From the great depression to post-war boom
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
We continue our five-part series on Emporia recipes from the past 150 years with a look at the 1930s and ’40s. The recipes and personal notes below were researched and provided by Brenda Lavington and Linda Keller of the Lyon County Historical Society Archives.
America had a hard time in the 1930’s with the depression, the dust bowl and the rumbles of war from Europe. While Kansas was spared the worst of the dust bowl and subsequent mass migration, the fact that the national per capita income plummeted 40 percent in the first two years of the decade did not help. Generally, if you wanted to eat, you needed to grow it and preserve it.
In the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of people “rode the rails” — even women and children. These people would barter a service (yard work, harvesting/planting, basic repairs) in exchange for food or a bed for the night. The early 1940s saw ration books, grease collections and Victory Gardens, as well as women leaving the home to work in factories or volunteer for the war effort.
There was a whole lot of group eating going on during the war. Socializing was very important since so many people were missing parts of their families. By January of 1942 America knew their food was going to be rationed, and slogans like “Can Because You Can,” “Food is Ammunition — Don’t Waste It,” and “Use Cornmeal; It Saves Wheat” made it pretty clear that a little group cooperation was needed.
Many organizations set up public food services during the war. One was the Red Cross, which set up canteens wherever needed and especially at train stations (like the Santa Fe Depot). Canteen volunteers worked daily securing supplies, preparing food and drinks, setting up facilities, and serving the troops. They also provided snacks at wartime blood donor centers.
After the war, the men returned with a widened world view. Many went to college, and did not return to farming. Many women did not return to the kitchens. Prosperity allowed the hiring of cooks for family meals, the purchase of prepared foodstuffs, and the luxury of eating out! Cooking at home moved from making something out of nothing to a cornucopia of prepackaged, ready to eat options.
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Granddaughter of Richard & Sarah Howe and daughter of John and Sarah, our Sarah was born in 1905. She taught school in Emporia for many years, and was the third generation to live in the Howe house, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Richard was a Welsh stonemason, and he completed his new home, built of native Kansas limestone, in 1867. It was occupied for 140 years by three generations of the Howe family and was often a gathering place for their fellow Welsh countrymen and women.
Sarah Howe died in 1994, leaving her property to the Lyon County Historical Society. This recipe is from a cookbook in Nina West’s possession, dated 1934, and published by Emporia’s First Congregational Church.
SARAH HOWE’S
EVERLASTING MEAT BALLS
1/2 lb. fresh pork shoulder, ground
1/2 lb. beef, ground
2 cups cracker crumbs
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. pepper
dash celery salt
2 cups tomatoes
1 onion
Mix thoroughly all the above ingredients with the exception of the tomatoes and onion. Shape in small balls and roll in flour. Saute balls in heavy iron or aluminum frying pan until brown, and cover with the tomato and chopped onion. Season sauce and allow to simmer 45 minutes.
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Margaret Rees was one of William L. Rees’s daughters (one of her sisters married Harry Fowler). She graduated from Emporia Teachers College in 1936 where she specialized in home economics, Latin, and chemistry. She was active in several clubs, including the Latin Club, Home Economics Club and YWCA. After graduation Margaret taught home economics in Sedan, and like Ruth Morgan, below, her recipe also received the endorsement of Better Homes and Gardens in 1936.
MARGARET REES’
LEMON PIE
1 lemon
2 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar
8 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. butter
Pare the yellow rind from the lemon and boil the water until the water turns yellow. Remove the rind from the water. Squeeze the juice from the lemon. Mix the sugar, flour, and salt and add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Return to the stove and cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. Stir a little of the hot mixture gradually into the egg yolks, return to the remaining hot mixture and cook 3 minutes longer. Add the lemon juice and butter. Place in a previously baked pastry shell and cover with a meringue.
MARGARET’S PASTRY
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. shortening
about 2 Tbsp. cold water
Sift the flour with the salt. Work in the shortening with a pastry blender. Gradually add the ice water and mix lightly until the pastry holds together. Roll thin on a floured surface and fit into pie pan. Bake in hot oven (425 degrees) until nicely browned.
MARGARET’S MERINGUE
1 Tbsp. water
3 egg white
3 Tbsp. sugar
Add the water to the egg whites and beat until stiff. Add 1 Tbsp. of the sugar and continue beating. Add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff and fine-grained. Spread over the pie filling and bake in a slow oven (325 degrees) about 20 minutes or until delicately browned.
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Adalyn Wood of Muskogee, Okla., married Harry W. Glass in 1910. He managed JCPenney stores in Nevada, Wyoming and Kansas where, in 1920, he opened one in Emporia on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and Commercial Street. In 1931, he became actively associated with the Columbia Building and Loan Association he helped organize in 1927. Harry was the first president and a charter member of Kiwanis Club, and a member of the draft board, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and all Masonic bodies.
One can only assume that Adalyn made this chicken salad for more than one women’s luncheon as she entertained all of Harry’s business contacts and club members. This recipe is from the First Congregational Church’s “Congregational Cook Book,” (1934) which is from the collection of Nina West.
ADALYN GLASS’S
CHICKEN SALAD
1/2 pound almonds blanched
1 fat hen
3 stalks celery
Cook chicken until tender. Have quart of stock. Cut celery, chicken and almonds lengthwise. Mix all together, add cooked salad dressing with pimentos, chopped. Serve on lettuce leaf.
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Ruth Morgan was the daughter of William J. and Edna Morgan. Her father owned Morgan Packing company which was located south of Soden’s Grove on the Cottonwood River. Ruth submitted this recipe to The Gazette in 1936 saying that it was “Endorsed by Better Homes and Gardens.” Ruth married Llewellyn Rees in 1943.
RUTH MORGAN’S MARSHMALLOW
CHOCOLATE CAKE
16 marshmallows
2 squares chocolate
1/2 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2 beaten eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt marshmallows and chocolate in double boiler; add hot water and beat to a smooth paste; cool. Sift together dry ingredients. Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy; add cream and stir until smooth; fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Carefully fold in chocolate marshmallow paste with the vanilla. Bake in two 8x8x2-inch pans in a moderate over (375 degrees) 30 minutes.
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Irene Germann worked as a nurse in Emporia for many years, including defense work during World War II. When she was a freshman at Emporia High School, Mary White was her “big sister” (a group of older students who aided freshman girls). Daughter of Lyon County stockman F.E. Burton, Irene married George Germann, a truck gardener who, incidentally, reported in 1940 that he was roasting ears of sweet corn by the Fourth of July — an early season.
IRENE GERMANN’S
SOUR CREAM PIE
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped raisins
4 eggs separated and beaten separately
1/2 tsp. cloves
Combine ingredients except for three egg whites. Cook in double boiler until thick and put in previously baked crust. Top with the three egg whites beaten and brown in oven.
To make the crust, Irene used one part shortening to two parts flour, a teaspoon of salt for each crust and dampens with cold milk instead of water. For meringue, beat the egg whites until the consistency is dry enough to turn the bowl upside down before adding sugar. This makes the topping brown better and it stays up in peaks better.