1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. Uh. It 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: may not surprise people when I get to the end 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: of this sentence, but I have been thinking a lot 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: lately about my maternal grandmother, who grew up during the 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: Great Depression. After that, she went on to raise five 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: children while also working full time at the mom and 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: pop furniture store that she and my grandfather started together 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: and before before that really got off the ground, she 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: had also graduated from college in nine with a degree 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: in home economics. By the time I was in high school, 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: a lot of school systems were phasing out their home 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: met classes, and by that point those classes, a lot 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: of the time focused mostly on the basics of things 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: like cooking and sewing, But whole economics, says a field, 17 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: was a lot broader than that, and for a time 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: the U. S Department of Agriculture had a whole Bureau 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: of Home Economics, which was run pretty much by and 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: for women, and was also a huge part of the 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: response to crises like the Great Depression and World War Two. 22 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: So thinking about my grandmother led me to this episode, 23 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: So we're gonna start by talking about the development of 24 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: home economics as a field. People who do domestic work, 25 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: whether in their own home or someone else's, have always 26 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: had to learn how to do it, but before the 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: middle of the nineteenth century in the United States, almost 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: all of that learning was informal. It was just handed 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: down from person to person, usually from one woman to another, 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: possibly supplemented with things like books and magazines. In general, 31 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: education for women and girls was limited and often most 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: accessible to white, relatively affluent students. So one of the 33 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: first people to start thinking about homemaking and do mess 34 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: dick work as a formal course of study with Catherine Beecher. 35 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: She was the sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Beecher was 36 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,639 Speaker 1: a proponent of education for women, and she also thought 37 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: that a woman's sphere was the home, so a lot 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: of her educational ideas were really focused on teaching women 39 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: domestic skills. She started implementing her Beacher Plan to that 40 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: end that Milwaukee Normal Institute and High School, which was 41 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen fifty one. More home economics courses came 42 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: along in the eighteen sixties. In conjunction with the Moral 43 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: Land Grant College Act of eighteen sixty two, or an 44 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: Act donating public lands to the several States and territories 45 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and 46 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: the mechanic arts. This act granted land to the states, 47 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: with the amount of land based on how many seats 48 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: the state had in Congress. The states then sold the 49 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: land and used the proceeds either to fund new colleges 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: or to fund the creation of agriculture and mechanics schools 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 1: and exist ssting colleges. The first formalized home economics programs 52 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: got their start at land grant colleges including Iowa State College, 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: Kansas State Agricultural College, and Illinois Industrial University. Today those 54 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: are now Iowa State University, Kansas State University, and the 55 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. These programs described what 56 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: they were teaching using several different names, including home ecology, 57 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,519 Speaker 1: human sciences, and practical life sciences. In addition to home economics, 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: some private women's colleges, including Wellesley, also dabbled with the 59 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: idea of home economics programs, but that idea didn't really 60 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: take off within the realm of private education in general. 61 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: The private women's colleges that were established in the nineteenth 62 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: century were focused on giving women access to the same 63 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: education that men had, not on teaching women what was 64 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: already thought of as women's work. The person who started 65 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: pulling all of these disparate home economics programs into a 66 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: more cohesive movement was Ellen Swallow Richards. Richards was the 67 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: first woman to be admitted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: which was a land grant school. She also became one 69 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: of the first women to work as a professional chemist 70 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: in the United States. Richard's time and m i T 71 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: followed a similar trajectory to other women that we've talked 72 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: about on the show. She completed PhD coursework, but was 73 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: not granted that degree because m i T did not 74 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: award doctoral degrees to women Because of her gender, Her 75 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: first year's teaching chemistry were unpaid, but she also focused 76 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: on opening doors for women in m i T, including 77 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: advocating for the establishment of its woman's laboratory, which was 78 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: funded by the Woman's Education Association of Boston in eighteen 79 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: seventy six. Most of Richard's work as a chemist was 80 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: focused on water quality but she also studied the chemistry 81 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: of homemaking. In eight nineties, she oversaw the establishment of 82 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: the New England Kitchen, which provided food to low income 83 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: families while also offering instruction and food preparation and food safety, 84 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: and they also conducted scientific research into cooking and nutrition. 85 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety one, she published The Chemistry of Cooking 86 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: and Cleaning, a manual for housekeepers, and she did demonstrations 87 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: of these concepts at the Chicago World's Fair in eighteen three. 