THE HISTORY CHEF!: November 2015

Friday, November 20, 2015

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Depression and the Thanksgiving Day Date-Change Fiasco

So did you know that in 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to move Thanksgiving Day forward by a week? Rather than allow the holiday to fall on its traditional date, the last Thursday of November, Roosevelt issued a proclamation declaring that the holiday would instead be celebrated a week earlier.

Why did he make such a seemingly random decision in the midst of the Great Depression? Well, his reason was economic and intended to extend the Christmas shopping season. According to the Wall Street Journal:

There were five Thursdays in November that year, which meant that Thanksgiving would fall on the 30th. That left just 20 shopping days till Christmas. By moving the holiday up a week to Nov. 23, the president hoped to give the economy a lift by allowing shoppers more time to make their purchases and—so his theory went—spend more money...

In an informal news conference in August announcing his decision, FDR offered a little tutorial on the history of the holiday. Thanksgiving was not a national holiday, he noted, meaning that it was not set by federal law. According to custom, it was up to the president to pick the date every year.

It was not until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln ordered Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November, that that date became generally accepted, Roosevelt explained. To make sure that reporters got his point, he added that there was nothing sacred about the date...

Just as he had done with his controversial "Court Packing" plan of 1937, Roosevelt badly misjudged public opinion. Outraged protests began in Plymouth, Massachussetts, the place of the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621, but quickly spread to other circles.

PRESIDENT SHOCKS FOOTBALL COACHES: Many Games are Upset by Thanksgiving Plan, read a banner headline in the New York Times. And even in the staunchly Democratic state of Arkansas, the football coach of Little Ouachita College threatened: 'We'll vote the Republican ticket if he interferes with our football.'"

Of course, some collegiate coaches and athletic directors were more diplomatic. In a letter to the president's secretary, Philip Badger, Chairman of the University Board of Athletic Control at New York University wrote:

My dear Mr. Secretary:

I am wondering if you are at liberty at this time to supply me with any information over and above what has appeared in the public press to date regarding the plan of the President to proclaim November 23 as Thanksgiving Day this year instead of November 30.

Over a period of years it has been customary for my institution to play its annual football game with Fordham University at the Yankee Stadium here at New York University on Thanksgiving Day...As you probably know, it has become necessary to frame football schedules three to five years in advance, and for both 1939 and 1940 we had arranged to play our annual football game with Fordham on Thanksgiving Day, with the belief that such day would fall upon the fourth Thursday in November.

Please understand that all of us interested in the administration of intercollegiate athletics realize that there are considerations and problems before the country for solution which are far more important than the schedule problems of intercollegiate athletics. However, some of us are confronted with the problem of readjusting the date of any football contest affected by the President's proposal.

Outside of the collegiate football arena, public sentiments also ran heavily against Roosevelt's plan, as evidenced by a national Gallup poll which found "that 62% of Americans surveyed disapproved of the date change." And, as opposition grew, some state governors "took matters into their own hands and defied the Presidential Proclamation."

According to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum:

Some governors declared November 30th as Thanksgiving. And so, depending upon where one lived, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the 23rd and the 30th. This was worse than changing the date in the first place because families that lived in states such as New York did not have the same day off as family members in states such as Connecticut! [And so] family and friends were unable to celebrate the holiday together.

By 1941, most retailers also disapproved of Roosevelt's plan, and even the federal government conceded that the date change had not resulted in any boost in sales. And so, on December 26, 1941, President Roosevelt signed Joint Resolution 41 making Thanksgiving a national holiday and mandating that it be observed on the fourth Thursday in November of each year.

FAST FACT: According to the Library of Congress, when "Abraham Lincoln was president in 1863, he proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be our national Thanksgiving Day. In 1865, Thanksgiving was celebrated the first Thursday of November, because of a proclamation by President Andrew Johnson, and, in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving Day. In all other years, until 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated as Lincoln had designated, the last Thursday in November."

