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Food Firsts and Technological Marvels

The Pan-American Exposition gave manufacturers the opportunity to exhibit their products and introduce the latest technological innovations to an eager and ready-to-buy public. In addition to the food company exhibits like those of the Libby's and the Quaker Oats Companies, the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building housed vendors showing off new tools and gadgets, some designed for industry and others for an up and coming market----the home.

"Wholesome and Healthful"

Many of the foods we recognize and still use today were developed during the period between 1850 and 1900. Many of these were exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition, where many vendors promoted the "healthful" effects of their products. Indeed the mid-to-late 19th century was a period which saw the beginnings of what we now know as "nutritional science." Scientists began to see a relationship between health and food and the advances in analytical chemistry and provided the scientific data to prove it.

Of course, advertisers jumped on this early incarnation of the adage, "you are what you eat." By 1901, food advertisements emphasized the "wholesomeness" and "healthfulness" of their products. The American Cereal Company's Quaker Oats ads echoed claims that its cereal "leads to good health" telling people to eat less meat and "more Quaker Oats" while Dold's Packing Company, insisted that their "Corn-fed porkers make sweet healthful food." At fairs and venues like the Pan-American Exposition, vendors distributed literature on tradecards and hired "barkers" to "sell" to the public the idea that their products would make a person feel better and live longer.

See the related page Food and Health.

Canned and Packaged Foods

Ironically, as the emphasis on eating healthier food grew, so did the public's desire for quick and easy to serve processed food products. The late 19th Century saw the development of the canned meat and fruit industries--Libby's, Armour's, Van Camp, Borden and Heinz were the giants of the day. During this period saccharin, synthetic vanilla, and flaked cereal also entered the market, as well as the myriad of soda pop brands, most of which are still in use today. The decade of the 1890's was an especially lucrative one for "quick food" producers with products like minute tapioca, "instant" cereal, condensed soup, and pre-ground coffee guaranteed to ease the labor of meal preparation.

The first metal cans/containers were patented by Englishman Thomas Kensett 1825. While canned meats, fruits and vegetables were produced in America on a limited basis prior to the 1850's, the Civil War "created a significant need for portable foods to feed the troops and as a result, the canning industry rapidly expanded."¹ Opening canned foods was somewhat problematic until the invention of the can opener in the 1860's. Development of an opener was possible once cans were made of steel rather than iron.

	Most processed foods were preserved in cans and containers made out of tin. Boxes proved ideal for cereal, salt, powdered gelatin, soups, etc.

Foods at the Fair

Popcorn

The Pan-American Exposition was not the first fair at which popcorn was a major concession. In his book "Popped Culture,"³ Andrew F. Smith discusses the history of popcorn and discusses its appearance at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Besides the traditional popped corn sold by numerous vendors, visitors could try Frederick Rueckheim's special mixture of popcorn, molasses and peanuts. This concoction would eventually become "Cracker Jack."

While no one is exactly sure when the history of popcorn began, it was not until the late 19th century that it took on popularity as not only a snack food, but a healthful one at that. Ella Kellogg, wife of heath-food guru John Harvey Kellogg, (sister-in-law of future cereal magnate William K. Kellogg) promoted popcorn as more than a snack food. She urged people to eat it "in connection with other food at mealtime, and not as a delicacy between meals."⁴

Of course, popcorn found lasting popularity as a snack food and as such, become a lucrative concession at fairs and expositions. Popcorn concessions proved profitable not only to the concessionaires, but also to the exposition managers, who were paid sizable percentages of the proceeds. For instance, George A. Dirpberger, of Buffalo, was the popcorn vendor listed in the ledgers of Frederick William Taylor, the Head of Concessions at the Pan-American Exposition. While Mr. Dirpberger paid "regular rate" for the space he rented on the North Midway, he also paid 50% of sales to the Exposition operators.⁵

Orangeade

Orangeade was sold at concession stands and booths scattered throughout the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition. This drink, developed during the Civil War, was a mixture of orange juice, an infusion of the orange peel, and thin sugar syrup. Orange or lemon syrups were also used to make ades. A pound and a half of sugar was added to pint of juice, a bit of the peel, and then boiled for ten minutes. The liquid was then strained and either bottled or served over ice.⁶

To find the locations of Orangeade vendors, see the map of the Softdrink Vendors, Restaurants and Toilets Located on the Exposition Grounds.