88 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety nine, Richards convened a summer conference at 89 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: the Lake Placid Club in New York to discuss the 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: latest advancements in the field and where it was going. 91 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: Eleven people attended the conference in its first year, and 92 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: they agreed to standardize the name of the field as 93 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: home economics. The annual Lake Placid conferences grew over the 94 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: next decade, and the conference hung onto that Lake Placid name, 95 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: even when the meeting itself took place somewhere else. In 96 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: nineteen o two, attendees agreed on this definition of home 97 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: economics one. Home economics, in its most comprehensive sense, is 98 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: the study of laws, conditions, principles, and ideals which are 99 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: concerned on the one hand with man's immediate physical environment 100 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: and on the other hand, with his nature as a 101 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: social being, and is the study specifically of the relation 102 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: between those two factors. Two. In a narrow sense, the 103 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: term is given to the study of the empirical sciences 104 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: with special reference to the practical problems of housework, cooking, 105 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: et cetera. More than seven hundred people attended the final 106 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: Lake Placid Conference in nineteen o eight. That year, attendees 107 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: established the American Home Economics Association, and Richards served as 108 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: its first president. The following year, she established a journal 109 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: of home Economics and provided its initial funding. Some of 110 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: the other people who were heavily involved in the early 111 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: years of the home economics movement included Melville Dewey, who 112 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: developed the Dewey decimal system and his wife Annie. In 113 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, attendees of the Lake Placid conferences 114 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: actually lobbied very hard but unsuccessfully, to change how home 115 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: economics was classified within the Dewey decimal system. They tried 116 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: to move material that was more related to economics and 117 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: sociology under three hundred sociology instead of six hundred useful 118 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: arts basically sociology was a more prestigious number. Today, those 119 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: Dewey decimal classes are social Sciences and Technology. Two other 120 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: important figures were Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, who 121 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: were the first two women to become full professors at 122 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: Cornell in nineteen eleven. They served as co directors of 123 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: Cornell's newly established Home Economics Department, which eventually became its 124 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: own school. Rose and Van Rensselaer were partners at work 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: and at home for more than twenty years, and they 126 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: were described as inseparable until Van Rensselaer's death in ninety two. 127 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: Together they were affectionately named Miss Van Rose, and they 128 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: advocated for home economics programs across the US. In addition 129 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: to their work at Cornell. Home economics programs got another 130 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: boost with the Smith Lever Act of nineteen fourteen. This 131 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: established the Cooperative Extension Service to provide outreach services, especially 132 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: to rural communities through the land Grant Colleges. There were 133 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: also more land grant colleges by this point thanks to 134 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: a second Moral Act passed in eighteen ninety that established 135 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: funding for schools for black students in the South. The 136 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: first Moral Act back in eighteen sixty two had allowed 137 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: states with segregated education systems to establish schools for black students, 138 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: but almost none of them had done so. Within a 139 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,719 Speaker 1: year of the Smith Lever Act being passed, there were 140 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: more than eighteen hundred extension workers in the US who 141 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: conducted lectures, demonstrations, and classes through cooperative extension programs. In 142 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen alone, more than twenty seven thousand women took 143 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: home economics classes through cooperative extension services. That year, the 144 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: Smith Hughes Act also established funding for teachers for industrial, agricultural, 145 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: and home economics courses. A year later, home economics programs 146 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: were actively involved in relief efforts during the nineteen eighteen 147 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: flu pandemic. Home economists and home ex students cooked meals 148 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: for the sick and for healthcare workers. They sewed masks 149 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: and gowns for medical personnel, and they assisted with patient care. 150 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: Some colleges converted their home economics schools, which were already 151 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 1: equipped with kitchens and other necessary facilities, into field hospitals. 152 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 1: By this point, the field of home economics was well established, 153 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: with people, mostly women, learning domestic skills through classes taught 154 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: in public schools. Colleges and universities and cooperative extension programs. 155 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: Home economists were also involved with public health policy, community outreach, 156 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: and advocacy. The field also had a lot of crossover 157 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: with other progressive era movements, including labor activism, the settlement 158 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: house movement, and the women's suffrage movement. The field of 159 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: home econom mix also involved a lot of research. Home 160 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 1: economists studied subjects like food science, nutrition, textile science, child development, 161 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: and design. They evaluated newly introduced consumer products and services, 162 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: and they were really instrumental in public acceptance as some 163 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: of these new products, including things like prepackaged, canned, and 164 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: frozen foods. All of this research folded back into the 165 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: fields practical instruction arm as schools established graduate programs in 166 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,599 Speaker 1: home economics. People with those degrees were also hired to 167 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: direct public health and school nutrition programs, as well as 168 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: food programs during times of hardship. Women with home economics 169 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,559 Speaker 1: degrees also went on to work in hotel and restaurant management, 170 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: interior design, and other related fields. So the field of 171 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: home economics recognized that the work women were expected to 172 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: do to run a home was work, and that there 173 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: was a huge amount of it. As a few old. 174 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: It was dedicated to studying that work and its outcomes 175 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,679 Speaker 1: into finding solutions to problems to try to make that 176 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: work easier, which would improve the quality of life for 177 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: homemakers and their families, and by extension, society as a whole. 