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Ronald Reagan's Inaugural Jelly Beans

So, did you know that shortly after Ronald Reagan became Governor of California in 1967, he began eating pectin jelly beans to help him quit smoking. When a new brand of jelly beans, called Jelly Belly beans, appeared on the market in 1976, he quickly switched to them and would often enthusiastically share them with his Cabinet, staff, and visiting officials.

Reagan enjoyed these sweet little treats SO much that he later sent a letter to the chief executive of the company that produced them, stating, "we can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans."

Even after he became president, Reagan's fondness for Jelly Bellies didn't diminish, and large colorful jars of them were often prominently displayed on his desk in the Oval Office, in the Cabinet Room, and even on Air Force One!!

When Jelly Bellies first appeared on the market, there were only eight flavors: Very Cherry, Lemon, Cream Soda, Tangerine, Green Apple, Root Beer, Grape, and Licorice, which was reportedly President Reagan's favorite.

Since then, there have been hundreds of official flavors to choose from, including Bubble Gum, Buttered Popcorn, Cappuccino, Caramel Corn, Chili Mango, Chocolate Pudding, Cotton Candy, Green Apple, Kiwi, Juicy Pear, Lemon Drop, Margarita, Orange Sherbet, Piña Colada, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Sizzling Cinnamon, Strawberry Cheesecake, Toasted Marshmallow, Top Banana, Tutti-Fruitti, Very Cherry, Wild Blackberry, and Watermelon.

Of course, jelly beans taste great alone, but they can also be used in cookies, cakes, and in this official recipe for Jelly Belly Pudding Parfait:

1 5.1 ounce package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 3.4 ounce package butterscotch flavor instant pudding mix
5 cups milk
2 ounces Jelly Bellies (your choice)
8 fan wafer cookies

Directions: Select serving of parfait glasses that hold 3/4 to 1 cup capacity. In two separate bowls, prepare pudding mixes according to package directions. Fill glasses with alternating layers of vanilla and butterscotch pudding. Chill 5-10 minutes. Garnish parfaits with Jelly Belly beans on top and a fan wafer if desired.

FOOD FACT: In 1981, three-and-a-half tons of Jelly Belly beans were shipped to Washington, D.C. for Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. Blueberry, one of the most popular flavors today, was developed so there would be patriotic red, white and blue jelly beans at the festivities.

FAST FACT: In addition to official flavors, the Jelly Belly Company produces "rookie" flavors that might be added to the roster if they become popular enough. Some somewhat curious and, um, questionable flavors have included Baked Bean, Bloody Mary, Buttered Toast and...Roasted Garlic. Ummm, no thanks!!

Monday, November 2, 2015

John F. Kennedy and the Rise of Space Food

In his famous 1962 speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed America's commitment to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In it, he said:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too….It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency…

Less than seven years later, on July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 space mission, astronaut Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module (nicknamed “The Eagle”) and became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. The crew spent a total of two and a half hours on the moon, performing experiments and collecting soil and rock samples to return to Earth.

So what in the world does this have to do with food? A lot, if you’re talking about space food! According to sources at NASA, the first American astronauts had to eat bland, bite-sized cubes of food, freeze dried powders, and semi-liquids that were squeezed from aluminum tubes.

By the late 1960s, the quality of space food had greatly improved. The Apollo astronauts were the first to have hot water, which improved the food's texture and taste. Today, a wide variety of menu items are available for astronauts in space. They can choose from beef stroganoff, chicken teriyaki, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, meatballs, peanut butter, seafood, candy, cereal, nuts, and fruit.

Sandwiches with bread, however, are strictly forbidden. That's because there is no gravitational pull in space and so bread crumbs could float away and get stuck in equipment, clog air vents, or contaminate experiments. Condiments like ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise come in their normal forms, but salt and pepper are only available in liquid form because, like bread crumbs, the powdered versions could float away and pose a danger to the mission

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George Washington (1789-1797)

John Adams (1797-1801)

On November 1, 1800, John Adams arrived in the new federal city of Washington, DC and moved into the President’s House. The next day, while sitting in a damp, unfinished room, John wrote a letter to his wife Abigail which included a blessing for the new house and its future inhabitants. This is what he wrote: "I Pray Heaven to Bestow THE BEST of BLESSINGS on This House and All That Hereafter Shall Inhabit It. May None but Honest and Wise Men Ever Rule Under this Roof." More than a century later, in the final year of World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had these words inscribed in gold just under the mantle on the fireplace in the State Dining Room -- and Adams' words are still there today!

