What did people in the 1930's eat?

Question

I'm doing an english project on To Kill A Mockingbird, and I need to know what people in the 1930's ate, how they got it (i.e. grow it, buy it (how much?), get if from others, etc.), how much did they eat, when did they eat, etc. If you have any info please let me know, or give me some websites to look it up on. Thanks!

Answer 1

As with people today, people ate differently, depending on their circumstances. "To Kill a Mockingbird" takes place in Alabama in a rural town; my mother (born in 1928) grew up near a similar small town in Texas, with forebears who came from Alabama. They lived on a farm, and although their "cash" crop was about a hundred acres of cotton, they grew most of their own food - vegetables (corn, potatoes, black-eyed peas, sweet peas, melons, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, onions, turnips and their greens, beets, etc.), hogs, chickens (for meat and for eggs), a few cattle (for meat and for milk and butter), grapes, apples, peaches, etc. They bought things like flour and corn meal in town to make bread, and bought cheese from larger farms that had larger dairy herds. I have my grandmother's cookbook from the period, and it's clear which recipes she used for biscuits, pies, cakes, etc., because those are the pages that have the most smudges on them! "Town folks" would buy their food from farmers at vegetables stands, or from small grocers in town.

For a farmer, breakfast and lunch were the big meals of the day - they ate a diet high in fat for energy needed to work the farm. "Town folks" were starting to eat more as we do now - with a larger meal in the evening, but grocery stores such as we have now just didn't exist. Farm families during the depression generally ate better than town folk, simply because they COULD grow their own food; they had to economize in terms of things like clothing or household goods, but food was definitely available out in the country.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What did people in the 1930's eat?
I'm doing an english project on To Kill A Mockingbird, and I need to know what people in the 1930's ate, how they got it (i.e. grow it, buy it (how much?), get if from others, etc.), how much did they eat, when did they eat, etc. If you have any info please let me know, or give me some...

Answer 3

(other humans because it was the Depression) Actually, they ate vegetables, usually boiled, there were milk deliveries left outside on the doorstep, a lot of boiled meat, chicken and beef. Turnips and beans and peas were grown, and eaten. Italians grew tomatoes, and there were butcher shops. Ice was delivered in blocks, to keep things cool. It was normal for the day. And pork was eaten, although usually with gravy.
Potatoes, cabbage, greens, and meat, with milk and water. And breads and pies were also made. They ate in the late afternoon, usually by five for the children, and if the working adults came home later, they ate later.

Answer 4

Hey I'm here for the first time. I found this question and I find the replies truly useful. I'm hoping to give something back and help others too.

Answer 5

Rocks. This was during the depression and dust bowl era and all people had to eat was boiled rocks. They soften up after six or seven hours of boiling and the broth is delicious.
Seriously, they ate much the same as people do today, except there were no tv dinners or microwave foods.

Answer 6

Fruits are identified as ripened flower ovaries which produce seeds.

Answer 7

like both, fruits: berries, oranges, pears, peaches, dragonfruit, pomegranate.... Vegetables: CUCUMBERS, bok choy, green beans, broccoli,.... We guess the two are great.

Answer 8

Most likely food. lol. They ate heavy foods like steak, mashed potatoes,beans and raw foods like corn, apples, turnups and onions and stuff because money was scarse so they needed to buy and eat whatever was sufficient for their nutrition for long periods of time.

Answer 9

potatos, apples, biscuits, very inexpensive food. (the depression being the reason for that)

gravy on everything. bread crumbs. nothing wasted ever!

soup.

(anything we would eat today if we were dirt poor) aside from all of the packaged foods that we have today.

Answer 10

Aside from the obvious lack of microwavable popcorn and ready to eat meals food in the 1930's was not all that different from today.
Canned foods were definitely taking hold of America during the 1930's ;; canned stews, basic vegeatables such as corn, greenbeans, and spinach, the Popeye Cartoons were the rage in the thirties and if you recall Popeye popping open a can of spinach and gulping it down.
In the South the basics would be Grits, often with a brown gravy. Pork was the people's food; bacon usually came in a large chunk, not pre sliced, but a big chunk that one took home and sliced to their preference. Despite some of the hokum splattered among the answers (thus far) there were a variety of ways that people cooked. Most people had gas stoves, some had electric, maybe in some rural enclaves an old wood burning stove was used, but still people could and did bake, boil, fry their food.
Again in The South a staple would be chicken and tradition would require a Chicken Dinner on Sunday nights, usually a whole bird baked in the oven. Aside from Sunday, fried chicken was a staple South & Nrth. Fried Chicken was a practical food; in an era when refrigeration was a challenge, fried chicken could survive several days without spoiling. A picnic basket of fried chicken was often packed up for the children to munch on at a later time. Ham is another 'durable' cooked food that one can wrap in a cloth and then inside paper, and it would last days without refrigeration.
In the South biscuits were an easy food to prepare. Good ole Bisquit pre-made biscuit mix was available so the busy housewife just needed to add water & egss. Eggs were another biggie in an era with limited refrigeration. Boil up a batch of eggs, wrap in a towel,stash them in the picnic basket and one was good to go.
During the 1930's (actually dating back to the teens and even to this day) but Especially in the 1930's people ate a lot of Spaghetti; a quick easy to make food, canned tomatos and tomato sause readilly available, spaghetti was one of those things one could count on if they were dining at a resteraunt.
Other common food would be soups, stews, and chili. Beans have always been a reliable food. A lot of homes would keep a pot of navy beans bubbling on a back burner.

