Google News recently announced they would be providing scanned archives of old newspapers, so I thought I would take this opportunity to see how food headlines and advice has changed over the years. Starting in 1935, I searched for “healthy food” at 10 year intervals and picked one of the top few results. Here is what I found:
1935
Newspaper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date: Mar 15, 1935
Sample excerpt:
“The popularity of prepared meats such as ham, liverwurst or bologna has grown rapidly within the last decade. Meats used for cold cuts must be sound, wholesome, lean and freshly taken from the slaughtered animal.It is essential then that one who secures products of this type be assured of the integrity of the packer and the wholesomeness of the product. Bacterial multiplication takes place in such products very quickly under improper conditions.”
Present day headline equivalent: Schools issue cautions about prepared meats
My comments: Meat cleanliness and safety has been a huge concern for at least the last one hundred years. Why isn’t this a problem we can solve? As demand for meat in developing countries continues to skyrocket, look for this to become and increasingly important issue.
1945
Newspaper: The Evening Independent
Date: May 1, 1945
Sample excerpt:
“A decent American diet will be maintained. Our food supply is adequate to keep America healthy and vigorous even though we shall have to make some adjustments in particular foods.”…“As a result, the average American, who last year consumed 89 pounds of sugar, will receive only 72.1 pounds this year.”
Present day headline equivalent: One Sweet Nation
My comments: 89 pounds is a lot. One Sweet Nation however quotes us at 114 pounds per year in 1963 and 142 pounds per year in 2003. This 1945 headline obviously is from World War II, but can you imagine if headlines tomorrow told us we would need to ration a particular type of food? There would be rioting in the streets!
1955
Newspaper: St. Petersburg Times
Date: Mar 25, 1955
Sample excerpt:
“For example, when you go into a restaurant for lunch, perhaps you have to wait for a table, then wait to be served. Unless you’re relaxed, you’ll sit there seething at the delay. Deliberately change your habitual response to this situation. Get a newspaper, read and relax. Otherwise you’ll respond with tension. This tension is relayed to the muscles in your innerbrain - and from that nerve center to your stomach, heart, salivary glands, etc. And this is the way appetite and assimilation of food is impaired.”
Present day headline equivalent: The Size Zero Pill
My comments: Wow, and I thought people were uptight these days. And no, you won’t be seeing any modern articles about Americans who need to gain weight.
1965
Newspaper: St. Petersburg Times
Date: Oct 8, 1965
Sample excerpt:
“You needn’t, and shouldn’t spend over 20 percent of your budget on food, no matter how little you earn. During 1963, the average family spent less than 19 per cent for our eating at home.”
Present day headline equivalent: Food Expenditures as a share of Disposable Income
My comments: Although the food expenditures link above differs with the information presented in the 1965 article, the trend is clear. As late as 1950 over 20% of our budgets went to food. Today, that number has fallen to less than 10%. Regarding food “in the home”, we spend roughly one quarter of what we used to spend. As for eating out, we now spend 33% more on eating out than we did 70 years ago. Although that’s a substantial jump, I’m actually surprised it isn’t higher.
Stay tuned for the next article, covering 1975-2005. Any comments or feedback on this post would be greatly appreciated.
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