178 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 1: So among its advocates, the field of home economics gave 179 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: women access to education that they would not have otherwise 180 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: and tools that they could use to make their own 181 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: lives better and their work easier and more effective. But 182 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: critics argued that the existence of these programs was just 183 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: reinforcing the expectation that the only thing women could or 184 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: should do was to become homemakers. There have been other 185 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: criticisms as well. Even as colleges and universities for black 186 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: students established home economics programs, the most vocal invisible people 187 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: in the field and the people hired to lead government 188 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: programs continued to be predominantly white. Because the field was 189 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: so focused on what was thought of as women's sphere, 190 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: some of its proponents were opposed to various well rights 191 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: measures for women, including the right to vote. Many college 192 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: programs and home economics included practice houses or practice apartments, 193 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: where students lived together to get practical experience in domestic skills. 194 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: Many of these programs also had practice babies that were 195 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: on loan from local orphanages, and these babies were basically 196 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: cared for by a rotating assortment of students. I may 197 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: be doing an episode on this soon, depending on where 198 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: the research takes me. The home economics movement also had 199 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: some overlap with the earlier years of the eugenics movement 200 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: and things like better baby contests. One of the early 201 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,559 Speaker 1: names for the field was even euthenics or better living, 202 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: which was coined as a companion to Sir Francis Galton's 203 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: term eugenics were better breeding. We have a prior episode 204 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: on the eugenics movement in the archive for folks who 205 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: want more information on that. All that said, for a time, 206 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,599 Speaker 1: offices and program ms within the federal government also recognized 207 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: the massive amount of labor involved with homemaking and how 208 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: critical it was to the nation, and they took steps 209 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: to help. We're going to talk more about that after 210 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. The U s Department of Agriculture was 211 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: established in eighteen sixty two, and by the start of 212 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: the twentieth century it had various programs and offices that 213 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: were related to the field of whome economics in one 214 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: way or another. Then, in nineteen fifteen, the Office of 215 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: Home Economics was formally established as part of the State's 216 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: Relations Service. Those existing programs that had been kind of 217 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: spread through the U. S d A Were consolidated under 218 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: the newly established office, and that office started up new 219 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: projects as well. In the words of various appropriations bills, 220 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: the office would allow the Department of Agriculture to quote 221 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: investigate the relative utility and economy of agriculture real products 222 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: for food, clothing, and other uses in the home, with 223 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: special suggestions of plans and methods for more effective utilization 224 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: of such products for these purposes, and to disseminate useful 225 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: information on the subject. So it was a department that 226 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,719 Speaker 1: did a lot of outreach and created educational programs and materials, 227 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: as well as doing a lot of research, including analyzing 228 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: data that was being gathered by other departments. A lot 229 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: of this research was about food it's digestibility and its nutrients, 230 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: including analyzing vitamin content. Vitamins at that point were still 231 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: a really new discovery. The office managed studies that used 232 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: a respiration calorimeter and that to assess the caloric content 233 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: of different foods. All of this led to the nation's 234 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: first government nutrition guidelines, and this was not just about 235 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: how much food it took to sustain a person, but 236 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: also about how much money a family needed to be 237 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: spending on food and how to prevent food waste. Experiments 238 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: in a test hitchen looked at questions like the best 239 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: ways to need bread, how to conserve fuel in stoves 240 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: and ovens, how to get bigger yields in homemade jellies. 241 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: Researchers studied various methods of home canning to figure out 242 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: how to preserve food safely while maintaining its quality. Other 243 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: projects involved studying different fats and frying methods to reduce 244 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: the waste of oil. The Office of Home Economics also 245 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: surveyed women about the problems they faced in their lives 246 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: and what the office might do to help them. For example, 247 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: a nineteen fifteen survey on the domestic needs of farm 248 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: women revealed that women living on farms had concerns about 249 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: pest management and efficient kitchen design, and fashionable a dresses. 