James Madison (1809-1817)

Legend has it that in the 19th century, a freed slave named Sallie Shadd went into her family’s catering business in Delaware. Sallie supposedly achieved fame among the free black population there for a new dessert sensation she created with frozen cream, sugar, and fruit. When Dolley Madison heard about it, she supposedly travelled to Delaware to try it, and must've loved it because a “magnificent pink dome of ice cream” was served at President Madison’s second Inaugural Ball in 1813, and ice cream often appeared as the official dessert on the White House menu during her husband's two terms of office!

James Monroe (1817-1825)

In June 1817, two and a half months after he took office, President Monroe embarked on a "Goodwill Tour" of the United States. Paying expenses out of his own pocket, the new president was greeted by cheering crowds and treated to celebratory picnics, dinners, and receptions in every city he visited. After touring New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Monroe stopped in Boston, where a newspaper hailed his visit as the beginning of an “ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS.” Despite this phrase, there were some bad feelings during this era, too. Free-states in the North and slave-states in the south were finding less and less to like about each other. The economy was also unstable and the nation slid into a serious depression in 1819.

John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

John Quincy Adams’ four years in office were not easy ones. Although his intelligence, family background, and experience should have made him a great president, he did not have the charisma needed to build a base of loyal supporters. Nevertheless, he and his wife Louisa hosted many dinners at the White House, as required. But John’s cold personality had a chilling effect on others and guests seated near the president at dinner often said that he had a hard time engaging in casual conversation. Aware of his inability to make small talk, Adams chastised himself for his deficiencies in “the art of dinner conversation.”

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

Having witnessed the chaos of Jackson’s levees first hand, Martin Van Buren prohibited all food and drink from public receptions. Privately, however, Van Buren hosted many extravagant dinner parties at the White House. Using gold plated spoons that James Monroe had purchased years earlier in France, Van Buren added the finest quality cut crystal wine glasses, water bottles, and goblets. Before the election of 1840, Charles Ogle, a Whig Congressman from Pennsylvania, rose to speak in the House of Representatives and launched into a three-day attack on Van Buren’s luxurious lifestyle.

James Polk (1845-1849)

In 1848, Polk signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican American War and gave most of present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, California, Wyoming, and Utah to the United States. The addition of these vast tracts of lands introduced many Native American, Mexican, and Spanish foods to the United States, like Chile Rellenos, Tamales, and Sopaipilla. Of course, the addition of these lands also intensified the debate over slavery and moved the nation to the brink of civil war.

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

In 1854, President Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries. The Act outraged many northerners who believed he was supporting slavery in the new southwestern territories and old southern states. Politically disgraced, Pierce became the first president to hire a bodyguard after having been attacked by a detractor with a hard-boiled egg!

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

At the end of the Civil War, the South lay in ruins. Southern plantations and entire cities had been destroyed. Without food, many southerners starved to death, and those who survived lost everything they owned. As a result, the government had to figure out how to rebuild the south. As president, Johnson took charge of the first phase of Reconstruction. But his attempt to quickly readmit the former Confederate states into the union and his vetoes of important civil rights bills outraged Radical Republicans in Congress. The House of Representatives later voted to impeach Johnson, but he was acquitted by a single vote in the Senate. Historians say that Johnson’s victory "marked the beginning of an ambitious series of receptions, dinners and children’s parties that would turn the last nine months of his term into an ongoing celebration."

