate blog post.

  Here’s a two-day sample from the budget menu. See if this would suit your family today:

 

Budget Menu

 

Sunday morning – Corn and Graham bread, sweet milk, cooked fruit

Sunday dinner – Barley soup, chicken roast (if they are cheap), boiled potatoes, beans, bread and cooked fruit

Sunday supper – warm corn and Graham bread, sweet milk and fruit

 

Monday morning – Light biscuit two days old, Graham bread, sweet milk and water, two eggs per person when they are cheap, and fruits.

Monday dinner – Pork, beans, potatoes and corn and graham bread and fruits.

Monday supper – Mush and milk, potatoes, Graham bread and fruits

 

  These menus were typical of what I saw through this two-decade long period – a hearty lunch (“dinner”) mid-day and a light repast in the evening. “Graham” was capitalized because it was named after Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer Sylvester Graham. Yes, we do get “graham crackers” thanks to Rev. Graham. He is considered the “Father of Vegetarianism” in the U.S.

  The vegetarian menu isn’t a menu per se; it’s a list of suggestions. Vegetarianism was regarded as something for “crackpots,” to use the language of the day.

 

Vegetarian Menu Suggestions:

 

Breakfast – mush with milk or syrup, graham gems or bread, griddle cakes, corn bread, Johnny cakes, stewed fruit, fresh or canned fruit according to season, baked apples, potatoes, beets, parsnips, stewed celery, potatoes, rice, fried apple fritters, salsify or oyster plant, potatoes, onions

Dinner – Carrot, celery, pea, bean, rice, tomato or vegetable soup. Omelette, plain or varied with macaroni, bread crumbs, etc. Roasted potatoes, green corn on the ear, stewed celery, potatoes, canned corn, tomatoes, boiled lima beans, either green or dry; green peas, asparagus salsify, squash. Fruits according to season. Apple or other fruit puddings. Ripe fruit and nuts.

Supper – Omelette or beet sandwiches, moulded [sic] rice and preserved fruit; fried mush, onions, potatoes; gems, cakes, puddings, fruit; ripe in season; stewed prunes; baked apples, peas, figs and dates.

 

  I have to wonder what the beet sandwiches were like. For the breakfast suggestions, that wasn’t a typo -- potatoes were listed three times.

 

Sources:

 

  “Vegetarian Cookery,” The People’s Press (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 25 April 1889, p. 4.

  “A Model Cheap Bill of Fare,” St. Joseph Gazette (St. Joseph, Missouri), 17 Feb 1881, p. 2.


Copyright Andrea Auclair © 2022

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