There was only one 'supermarket' chain during the 1930's - - - A & P. Most people purchased their meat items from a butcher store of even a pushcart in a marketplae, while their canned goods & grains were purchased at The Grocer. Most homeowners grew vegeatbles in a garden plot, a chore for the children to maintain, but vegetables were also obtained from Grocers or again most towns had a market place where people sold items from their carts (again focusing on the south).

Tiring of writing I'll include a few links for you - - -


http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#1930s
http://www.foodtimeline.org/

http://www.geocities.com/foodedge/timeline.htm
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/30sfood.htm
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,1930s_southern_food,FF.html

And a quick list of goodies that were introduced during the 1930's

1930, Birds Eye Frosted Foods
1930, Bisquick
1930, Jiffy Biscuit Mix
1930, Lime Jell-O
1930, Mott's Apple Sauce
1930, Snickers
1930, Toll House cookies
1930, Twinkies
1930, sliced Wonder Bread
1931, Alka-Seltzer
1931, Beech-Nut baby food
1931, Cryst-O-Mint Life Savers
1931, dehydrated onion
1931, The Joy of Cooking,
Irma S. Rombauer
1931, Reed's Butterscotch candy
1931, Tootsie Pop
1932, 3 Musketeers bar
1932, bagel
1932, corn chips
1932, Heath bar
1932, Jell-O chocolate pudding
1932, Skippy peanut butter
1933, Budweiser Clydesdales
1933, canned pineapple juice
1933, Lithiated Lemon renamed
7-Up
1933, Prohibition ends
1933, Sunsweet prune juice
1933, V8 Juice
1933, Waldorf salad
1934, Campbell's chicken noodle
1934, Campbell's cream of
mushroom
1934, Ritz crackers
1934, Sugar Daddy
1935, 5 flavors Life Savers
1935, Adolph's Meat Tenderizer
1935, Friendly Ice Cream restaurant
1935, Realemon lemon juice
1935, Royal Crown cola
1935, Sugar Babies
1936, Dom Pérignon champagne
1936, Elsie the Cow (Borden)
1936, 5th Avenue bar
1936, Girl Scout cookies
1936, Mars Bar
1936, Waring blender
1937, A & P Supermarket
1937, Good 'n Plenty
1937, Kit Kat bar
1937, Kix cereal
1937, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
Dinner
1937, Pepperidge Farm Bread
1937, Ragu Spaghetti Sauce
1937, Rolo candy
1937, shopping cart
1937, Smarties
1937, Spam
1938, Bumble Bee tuna
1938, Hershey Krackel bar
1938, Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1938, Mott's apple juice
1938, Nescafé, first instant coffee
1938, Nestlé Crunch bar
1938, Teflon
1939, food stamps
1939, Lay's potato chips
1939, Nestlé chocolate chip
1939, pressure cooker
1939, Sara Lee cheese cake

and a few prices for you ---
These are some of the things you may have seen advertised Below and how much food and groceries were in the 30's

Shoulder of Ohio Spring lamb 17 cents per pound Ohio 1932

Sliced Baked Ham 39 cents per pound Ohio 1932

Dozen Eggs 18 Cents Ohio 1932

Coconut Macaroons 27 cents per pound Ohio 1932

Bananas 19 cents for 4 Pounds Ohio 1932

Peanut Butter 23 cents QT Ohio 1932

Bran Flakes 10 cents Maryland 1939

Jumbo Sliced Loaf of Bread 5 cents Maryland 1939

Spinich 5 cents a pound Maryland 1939

Clifton Toilet Tissue 9 cents for 2 rolls Ohio 1932

Camay Soap 6 cents bar Ohio 1932

Cod Liver Oil 44 cents pint Wisconsin 1933

Tooth paste 27 cents Wisconsin 1933

Lux Laundry Soap 22 cents Indiana 1935

Suntan Oil 25 cents Pennsylvania 1938

Talcum Powder 13 cents Maryland 1939

Noxzema Medicated Cream for Pimples 49 cents Texas 1935

Applesauce 20 cents for 3 cans New Jersey

Bacon, 38 cents per pound New Jersey

Bread, white, 8 cents per loaf New Jersey

Ham, 27 cents can New Jersey

Ketchup, 9 cents New Jersey

Lettuce, iceberg, 7 cents head New Jersey

Potatoes, 18 cents for 10 pounds New Jersey

Sugar, 49 cents for 10 pounds New Jersey

Soap, Lifebuoy, 17 cents for 3 bars New Jersey

Sugar $1.25 per 25LB Sack Ohio 1932

Pork and Beans 5 cents can Ohio 1932

Oranges 14 for 25 cents Ohio 1932

Chuck Roast 15 cents per pound Ohio 1932

White Potatoes 19 cents for 10LBs Ohio 1932

Heinz Beans 13 cents for 25oz can Ohio 1932

Spring Chickens 20 cents per pound Ohio 1932

Wieners 8 cents per pound Ohio 1932

Best Steak 22 cents per pound Ohio 1935

Pure lard 15 cents per pound Wisconsin 1935

Hot Cross Buns 16 Cents per dozen Texas 1939

Campbells Tomato Soup 4 cans for 25 cents Indiana 1937

Oranges 2 dozen 25 cents Indiana 1937

Kellogs Corn Flakes 3 Pkgs 25 cents Indiana 1937

Mixed Nuts 19 Cents per pound Indiana 1937

Pork Loin Roast 15 cents per pound Indiana 1937

Channel Cat Fish 28 cents per pound Missouri 1938

Fresh Peas 4 cents per pound Maryland 1939

Cabbage 3 cents per pound Maryland 1939

Sharp Wisconsin Cheese 23 cents per pound Maryland 1939





Peace