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

The menu for Ulysses S. Grant’s second inaugural ball reflects the opulence of the Gilded Age. A New York Times article dated March 5, 1873, contains a mind-boggling list of dishes served. Among other provisions were 10,000 fried oysters; 63 boned turkeys; 150 capons stuffed with truffles; 15 saddles of mutton; 200 dozen quails; 200 hams; 250 chickens; 400 partridges; 25 stuffed boar’s heads; 3,000 head cheese sandwiches; 8,000 pickled oysters and 2,000 pounds of lobster. But the best laid plans can go awry, even for a president. The weather that evening was freezing and the temporary ballroom had no heat. Guests danced in their hats and overcoats, the food was cold, they ran out of coffee, and, worst of all, most of the decorative caged canaries (which were supposed to be sweetly singing) froze.

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Benjamin Harrison’s presidency began with a dramatic, three-day centennial observation of George Washington’s inauguration as the first president of the United States. The festivities began on the evening of April 28, 1889 with a reception in the Executive Mansion, followed by a reenactment of Washington’s crossing of New York Harbor by barge under a fuselage of gun salutes and fireworks. The festivities were capped with a lavish banquet, featuring “thirteen wines and thirteen toasts” in honor of the original thirteen colonies.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

On June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt signed into law the Pure Food and Drug Act which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products. The Act arose in part from articles and exposés written by muckrakers, such as Upton Sinclair, whose 1906 novel THE JUNGLE contained hair-raising descriptions of the way in which meat was produced in Chicago slaughterhouses and stockyards. Sinclair described how “dead rats were shoveled into sausage-grinding” machines; how bribed inspectors “looked the other way” when diseased cows were slaughtered for beef, and how “filth and guts were swept off the floor” and then packaged as “potted ham.”

William Taft (1909-1913)

President Taft kept a family dairy cow named Pauline Wayne on the White House lawn. For two years, Pauline supplied Taft and his family with fresh milk. When Taft left office in 1913, Pauline was shipped back to her former owner in Wisconsin. After that, pasteurized milk replaced raw milk at the White House. A New York Times article dated February 2, 1913, announced the departure of the Taft’s beloved cow this way: “Pauline Wayne, President Taft’s famous Holstein cow, will follow him into retirement March 4.”

Herbert Hooover (1929-1933)

During World War I, Herbert Hoover encouraged Americans to voluntarily modify their eating habits so that more food would be available to ship to our troops and allies overseas. Colorful posters and signs appeared in public areas with the slogan, “FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR!” In its first year of operation, Hoover’s program managed to reduce American food consumption by 15 percent without the need for rationing. At war’s end, the New York Times named Hoover one of the “Ten Most Important Living Americans.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

When FDR moved into the White House in 1932, the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. Just as Hoover had done in World War I, President Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor encouraged Americans to grow their own Victory Gardens. From California to New York, Americans plowed, seeded, watered, weeded, and harvested victory gardens in backyards, parks, baseball fields, and schoolyards. The idea was to grow enough vegetables through the summer to feed family and neighbors. Any extra vegetables would be preserved for eating during the winter and early spring when the next year's produce was ready to eat.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

In an October 1962 speech in Houston, Texas, President Kennedy reaffirmed America's commitment to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission, astronaut Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module (nicknamed the “Eagle”) and became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. The first American astronauts had to eat bland, bite-sized cubes, freeze dried powders and semi-liquids stuffed in aluminum tubes. By the time of the Apollo program, the quality and variety of space food had greatly improved. Apollo astronauts were the first to have hot water, which made rehydrating foods easier and improved the food's taste.

Richard Nixon (1969-1973)

George H.W. Bush (1989-1997)

As a boy in Massachusetts, George Bush dutifully ate broccoli every day, along with oatmeal and a soft-boiled egg. At a news conference in 1990, President Bush told reporters, “I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it and I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.” Needless to say, broccoli growers got a little “steamed” by the president’s comment. Within a week, broccoli growers in California had shipped ten tons of the flowery, green vegetable to Washington D.C. where it was donated to homeless shelters to feed the hungry.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

In a nationally televised interview during the 1992 presidential campaign, Hilary Clinton said, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas. But what I decided to do was pursue my profession.” At the time, many Americans interpreted her comment as a criticism of women who had chosen to stay home to raise their children. In a light-hearted gesture, Mrs. Clinton later served cookies at a press conference and had thousands of cookies distributed at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.