Culinary Ephemera

California Studies in Food and Culture #30

by William Woys Weaver

This extraordinary collection, a trove of enchanting designs, appealing colors, and forgotten motifs that stir the imagination, features an unprecedented assortment of ephemera, or paper collectibles, related to food. It includes images of postcards, match covers, menus, labels, posters, brochures, valentines, packaging, advertisements, and other materials from nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Internationally acclaimed food historian William Woys Weaver takes us on a lively tour through this dazzling collection in which each piece tells a new story about food and the past. Packed with fascinating history, the volume is the first serious attempt to organize culinary ephemera into categories, making it useful for food lovers, collectors, designers, and curators alike. Much more than a catalog, Culinary Ephemera follows this paper trail to broader themes in American social history such as diet and health, alcoholic beverages, and Americans abroad. It is a collection that, as Weaver notes, will “transport us into the vicarious worlds of dinners past, brushing elbows with the reality of another time, another place, another human condition.”

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Art

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated but I had hoped for a bit more. Rather than discuss the types of ephemera as a whole and how they were used (when, where, why) the book essentially discusses each illustration in turn (and, as other reviewers mentioned, the text and the illustrations don't line up).

I'm not sure why it's in the California Studies in Food and Culture list, especially given the author's experience and leanings toward Philadelphia and the region. There is little mention of California and the West which is surprising given its agricultural and culinary wealth. (And whats up with so little mention of fruit crate labels- a California collectors dream in their own right?) There is great potential to address orientalism and perceptions of Native Americans and African Americans in the book. To be clear the author does bring up the stereotyping of blacks and Native Americans but a more nuanced discussion would be appreciated as well.

I think I expected a different type of book, but this was essentially an introduction to collecting. Not very helpful for the researcher/ scholar/ student but an interesting coffee table book.

[Kevin Sedota · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book somewhat disappointing. It is a huge topic but it didn't seem to cover single topice in enough detail to leave me satisfied.
Also the author's writing style left me uneasy. It does not seem to flow well. I found it difficult to keep my train of thought going. Also annoying is the fact that the pictures (critical in this work) seldom line up with the text. You will be reading about an item but you will have to turn the page to see a picture of that item.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weaver includes a nice sampling of ephemera from mostly the 19th and 20th centuries, offering tips to collectors and examples of deeper analysis for academics. The images are all great.