{"id":5440,"date":"2013-11-27T16:12:57","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T16:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=5440"},"modified":"2021-04-21T11:10:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:10:47","slug":"rationing-thanksgiving-dinner-during-world-war-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/rationing-thanksgiving-dinner-during-world-war-i.html","title":{"rendered":"Rationing Thanksgiving Dinner during World War I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article\u2014just in time for Thanksgiving\u2014Gena\u00a0Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about the Thanksgiving dinners our ancestors had during World War I. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

For many Americans, the word Thanksgiving conjures up images of family, a bountiful feast, and spending the day eating. However, Americans weren\u2019t always encouraged to eat everything and anything on Thanksgiving Day. During both World Wars, food was rationed and families on the home front were encouraged to make do with less. So what did that mean for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner during World War I?<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Poster: sugar conservation, from the U.S. Food Administration, 1917-1919. Credit: U.S. National Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Food Rationing during Wartime<\/strong><\/p>\n

Food rationing is typically associated with World War II, when ration stamps were used\u2014but World War I had its own version of rationing\u2014and this was especially true at Thanksgiving time. In the First World War, families were encouraged to limit some foods so that the United States could feed its soldiers and allies. Overseas, our allies\u2019 lands were devastated by the extensive fighting, and their ability to maintain crop production was limited.<\/p>\n

Using propaganda posters, recipe booklets, and informational articles, American women were encouraged to alter the family\u2019s diets by participating in such endeavors as \u201cMeatless Monday,\u201d growing a garden, and limiting the use of sugar. The government led the way in urging Americans to think about what they ate. Herbert Hoover and his U.S. Food Administration, established in August 1917, encouraged food conservation and helped to stabilize the price of wheat.<\/p>\n

Newspapers provided families with recipe ideas to help them compile their holiday menus. Women turned to newspapers for recipes and ideas about the type of Thanksgiving they should serve, and newspapers helped women implement these new policies to conserve food.<\/p>\n

No Oysters or Turkey for the Thanksgiving Dinner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you typically serve for the Thanksgiving dinner? While portions of the Thanksgiving dinner menu have changed over time, some of the key dishes have always been served. In this 1917 California newspaper article, readers are cautioned that they should refrain from serving oysters on the half shell, Neufchatel cheese, and turkey for Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

\"Simple<\/a>
San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California), 28 November 1917, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>Readers are told: \u201cThe family can substitute chicken, pale American cheese, and other becomingly simple dishes, and not only secure the same number of food calories as in the more expensive repast, but have just as much to eat and just as good a time eating it.\u201d The author provides some alternative menus but first adds that \u201c\u2026the Thanksgiving dinner can materially aid the food supply by not turning the usual feast into a gastronomic contest.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Note: the term \u201cHooverize\u201d in this article\u2019s subtitle\u2014a word your ancestor would have known all too well\u2014referred to economizing food. Since Hoover was the head of the Food Administration, his name became synonymous with this effort.)<\/p>\n

Cutting Back on Sugar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sugar was one of the food items that Americans were encouraged to limit. Today, in a world where much of the food we eat is prepared or pre-packaged, we don\u2019t realize how much sugar is in a Thanksgiving meal. Cranberry sauce, gelatin salads, desserts and even sugar for coffee and tea were foodstuffs that families had to reconsider during wartime. It\u2019s no wonder that newspaper articles like this one discouraged that old standby, cranberry sauce. As pointed out in this old news article, cranberry sauce required large amounts of sugar that seemed, during this precarious time, to be wasteful.<\/p>\n

\"Cranberries<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 10 November 1917, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Use It Up, Do Without<\/strong><\/p>\n

American citizens were encouraged to plant gardens to supply produce for their meals. For those unable to plant gardens, patronizing local merchants who produced and sold food was encouraged. This was a predecessor of today\u2019s popular \u201cBuy Local, Eat Local\u201d trend.<\/p>\n

The main theme of many of the newspaper articles promoting these ideas seems to be: a true American would gladly go without. Consider this 1918 newspaper article\u2019s closing sentence: \u201cTurkey may be lacking in some cases, and the four kinds of pie which once closed the feast may be the only tradition of the ante bellum days, but reminiscences of much to be thankful for will dominate the Thanksgiving day of every true American.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Thanksgiving<\/a>
Wyoming State Tribune (Cheyenne, Wyoming), 23 November 1918, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What did Thanksgiving dinner look like for your family during World War I? Do you have any stories about your grandparents\u2019 Thanksgiving menu? Please share them in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about the Thanksgiving dinners our ancestors had during World War I.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":41753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12427],"tags":[19013,5841,2020,44,2498],"class_list":["post-5440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-recipes","tag-food-and-recipes","tag-food-rationing","tag-newspaper-archives","tag-thanksgiving","tag-world-war-i"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/photo-1127-2013-featured-graphic-roast-turkey.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70437,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5440\/revisions\/70437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}