The EMD Guide to Food from the 1950s: Timeline
Photograph: pincusvt
Food is usually categorized geographically, or culturally; cuisines are associated with nations or peoples. Here at Eat Me Daily we are dedicated to bringing you new and interesting ways of looking at what you eat, and thus we present our chronological guide to American gastronomy. Over the next several months, we'll look at the foods that rocked America, decade by decade. Up first: the 1950s
The 1950s were a busy time for American cuisine. We've created a timeline of important events in the 50s to help put in perspective the amazing people, places and businesses that rose to prominence later in the century. These events not only affected the cuisine and culture of the decade itself, but also affected the cuisine in the decades that followed. We hope to expand this timeline as we learn more about this decade (hopefully with your help!), but a decent start is below the jump.
1950
Scan from Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook via ottonassar.
- Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook is published by General Mills (buy it
).
- Judith Jones discovers The Diary of Anne Frank in a pile of rejected manuscripts, beginning her literary career. She later goes on to champion countless culinary masterworks, including books by Julia Child, Edna Lewis, and Madhur Jaffrey.
1951
Photograph: NMAH
- Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck open their cooking school, L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, in Paris.
- The New Haven Restaurant Institute changes its name to The Culinary Institute of America.
1952
Photograph: Today's Inspiration
- Tony the Tiger is the winner of a mascot contest for a new cereal from Kellogg's called "Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes of Corn," or simply "Frosted Flakes." He remains their mascot to this day.
1953
Photograph: Layle's
- TV dinners developed by Swanson.
- Denny's founded in Lakewood, CA
1954
James Beard. Photograph: Band of Thebes
- The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher is published (buy it
).
- The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook by Alice B. Toklas is published (buy it
).
- The Complete Book of Barbecue and Rotisserie Cooking by James Beard is published (buy it
).
- First Burger King opens in Jacksonville, Florida.
1955
Ray Kroc at the first McDonald's. Photograph: McDonald's
- Ray Kroc opens the first franchised McDonald's n 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- The first Waffle House opens Labor Day weekend 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia
- Births: Thomas Keller, Hervé This, Michael Pollan.
- Deaths: Fernand Point, Oscar Meyer, Sr.
- James Beard establishes The James Beard Cooking School.
- The Complete Book of Outdoor Cookery by James Beard is published (buy it
).
- Coca-Cola is sold in cans for the first time.
1956
- Charles E. Williams opens the first Williams-Sonoma in Sonoma, California.
- Bon Appetit launched 1956 (subscribe
)
- Births: Anthony Bourdain.
1957
- Craig Claiborne named New York Times food editor.
1958
Photograph: Ag-Images
- Momofuku Ando invents instant ramen noodles.
- First IHOP opens in Los Angeles, California.
- Ben's Chili Bowl, home of the famous half-smoke, opens in Washington, DC.
1959
Kitchen debates. Photograph by William Safire. Via nytimes.com
- Births: Emeril Lagasse.
- The James Beard Cookbook by James Beard published (buy it
).
- Nixon debates Khrushchev in a Soviet kitchen display. The event was later dubbed The Kitchen Debates.
- The Four Seasons opens in New York.
Dates collected from Wikipedia and then verified through linked sources. This post is a work in progress; if you have additions feel free to leave them in the comments or email us.
—Paula Forbes & Rachael Oehring