Ice Cream and Soda Water

The years leading up to the Pan-American Exposition proved to be periods of intense growth in the ice cream and soda water industries. Five million gallons of ice cream were being produced in the United States in 1899, largely due to the invention of mechanical refrigeration and new types of freezers.⁷ Soda water, which had its origins in medicine, first appeared in a flavored variety in the 1830's. It was a hit at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia but it wasn't until the ice cream soda was invented that the growth of both industries literally exploded. While there are numerous disputes as to who actually "discovered" this mixture of soda water and ice cream, there is no arguing its enormous popularity. By 1895, there were 50,000 to 60,000 soda fountains in the United States, operating in drug stores, restaurants, confectionaries and roadside push carts.⁸ It is no wonder that an event the size of the Pan-American Exposition needed at roughly 20 ice cream and soda water vendors. (See the map of Softdrink Vendors, Restaurants, etc. )

The ice cream soda continued to gain popularity well into the 20th century. However, during the last decade of the 1800s, the soda water industry was also growing in a direction that did not include ice cream. While root beer was being produced in mass quantities as early as 1876 and the first cola flavored beverages were introduced in the mid-1880's, the development of the modern soft drink industry was made possible by the invention of the Crown bottlecap in 1892. "Tiny in design, the crown completely revolutionized the soft drink industry by preventing the escape of carbon dioxide from bottled beverages. In fact, it was the dominant soft drink closure for more than 70 years."⁹

Soda Water vendors on the Midway

More Food Firsts

In 1901, Quaker Oats cereals and the Natural Food Company's Triscuit were relatively new products, having been developed in 1891 and 1895 respectively. Others fledgling products included Cream of Wheat, Jell-O, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Michelob beer and the Hershey bar. By the advent of the Pan-American Exposition, the country had experienced a number of "food firsts," many of which debuted at other world's fairs and expositions. Here are a few examples:

Move on to Food-Related Marvels

References:
1. Ellen M. Plante, The American Kitchen, 1700 to the Present: From Hearth to Highrise (New York: Facts on File, 1995), p. 144.
2.Ibid., p.145.
3. Andrew F. Smith. Popped Culture : a Social History of Popcorn in America. Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press, 1999.
4. Ibid., p.36.
5. Frederick William Taylor Papers, 1897-1944. Collection No. 153. Held in the Department of Special Collections, UCLA. Special thanks to Carol A. Turley for her assistance with the ledger entries.
6. "Invention Facts and Myths" The Great Idea Finder. Online. URL: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/of_inventions.htm. Last accessed 12 May 2002.
7.Linda Stradley. History of Ice Cream Cones. c2004. Online.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamCone.htm. Last accessed 10 June 2010..
8.Anne Cooper Funderburg. Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla: A History of American Ice Cream. Bowling Green, OH : Bowling Green State University Press, 1995. p.97
9. National Soft Drink Association. The History of America and Soft Drinks Go Hand in Hand. c1999. Online.
http://www.nsda.org/softdrinks/History/history.html. Last accessed 12 May 2002. (Link no longer active).
10. Linda Stradley. Hot Dogs - History and Legends of Hot Dogs. c2004. Online. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HotDog/HDIndex.htm. Last accessed 10 June 2010..
11. Alice Ross. "Cottolene: The Mysterious Disappearance of Lard." Hearth to Hearth (February 2002.) Online. http://www.journalofantiques.com/Feb02/hearthfeb.htm. Last accessed May 5, 2002.


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