The Passion of Former Days: food and drink

Showing posts with label food and drink. Show all posts

25 August, 2014

Soldiers Peeling Potatoes

Armies, unsurprisingly, used lots of potatoes in their cooking, and soldiers, unsurprisingly, were often set the task of peeling them. What is rather surprising is just how regularly photographers captured this event on film....

British soldiers peeling potatoes, Burma, 1945. Source

Library and Archives Canada

Canadian soldiers peeling potatoes, 1916. Source

Library and Archives Canada

Canadian soldiers peeling potatoes, 1916. Source

Children's Tea Parties

Kids have been enjoying miniature tea parties with their friends and dolls for a long time!

Library of Congress

Girls having a tea party with their dolls, ca. 1900. Source

State Library of Queensland

A little girl pouring tea for her doll, 1918, Queensland, Australia. Source

UA Archives - Upper Arlington Public Library

Two girls and two boys have tea on a front lawn, 1918. Source

Cat Eats Corn

Another look at the fluffy side of LIFE magazine. This is one of my favourite examples of "fluff"-- photographs of a cat that apparently likes to eat corn on the cob. I'm sure that only one of these pictures was actually published, possibly on the last page which for a while was reserved for a light-hearted picture (I haven't yet found it, but still looking), but of course, an actual real-life photojournalist was dispatched to do this so as per the course he shot a range of pictures to get the best one/one that would best fit the page. So the LIFE archives, as well as containing some of the defining photographs of our era, includes a whole bunch of photos of a cat eating corn.

1951, by Allan Grant.

Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Allan Grant, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Wartime Tea Breaks

When I first posted on soldiers drinking tea ("Tea, the Soldier's Drink"), I noted that this theme was so common in British wartime photographs that it would need two parts. Finally, almost two years later, here is that part two!

A British and an American soldier share tea in a dugout in Anzio, Italy, 1944. Source

British and Australian officers have an end of the day cup of tea in Korea, 1950-1953. Source

Soldiers get tea from a YMCA tea car, Anzio, Italy, 1944. Source

Forever Blowing Bubble Gum

Mid-century photos of people enjoying bubble gum!

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

1947. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

1947. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE© Time Inc.

Andrew J. Paris, the "Bubble Gum King," the first businessman to mass produce bubble gum after WWII (apparently he even has his own documentary!). 1947. Source

A Taste of Lobster

The people working at the Nova Scotia Archives are wonderful-- not only do they have in their collection a scrapbook of labels from canned lobsters (1880-1938), they recognized the quirky, colourful appeal of these labels, digitized them, and shared them on the Flickr Commons. You are awesome, folks of the Nova Scotia Archives.

As, I would say, are these lobster labels:

Nova Scotia Archives

Source

Nova Scotia Archives

Source

Nova Scotia Archives

Source

Picnicking in the Past

Hello and thank you to all my wonderful followers! I apologize for the prolonged absence-- I've been interning at an amazing photo collection, and much as I love photographs, I have to say that after 40 hours a week spent working with them, I need a break! I've just finished, though, and I have this month off before starting my second year of my master's (in photo history and preservation, of course!), so let's take advantage of it!

How about a nice, summery post to start? Picnics of the past!

LIFE archives © Time Inc.

A carside picnic, ca. 1930. Source

Swedish National Heritage Board

Picknicking in Lyskeil, Sweden, ca. 1890. Source

State Library of Queensland

A hunting party has a picnic, Queensland, Australia. Source

Soldiers Drinking

All right, time for the blog to get back on track! I apologize for the extended absence--last month of the first year of grad school! (in photographic history and preservation, of course). Thank you to all my wonderful followers for your patience, tons of great stuff to come!

We've had a post on soldiers drinking tea; sometimes--especially during or at the end of a war-- something stronger is needed.

Recently released British prisoners of war have drinks at an officer's bar in Rangoon, Burma, 1945. Source

British troops have a drink at a cafe in Brussels, 1944. Source

Airmen on leave have a beer in Brussels, 1944. Source

Out for Drinks

Bars, saloons, pubs and speakeasies of days gone by.

From various collections.

Ralph Morse, LIFE © Time Inc.

The bar at a music hall, London, 1946. Source

Tony Linck, LIFE © Time Inc.

Sam's Bar and Grill, NYC, 1949. Source

John Philips, LIFE © Time Inc.

A small saloon in Paraguay, 1939. Source

Coca-Cola Comes to France

A series from LIFE capturing the French as they first meet Coke, 1950. (no product endorsement intended, haha).

Photographs by Mark Kauffman, from the LIFE archives.

Mark Kauffman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Mark Kauffman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Mark Kauffman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Time for a Cuppa

A cup of tea with people of the past!

From various sources.

Walter Sanders, LIFE © Time Inc.

Actors Burgess Meredith and Paulette Goddard take a break from skiing for tea, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1946. Source

Hans Wild, LIFE © Time Inc.

Lady Astor serving tea to family members at the Waldorf Astor estate, UK, 1943. Source

A volunteer serves tea to a man who has been bombed out of his home, 1941. Source

Tea, the Soldier's Drink

Sometimes even-- or especially-- in the midst of war, you just need a cup of tea. (Especially when you're British.... so much so, in fact, that this will be a two-parter, thanks to the Imperial War Museum!).