250 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: The women who were surveying talked about really wanting clothes 251 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: that they felt good about wearing. And that were easy 252 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: enough to make that they could get it right the 253 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: first time without wasting fabric on doovers. So the Department 254 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: of Home Economics started drafting functional attractive dress pattern They 255 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: had a lot of features, like having three quarter length 256 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: sleeves so that you were less likely to get your 257 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: sleeve caught in the cooking fire. Like that kind of 258 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: a mindset. They also made patterns for women's work clothes, 259 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: since the surveys also revealed that farm women did not 260 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: like having to work in their husbands altered cast offs. 261 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: The Office of Home Economics also published material for educational programs. 262 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: For example, in nineteen seventeen bulletin by Louis Stanley outlined 263 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: all the topics that should be covered in a complete 264 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: first year home economics course. They were food selection, both 265 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: in homegrown and purchased food, as well as food preparation 266 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: and planning and serving meals. Shelter including home sanitation, planning, decoration, 267 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: furnishing and care. Clothing including selection making, keeping in good 268 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: repair and laundry. Care and training of children including infant care, 269 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: addressing problems in young children, and amusement for children. HW 270 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: gene and sanitation including knowledge of diseases and ways to 271 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: preserve health, caring for the sick at home, household management 272 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: including budgeting and training for the enjoyment of leisure time. 273 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: I like the idea that that sort of reads as though, uh, 274 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: you've got so much to do that you might need 275 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: a little help figuring out how to enjoy it when 276 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: you have leisure time. Uh. In the Association of Land 277 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: Grant Colleges started advocating for the Department of Home Economics 278 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: to become its own full fledged bureau. Congress authorized the 279 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: creation of the Bureau of Home Economics on July one. 280 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: Of the chief of this newly created bureau was Dr 281 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: Louise Stanley, author of that bulletin that we just mentioned. 282 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: Stanley was the third woman to head a federal bureau, 283 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: and the first to head one that was considered major. 284 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: The two that were ahead of her where Grace Abbott, 285 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: who was chief of the Children's Bureau of the Department 286 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: of Labor, and Mary Anderson, who was chief of the 287 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: Department's Women's Bureau. Stanley had earned a PhD in chemistry 288 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: from Yale in nineteen eleven, and she had served as 289 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: professor and chair of Home Economics at the University of 290 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: Missouri before joining the FDA in nineteen fourteen. For most 291 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: of the nineteen twenties, she made her home in Washington, 292 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,400 Speaker 1: d C. With Annabelle Matthews, a solicitor with the Department 293 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: of the Treasury. Mabel Walker Willow Brandt and her adopted daughter, 294 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: Dorothy joined the household in the mid twenties, and when 295 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: she and her daughter moved to Georgetown in ninety nine, 296 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: Stanley adopted a baby girl named Nancy, who had previously 297 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: been a practice baby. The news article about that is 298 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: how I learned about practice babies, and almost abandoned this 299 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: entire episode to just focus on that, but I did 300 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: not did not have time to be changing the horse 301 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: in the middle of that stream. When the Bureau of 302 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: Home Economics was first established, it had a budget of 303 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: seventy two thousand dollars and a staff of about five people. 304 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: Stanley's salary was about five thousand dollars, and that made 305 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: her the highest paid woman in the federal government at 306 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: that time. By the nineteen thirties, the bureau had grown 307 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: to a staff of seventy one and a budget of 308 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,439 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and sixty eight thousand dollars. The 309 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: main areas of focus for the Bureau of Home Economics 310 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: were food and nutrition, textiles and clothing, and the economics 311 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: of the home. The Respiration Calorometer was transferred to the 312 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: Bureau of Animal Industry, but the Bureau of Home Economics 313 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: still did a lot of research into vitamins, diet, the 314 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: nutritional content of foods, and food preparation and storage methods. 315 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: This included research into using diet to treat and prevent pellagra, 316 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: which is caused by a nyasin deficiency and was widespread 317 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 1: in the South. The Bureau of Home Economics built on 318 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: a lot of the research that the Office of Home 319 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: Economics had previously been doing studies in food and nutrition, 320 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: including cooking times and temperatures, storage temperatures, and shelf life, 321 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: along with continuing to refine home canning practices. The Bureau 322 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: also studied preparation methods for reindeer, which had been introduced 323 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: into Alaska as a food source for Alaska natives over 324 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Bureau did 325 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: similar work with rabbits during times when people were encouraged 326 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: to raise rabbits as a food source, which included during 327 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: World War Two. As home refrigeration became more common in 328 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, the Bureau used a microbiology lab to 329 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: determine temperature ranges for safe refrigeration. When it came to textiles, 330 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: there just had not been a lot of formal study 331 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: into how to best care for different fabrics. The Bureau 332 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: studied had a care for different fibers and how those 333 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: fibers could most effectively be used. They also researched home 334 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: laundering things like water temperatures and the efficacy of different detergents, 335 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,679 Speaker 1: including how much soil was really removed and how the 336 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: textiles themselves were affected. The Bureau also researched ironing, stain removal, 337 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: and hygiene. The Bureau also continued to design and extribute 338 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: patterns for clothing and household articles. They really focused on 339 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: items that were sturdy and practical with easy construction and 340 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: easy laundering, and Chouldren's clothing. They focused on durability, ease 341 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: of care, and designs that allowed children to learn to 342 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: dress themselves. When ready to wear garments became more widely 343 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: popular and widely available, the Bureau shifted its focus away 344 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: from home sewing and onto how to select and care 345 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: for store bought garments, as well as on advocating for 346 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: standardized sizes and ready to wear clothing. The department's focus 347 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: on the economics of the home came from a lot 348 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: of directions. One aspect was how people were using their incomes. 349 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: A lot of this research focused on food and clothing, 350 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 1: since those are the two major expenses in most households. 351 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: The bureau studied what people actually bought, with the goal 352 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: of matching production in the US to what consumers were 353 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 1: going to consume. The bureau also studied mother's pensions, which 354 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: were payments to mothers of newborn to encourage them to 355 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: stay home, which had been implemented in most states by 356 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen thirties. The Bureau wanted to determine whether 357 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: the payments really were enough to allow a new mother 358 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: to stay at home. The bureau also focused on the 359 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: more intangible idea of homemaker's workloads, including asking women to 360 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: keep really detailed records of their days. Hilda guard Neiland 361 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: was the head of the Economics of the Home team, and, 362 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: in her words from a publication called is the Modern 363 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: Housewife a Lady of Leisure? Quote five six of these 364 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: homemakers spent over forty two hours a week in their homemaking. 365 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: More than half spent over forty eight hours, and one 366 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: third spent over fifty six hours. The average for all 367 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: is slightly over fifty one hours a week. If this 368 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: be part time work, what one may ask would be 369 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,719 Speaker 1: full time. This economic study wasn't just about documenting how 370 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: much work it took to manage a home. The bureau 371 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,919 Speaker 1: also researched time and labor saving techniques to try to 372 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: make the work involved in keeping a home more efficient. 373 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: All of the research that the Bureau was doing informed 374 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: a wealth of publications that were distributed through public schools, colleges, 375 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: and extension programs, as well as home economics clubs. The 376 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: bureau's outreach also went straight to consumers through pamphlets, cookbooks, 377 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: radio addresses, and other materials. In nineteen forty three, the 378 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: Bureau of Home Economics became the Bureau of Human Nutrition 379 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,439 Speaker 1: and Home Economics. Hazel Catherine Steebling became its chief in 380 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 1: nineteen four. Like Louise Stanley, she had a PhD in chemistry. 381 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: The Bureau continued with this efforts to quote develop through research, 382 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: new knowledge about efficient household management and ways to make 383 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: best consumer use of food, fiber, and other products of 384 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: the country's farms. In the nineteen forties, this included research 385 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,199 Speaker 1: into the most efficient kitchen design, concluding that a U 386 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: shaped kitchen could allow enough space for two women to 387 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: work while keeping cross traffic from the rest of the 388 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: house from getting in the way. As expectations and roles 389 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: for women shifted in the nineteen sixties, the federal government 390 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: started to scale back the bureau, and the Bureau of 391 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: Human Nutrition and Home Economics was disbanded in nineteen sixty two. 392 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: Some of the research that had been going on continued 393 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: through the U. S d A's Agricultural Research Service, and 394 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,719 Speaker 1: some of the same types of research in some areas 395 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,959 Speaker 1: do continue today, both through the Agricultural Research Service and 396 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: through the Economic Research Service. The fields of home economics 397 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: and home economics education were also changing. From its beginnings, 398 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: homec had been thought of as a subject for women, 399 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: and in many public schools, girls automatically took home economics 400 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: while boys took shop or industrial arts. Title nine of 401 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: the Education Amendments of nineteen seventy two outlawed this type 402 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: of discrimination, which led to questions about whether these classes 403 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: were still legal if they were open to all, but 404 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: if only girls enrolled. Of course, there are also other 405 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: conversations about like what kinds of education were necessary and useful, 406 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: and what schools and school systems should be paying for, 407 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: which is one of the reasons that by the time 408 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: I came along, like the home mech at school and 409 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 1: a lot of places, was not as big of a deal. 410 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: In the American Home Economics Association became the American Association 411 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: of Family and Consumer Sciences, and in places where these 412 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,199 Speaker 1: types of classes are still part of the curriculum and 413 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: where college programs still exist, Family and Consumer Sciences is 414 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: the more common name. The cooperative extension service that was 415 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: such a big part of home economics education still exists, 416 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,479 Speaker 1: and Family and Consumer Sciences continues on as this interdisciplinary field, 417 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,199 Speaker 1: incorporating a lot of the same specializations that were previously 418 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: thought of as part of home economics. We hadn't really 419 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: talked about the Bureau of Home Economics role in times 420 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: of crisis, which is a big reason behind doing this episode, 421 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: and it also touches on some topics that we have 422 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: gotten a lot of quest for lately. So we're gonna 423 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: get to all that, but first we'll take a quick 424 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:14,439 Speaker 1: sponsor break. The Office of Home Economics and the Bureau 425 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: of Home Economics. We're both instrumental in helping American families 426 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: cope during some hard times. The Office of Home Economics 427 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: was already in place when the United States became involved 428 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: in World War One, and the Bureau of Home Economics 429 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: had programs that were meant to address the hardships that 430 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: accompanied the Great Depression and World War Two, So we're 431 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: going to spend a few minutes talking about them. During 432 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: World War One, the Office of Home Economics was a 433 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: huge part of food conservation programs in the United States. 434 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 1: The overall goal was not just to make sure households 435 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: were able to make do with what was available, but 436 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: also to allow the United States to provide food support 437 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 1: to its allies in the war. In the words of 438 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: the Day's Food in War and Peace, the situation has 439 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: become critical. Is not enough food in Europe? Yet? The 440 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,200 Speaker 1: soldiers of the allies must be maintained in full strength, 441 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,880 Speaker 1: Their wives and children at home must not face famine, 442 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: The friendly Neutrals must not be starved. And finally, our 443 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: own army in France must never lack a needed ounce 444 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: of food. There is just one way in which all 445 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: these requirements can be meant. North America must furnish the food, 446 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: and we must furnish it from our savings, because we 447 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: have already sent our normal surplus. The Day's Food in 448 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: War in Peace was published by the Department of Agriculture 449 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: and the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, 450 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: and it was created in part with the government's home economists. 451 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: It was a teaching tool meant as a guide for 452 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: things like club programs or community demonstrations, and it also 453 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: directed women to their local university's home economics departments as 454 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: well as the local branches of the American Home Economics 455 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: Association for support. This publication really focused on reducing the 456 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: use of wheat, meat, fat, and shower and strictly portioning 457 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: other foods to eliminate food waste, but it also stressed 458 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: not to hoard food. It also called for women's support 459 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: in the food conservation effort, not just for the sake 460 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 1: of their nation and their families, but also out of 461 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: empathy for the women of Europe, especially France. It noted 462 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 1: that most French women bought their bread from bakers, and 463 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: that if bakers didn't have the wheat they needed. Even 464 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: after making substitutions, French women had to turn to making 465 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:31,159 Speaker 1: porridges and cakes that weren't already part of their cooking repertoire, 466 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: while also caring for the sick and wounded and living 467 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: in constant wartime peril. Quote. Not one slightest additional burden 468 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: should be laid on the women of France. Far less 469 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: should they be forced to add another hour to their 470 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: long day of toil because we failed to send them wheat. 471 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: The day's food and War in Peace includes a lot 472 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: of recipes. There are victory breads, which were any breads 473 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: that contained a wheat substitute in place of at least 474 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: twenty five percent of the wheat that was normally called for. 475 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: Substitutes included barley flour, rolled oats, corn flour, and buckwheat. 476 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: There are also quick breads made entirely from wheat substitutes, 477 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: and meatless recipes, including bean soups and stuffed cabbage, as 478 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: well as sponge cakes that didn't require wheat or fat. 479 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: This publication also includes information about the calorie content of 480 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: different foods, as well as the calories needed to support 481 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: an eight hour work day in different occupations, depending on 482 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: how strenuous those occupations were. There's also a cost breakdown 483 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: based on the price of foods versus how many calories 484 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: they provide. One of the later chapters encourages people to 485 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: buy as much as they can locally and to research 486 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: the farms and other resources in their own area. Throughout 487 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: it is full of information about how wheat, meat, fat, 488 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: and sugar work in food and in the body, and 489 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: the why behind the directions to conserve them. The Day's 490 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: Food and War and Peace was aimed at people who 491 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: would be teaching this material to others, but the Office 492 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: of homeak and on X was also involved in informational 493 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 1: pamphlets for consumers. These pamphlets included directions on how to 494 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: prepare food in an economical way, how to make limited 495 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: ingredients stretch, and how to prepare foods that might not 496 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: have been pantry staples and other circumstances. Titles from this 497 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: series included make a Little Meat Go a Long Way 498 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: instead of meat, Vegetables for Winter, Save sugar dried peas 499 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: and beans, and wheatless bread and cakes. The Office of 500 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: Home Economics also contributed to thrift leaflets that were published 501 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: in conjunction with the Savings Division of the Department of 502 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,479 Speaker 1: the Treasury. By the start of the Great Depression, the U. 503 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: S d A had developed a character called Aunt Sammy, 504 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: who was Uncle Sam's wife and who gave advice and 505 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: answered women's questions. Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes was a collection 506 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: of recipes that had first come out through weekly housekeeper's 507 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: chats that were aired through the radio. This became the 508 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: first cookbook in the US to be printed in braille. 509 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: From the start, the Aunt Sammy Recipes were intended to 510 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: be pretty economical, and during the Great Depression, the Department 511 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: of Home Economics went even further with a series of 512 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: publications about low cost meal preparation and recipes. This included 513 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,000 Speaker 1: titles like Getting the Most for Your Food Money, The 514 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: Families Food at Low Cost, and a weekly newspaper column 515 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: called Market Basket. Some of the advice in these publications 516 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: was similar to what had been in the Day's Food 517 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: and More in Peace when it came to conserving food, 518 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: avoiding waste, and incorporating cheaper ingredients, but the Depression era 519 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: publications also included a lot more about incorporating canned and 520 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: frozen foods, as well as enriched food products. The cost 521 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: of many foods had dropped, but people also had less money, 522 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: so along with tips about getting the most for your money, 523 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: there were tips about using cuts of meat that some 524 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: families had previously found too expensive, but we're now priced 525 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: lower than other alternatives. A lot of these depression error 526 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: recipes were cheap and filling, and they were nutritionally complete 527 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: based on the knowledge of the day, but they were 528 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: not necessarily appetizing. In general, they tended to be both 529 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: mushy and bland. For example, a low cost menu from 530 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: a nineteen thirty three edition of The Market Basket goes 531 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 1: like this, prunes and hot cereal or toast for breakfast, 532 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 1: along with tomato juice for young children, milk for older children, 533 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: and coffee for adults. A dinner of mashed dried beans, 534 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: stewed tomatoes, brown bread or grand muffins and tea for adults, 535 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: with milk for children, and a supper of cottage cheese, salad, 536 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: bread and butter, cocoa and canned fruit. I'm having a 537 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: kitchen related sad trombone in my I mean, we've been 538 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: eating a lot of dried beans during the pandemic that 539 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: we have been living through, but they have not been 540 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:58,480 Speaker 1: prepared in a mushy, bland way. No, I feel like, 541 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: because we're cooking at home all the time, we've kind 542 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: of been eating like kings because yeah, I love a 543 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: little kitchen experiment action and I love to invent things. 544 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: So uh. Some of this mushy blandness, though, that we're 545 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 1: talking about, was because of a belief that overly seasoned 546 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: foods were too invigorating to the digestive system and would 547 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: make people feel hungrier. As an aside, this breaks my heart, 548 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: but there was probably some prejudice at work here as well. 549 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: In general, the bureau's recipe writers did not approve of 550 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: spices that recent immigrants often relied on. During World War Two, 551 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: the Bureau of Home Economics again focused on food conservation, 552 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: including cooking with rationed ingredients. As I read a whole 553 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: pamphlet that was about how much sugar you could get 554 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 1: for canning with the ration system. It also published materials 555 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: to help women process and store vegetables that were grown 556 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: in victory gardens, although information about the gardens themselves typically 557 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: came from other parts of the U. S d A 558 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: and the War Food Administration. One aspect of this included 559 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: a December three radio broadcast reminding women that if they 560 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,440 Speaker 1: got canned vegetables or preserves as Christmas presents, they should 561 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: carefully save those canning jars and lids for the following 562 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: growing season. The Bureau also published material to help women 563 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: who were entering the workforce during wartime. Publication called Work 564 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: Clothes for Women listed these chapters in its table of contents. 565 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 1: Know your job and dress for it Field suit, mechanics suit, jumper, 566 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: slack suit, protect all food preparation dress, divided skirt, dress, 567 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:48,239 Speaker 1: belted overall apron, surplus overall Apron, laboratory dress, surplus house 568 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: dress cover itt Princess overall Apron, Nurses uniform, utility aprons. 569 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: The Bureau also published patterns for these and other work 570 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: garments for women. After the end of World War Two, 571 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 1: President Harry S. Truman established the President's Famine Emergency Committee 572 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: to fight against World famine. The Bureau of Home Economics 573 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,759 Speaker 1: was ready with publications advising Americans again to cut back 574 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: on wheat, fats, and oils to contribute to the overall 575 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 1: aid effort. One pamphlet advised people to quote reach for 576 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:28,400 Speaker 1: a potato instead of bread, and offered suggestions for using potatoes, cornmeal, oatmeal, 577 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 1: and other substitutes in place of bread. This particular publication 578 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,879 Speaker 1: also noted that people should conserve rice and not throw 579 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:39,959 Speaker 1: it at weddings. And since this was all government produced work, 580 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 1: it is in the public domain today and a lot 581 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,359 Speaker 1: of it is available online. If you google Bureau of 582 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,000 Speaker 1: Home Economics publications, you can go down a real rabbit 583 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 1: hole patterns here. I come, yeah, there's patterns is also, 584 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: I mean, just so many different recipes, some of which 585 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: I was curious to try, like various victory breads or 586 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: quick breads that are including wheat substitutes. Um, Like, I 587 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: know some people have had a hard time getting wheat 588 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: and used during the pandemic, and like, I was very 589 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,960 Speaker 1: curious about trying some of those. Some of them I 590 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:15,239 Speaker 1: found a little more uh questionable. Like I found, um 591 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 1: a broiled fish recipe that advised cooking the fish um 592 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 1: at a temperature like three fifty or something like that 593 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: for like twenty minutes and then putting it on the 594 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: broiler for another fifteen more minutes. And I was like, 595 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,760 Speaker 1: this does not sound like a good number of total 596 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,319 Speaker 1: minutes for some fish to me. I suspect, like the 597 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: broiler had to be less powerful than what we're used 598 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: to has to be because otherwise you're gonna have fish 599 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:50,440 Speaker 1: jerky fish charcoal. Do you have listener mail to go 600 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,400 Speaker 1: with this delightful adventure? I already found a pattern I'm 601 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:58,800 Speaker 1: gonna make. Um. I have listener mail from Maggie. Maggie 602 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,439 Speaker 1: says Hello, Holly and Tracy as one of perhaps many 603 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 1: people who have written episode requests for Anything bee Keeping. 604 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:08,880 Speaker 1: When I opened today's podcast and saw a brief history 605 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,440 Speaker 1: of beekeeping, I think the neighbors could hear my shriek 606 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,800 Speaker 1: of delight. After eight years of being a beekeeper, member 607 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,600 Speaker 1: of our local hobby Beekeepers Association, and editor of the newsletter, 608 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 1: I know a bit about the subject, but you did 609 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,840 Speaker 1: not disappoint with new and fun facts. I loved hearing 610 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: about what Samuel Peeps had to say upon seeing an 611 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,839 Speaker 1: observation hive and quote the bees making their honey and 612 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,800 Speaker 1: colmbs mighty pleasantly. Their comments of agreement with his feelings 613 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: were a surprise. I thought it was only nutty beekeepers 614 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,919 Speaker 1: who fell in love with their little charges. A while back, 615 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,439 Speaker 1: I had an MRI I type scan and before going 616 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:45,880 Speaker 1: into the tube, the technician advised me to go to 617 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,000 Speaker 1: my happy place when I emerged, I commented to her, 618 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 1: I bet not a lot of people tell you their 619 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:57,000 Speaker 1: happy place is watching bees. She said, indeed not. Maggie 620 00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: goes on to say that she doesn't have any hives 621 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,520 Speaker 1: this year and missed is that the bees terribly so 622 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 1: thanks for that little buzz, and then in parentheses beekeepers 623 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: are a penny lot. UM. Maggie also sent some pictures 624 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: of of a bear proof a biary UM, which I 625 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:16,680 Speaker 1: looked at and I was like, I bet a bear, 626 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:21,319 Speaker 1: really determined bear might still get through that UM, and 627 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: then also donned outfit for UM treating with some vapor 628 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,600 Speaker 1: to try to control baroa mites in the beehives. UM. 629 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 1: So this email ends with thanks again, and stay out 630 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,440 Speaker 1: of those crowded hives, Maggie, Thank you so much, Maggie. UM. 631 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: I said in that episode, I really like bees. UM. Lately, 632 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 1: I've been playing a lot of animal crossing, like I 633 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 1: know a lot of other people have also. And when 634 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,960 Speaker 1: a friend of mine UM found the d i y 635 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: recipe for bee hives, she immediately may multiple bee hives 636 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,600 Speaker 1: and I sent her more waspness to make more beehives 637 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 1: out of so now I have like three bee hives 638 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,319 Speaker 1: on my animal crossing Island. I've also been playing a 639 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,840 Speaker 1: lot of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, where I very recently needed 640 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,400 Speaker 1: to go find a beehive out in the world, and 641 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: I got really excited about that because I was like, Okay, 642 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: I just learned all these various things about bee hives 643 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:25,959 Speaker 1: and beekeeping doing that that episode of the podcast what 644 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: beehive design is going to be in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Um, 645 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:39,600 Speaker 1: the answer was spoiler alert, stacked horizontal tube hives that 646 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:43,719 Speaker 1: were um longer than I expected them to be. Um, 647 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,640 Speaker 1: but still pretty cool. So anyway, thank you so much 648 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: Maggie for this lovely email. We got it a couple 649 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: of other emails about bees this morning, so be keeping 650 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,799 Speaker 1: might make another appearance in future listener mail. If you 651 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:58,839 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any 652 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,759 Speaker 1: other podcast or his podcast at i heeart radio dot 653 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: com and you can find us all over social media 654 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,280 Speaker 1: at missed in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook, counterest, Twitter, 655 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: and Instagram. And you can subscribe to our show on 656 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:15,279 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, and anywhere else you 657 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:22,800 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is 658 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:26,000 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 659 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,399 Speaker 1: i Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 660 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.