What’s For Lunch? – IOTW Report

What’s For Lunch?

20 Depression-Era Foods

20 Comments on What’s For Lunch?

  1. I eat creamed chipped beef, also known as shit on a shingle, a couple times a month. Back when I was in the Corps, it was about the only thing I ate from the mess hall, but it was made with ground beef instead of dried beef. Not sure why it was in the video

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  2. My mother (who was 15 years old in Vienna in 1945) talks about going to the train yards to wipe bread crust on the tracks which were greased with animal fat.

    Now that’s a depression era meal for ya. Think how long the “ladies” from the view would continue to support Kamala if they had to do this…

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  3. I am sure recycling was a top priority for people in the depression.

    I haven’t had SOS in almost 40 years. I enjoyed it. The Dunes in Las Vegas had it on their breakfast menu when I went to my first convention there in 1985. I had it for breakfast every morning.

    My mother used to make it when I was a kid. We used the jars the meat came in as orange juice glasses. We used Flintstones jelly jars as orange juice glasses also.

    Another thing my mother used to serve was hash. I have no desire to ever see that again.

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  4. My farmer grandparents would have potato pancakes for dinner probably once a week except grandma added fresh corn cut off the Cobb when in season. They were delicious.
    She also used to make a delicious applesauce cake as she always had jars of applesauce she canned every year.
    My city dwelling grandfather had a liking for creamed herring on crackers with sliced onion and Limburger cheese. I understood at a early age why they had separate bedroom’s. He also liked liverwurst and onions soaked in cider vinegar which I admit sitting and eating with him on many occasions. It was damned good I thought.

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  5. Hey! Thanks for that!

    My Mother was an only child growing up in Newton MS. Her Father (my grandfather, Moody Bascum Osborne) was the Manager of the Mississippi Power Company back then. I was kept there for several years while my Dad (from Shubuta, MS) was busy flying in the Pacific Fleet as a Squadron Leader in the Navy, training in Pensacola NAS, Annapolis, et al. My Dad was born in 1912 and my Mom, in 1918, Both survived the Spanish Flu (1918 – 1920) without ever getting it.

    While in Newton, many a “Hobo” would still be walking by, looking for work and/or a decent meal (“if you would be so kind”) and much of what was shown on that video my Mom, and her Mother, prepared a lot of those foods shown there to feed those who were hungry on several picnic tables set up in our back yard (even years after the Great Depression – 1929 to 1939).

    Up until I graduated from, H.S. in Arlington, VA, my Mom still prepared many of these meals (with many improvements over the years) even though she graduated with high college honors and top grades in “Home Economics”). She was always very inventive and always making up a new dish or casserole. Both of them now lay buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

    This video brought back a lot of deep memories, of which, I can never forget, especially hominy and grits, although there were many recipe permutations, I can only remember a few times when we actually had grits for breakfast.

    And people wonder why I continue to love these beautiful Americans and America so much throughout my life.

    Thank You, So Much, Americans, From the Bottom of My Heart.

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  6. A very old Betty Crocker cook book I inherited has many recipes for “mock” this and “surprise” that. The funniest recipe is for “Emergency Steak” — something that you form into a T-bone steak shape using carrots. I think the description includes a helpful encouragement about making such a “steak” for times when you’ve got the boss over for dinner and there aren’t enough real steaks to go around; that is, apparently, an emergency.

    My grandad once talked about standing in a Seattle bread line along with several of the executives that owned and ran the company from which he was unemployed during the depression. They weren’t doing any better.

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  7. My mom’s family ate beef or mutton five days/week, fish on Friday and chicken Sunday. The beef might be deer or elk, the fish were out of the rivers and chickens were never hard to come by.

    My grandfather’s building went bust, but although the investors were not owed anything he paid back every last cent and ended up being the only person who lost anything. My dad’s father likewise. He managed as best he could and kept the business alive. Neither had to worry about food.

  8. @ RadioMattM SATURDAY, 31 AUGUST 2024, 15:05 AT 3:05 PM

    Hash is pretty much everyone’s favorite around my place. Just canned corned beef, shredded spuds, chopped onion and garlic. If I don’t make a big skillet once a week the kids bitch about it. Hash, two poached eggs and toast was my father’s favorite breakfast too. The eggs have to be poached soft though or you might as well feed it to the dog for all the enjoyment you’re going to get. I prefer either hash and eggs or oatmeal, made with milk, not water, and served with butter and brown sugar for breakfast.

  9. I still use many of those recipes. Bean soup especially. Cheap and easy to make. Out of ingredients that can be stored for ages, like canned or dried beans, tomato sauce etc. Add some diced ham or other meat.

    Creamed Tuna on toast was and still is a favorite. Now to be really fancy..I might make the meal in Puff Pastry cups and add some frozen green peas.

    Cooking frugal is NOT hard. Trust me.

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