After baking the Upside Down Cake recipe featured in the October 1926 issue of The Farmer’s Wife (HERE), I became curious about the history of this type of cake. In the mid-1920s, The Hawaiian Pineapple Company owned by James Dole held a recipe contest featuring pineapple. Information about the contest was publicized in popular women’s […]
Hello, again History Lovers! In my post from a week ago “Cooking With Ida” we were guided through the process of making homemade yeast bread–an essential task for rural farm women in the 1920s. My husband’s mother, born in 1925, was an avid bread baker as well while raising her family of seven children from […]
Hello, again History Lovers, Today’s article is another example of the hard work and ingenuity farm women demonstrated while supplementing their family farm income. Mrs. Alta Dunn uses her cooking and baking skills to establish a catering business in a small western town. Quality products and fair pricing are of supreme importance to her. Mrs. […]
Thanksgiving Blessing Mix is not a new idea. Many variations can be found on the internet, but I would like to share the recipe that I have used for the past twenty years. Printed in a charming cookbook titled Sweet Surprises for the Holidays 1997, each ingredient is a reminder of the sacrifices made by […]
Hello, again History Lovers, Today a farm woman from Wisconsin shares the two pictures she would love to own, both of which have implied lessons for the beholder. The first picture represents the three greatest things in life–love, work, and religion. The second painting depicts a high ideal in manhood and womanhood. Both are lovely. […]
Hello, again History Lovers! In my post from a week ago “Cooking With Ida” we were guided through the process of making homemade yeast bread–an essential task for rural farm women in the 1920s. My husband’s mother, born in 1925, was an avid bread baker as well while raising her family of seven children from […]
Hello, again History Lovers, Every once in a while an article comes along that fairly jumps off the page with enthusiasm and character. So it is with this article submitted by Martha Elizabeth (sadly no last name nor where she was from was given) to The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women in 1922. With […]
Hello Friends! In the following grocery ads from 1921, we not only find traditional Thanksgiving ingredients such as canned pumpkin, oysters, celery, and cranberries but there are great prices on enamel roasters that “make the old hen taste like a spring chicken” as well as aluminum cake pans, pie plates and measuring cups. For something […]
Hello, again History Lovers, By 1922 Sara Jane Patton, Home Demonstration Agent from Center Star, Kansas had established a thriving organization among the women of that area. Their home-arts work meetings were so well attended that the club had outgrown the ability to meet in folks’ homes. Club members wanted to also add dinners and […]
Hello, again History Lovers, An editorial published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women May 1921 casts light on the emotional struggles of Americans who suffered significantly following the Civil War. Not only mourning their dead, their loss of property, and their lifestyle many languished with bitter feelings toward their recent enemy. This editorial […]
“What the self-starter did for the automobile, Atwater Kent One Dial operation is doing for Radio.” Christmas Ad 1926 Hello Friends! Just like today, technology was at the top of everyone’s holiday wish list in 1926. Every family–farm families included–hoped that Santa would deliver a radio set to their home. By then radios were wireless […]
Grocery Shopping in the 1920s Hello Friends! Grocery Ads this week offer various sweeteners from granulated sugar, sorghum syrup (similar to molasses), and maple-flavored pancake syrup. Cake flour and all-purpose flours are on sale just in time for holiday baking. Langlie’s meat department has several pork products in their ad. Dolva’s Cash Grocery has sweet […]
Hello, again History Lovers, A farm woman from Illinois responds to the request put out by The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women in March of 1923 for letters regarding the Two Pictures I Would Like Best To Own. Her first choice depicts the Bible story of young Jesus teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. […]
Hello History Lovers! Since many rural families didn’t get electricity until well into the 1930s, folks who had electricity on their farms in the early twenties were very modern. In January 1922, speaking on behalf of his wife as well as himself, Mr. Harper Christensen submitted an article to The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm […]