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Where in the US did people not have freezers in the 1960's? What kind of freezers do you mean? Fridge freezers, or the kind that are a separate unit? Most people don't need a big freezer.
We were working class. But we had a standalone freezer. You just reminded me of that. It was a "free" freezer if you agreed to buy a buttload of frozen meat from the company that provided the freezer. I recall the company's name was "Natpac" or something similar.
We were working class. But we had a standalone freezer. You just reminded me of that. It was a "free" freezer if you agreed to buy a buttload of frozen meat from the company that provided the freezer. I recall the company's name was "Natpac" or something similar.
Lots of folks did that in our area.
they've tried to scam me twice with buying a freezer and this frozen mystery meat for big bucks
most people I know have a chest freezer in the basement at least in more rural areas-
needed one for wild game- it is a sense of security to have a freezer full of meat
even today many buy in bulk (meats) and freeze...and many people buy half a critter,,,beef or pig, and also meat packages . and freeze in the chest freezer in the basement
we had a severe ice storm in maine yrs ago many lost power for three weeks
we had a freezer full of meat and a woodstove - we didn't panic like many did
Mine as well I remember her saying "I had to get up at 2am to put the turkey on then baste all night long". No wonder she was all tuckered out & a bit grouchy come suppertime.
Hey you're cutting me right out of this memory lane excursion going back further than 50 years.
Only my "rich" gma had Tupperware the one we went to for holiday meals used Corning Ware for leftovers so they could be heated up in that. We used the back porch for an extra refrigerator too because she didn't own a stand alone freezer until the 1980s. When she passed mother did buy a turkey roaster so the oven would be free to bake all the rest of the dishes.
I remember my dad sat in his Lazy Boy recliner with a huge wooden bowl on his lap cracking mixed nuts he'd eat one & put one in a bowl for the date pudding mother would be making. (no not his in-laws or children) When I moved out of home if a recipe called for walnuts I subbed pecans because I could still only buy walnuts that had to be cracked in my area.
I too remember the cracking of nuts and eating 1/2 of what we cracked. Sometimes dad would do it, usually it was us kids.
You don't have to go back 50 plus years, just back long enough to rememeber how different holiday dinners were. ANd in some cases probably not that different. My son in law still thinks the turkey has to be basted at least every hour, if not more. He and DD are bound and determined it is the only only way to cook a turkey in the oven. I don't agree, but it is their turkey and their choise.
Can anyone remember plucking the turkey? I loved to pull the last of the pin feathers out. I almost miss that, but my kids think I am nuts.
50 years ago? That was the mid-1960's. TV dinners (in aluminum containers) were invented in the 1950's. And so was aluminum foil, if it wasn't invented in the 40's. Tupperware was around by the mid-60's, I'm pretty sure.
Where in the US did people not have freezers in the 1960's? What kind of freezers do you mean? Fridge freezers, or the kind that are a separate unit? Most people don't need a big freezer. Ovens were and still are larger than microwave ovens. Use of sweet potatoes in dishes for Thanksgiving must be a geographical phenomenon. This is the first0s I've heard of serving sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving (or any time). And I don't know anyone who fries a turkey. Ew! Some of these sound like Southern dishes. That is not the norm nationwide.
deep fried turkey is anything but southern. It has been featured on the Food network and other places and the fryiers are available at all WalMarts, etc. The first time I had one or maybe the second time was while living in Abq about 10 years ago. My husbands cousin remembers the first one he had, it was at his son's house a few years ago, in Maryland. As for aluminum you really don't remember back then do you? Yes, TV dinners were available in the 50s but rarely did people use them and they didnt' save the containers often. I am talking about disposalable containers like we have now. As for freezers, many people didn't have any freezer except for a small one as part of their fridge.
I might add, we have lived all over the country so many of the things I am mentioning are not regional, but I am sure some are. The sweet potato casserole was served at many homes in So. CA. we also had it in VA. Jello salad of all kinds was something people all over the country served for many years, up until, I am guessing the early 80s. BTW, if you read some of the postings you will see, some of us are talking mroe than 50 years ago, probably before you were born.
Regardless, I think this is a fun topic: many of us enjoy reading what was tradtional years ago, compared to today. The point probably isn't actual dates, but just hearing about family favorites that we no longer share. Yes, certainly some dishes are regional, that is interensting as well.
I just asked my mom about the "50 years ago" bit. She said most things that they have today, they had then. Aluminum containers, aluminum foil for food storage, Tupperware, big ovens, usually two ovens in an oven/stove appliance, electric mixers for the mashed potatoes. Everything but microwave ovens, b0s ut those don't cook all that well. She said convection ovens were available by the 1970's, maybe 40 years ago. You have to go a lot farther back to get to when things were significantly different, she said.
yes, two ovens were in many homes if they were new or remodeled, but the average home, 50 years ago was probably built in the 50s or before and didn't have double ovens. I think our first home with 2 ovens was in the early 80s. Tupperware was around but not something our found a lot of in many homes; maybe some, but not like the storage containers we have today. As for confection ovens, until the mid 80s few people had any idea what they were. I think I have a pretty good idea, in the 80s I taught foods classes to adults and my degree (in the late 50s) was in foods and nutrition. I guess all this depends on what type of a home you were raised in.
I don't get that either. I remember my mother (early 1960s) getting up 3-4 AM to put the turkey in the oven.
And we never had a "children's table". Maybe because there was a huge dining table. We were always expected to eat with the adults, interact with them, & use proper manners.
We didn't have a kids table either, but we did when our grandkids were little (in the 90s) mainly because our table couple hold the number of people we served. yes, the manners was an important part of our childhood and that of our kids.
We had capons for Thanksgiving, not turkey. My father's family always had capons and that was a tradition dating back to the 19th century. The sides were stuffing, peas, carrots, sauerkraut, cranberry "salad" mold and, yes, of course, mashed potatoes and rolls with butter. Pies for dessert, including mincemeat pie and an apple pie. At some point someone introduced pumpkin pie but I was much older. We lived in Pennsylvania.
We never had sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving or any other time of the year. I do remember people mentioning them but I'm not aware of them being "required" for Thanksgiving. Likewise for green bean casserole.
It was very traditional food. There was nothing processed about it. It was similar to the meals we ate on a regular basis except that the quantity was much larger. As a child Thanksgiving was at my grandmother's house and she had help, so the meal was early in the afternoon and afterwards the help would go to her family's house for their Thanksgiving meal.
We had capons for Thanksgiving, not turkey. My father's family always had capons and that was a tradition dating back to the 19th century. The sides were stuffing, peas, carrots, sauerkraut, cranberry "salad" mold and, yes, of course, mashed potatoes and rolls with butter. Pies for dessert, including mincemeat pie and an apple pie. At some point someone introduced pumpkin pie but I was much older. We lived in Pennsylvania.
We never had sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving or any other time of the year. I do remember people mentioning them but I'm not aware of them being "required" for Thanksgiving. Likewise for green bean casserole.
It was very traditional food. There was nothing processed about it. It was similar to the meals we ate on a regular basis except that the quantity was much larger. As a child Thanksgiving was at my grandmother's house and she had help, so the meal was early in the afternoon and afterwards the help would go to her family's house for their Thanksgiving meal.
33 yrs ago I remember selling 20-30 capons at the supermarket I worked at
yes, two ovens were in many homes if they were new or remodeled, but the average home, 50 years ago was probably built in the 50s or before and didn't have double ovens. I think our first home with 2 ovens was in the early 80s. Tupperware was around but not something our found a lot of in many homes
I remember a lot of households in my neighborhood having free-standing ranges with two ovens - one in the conventional spot, and the other above the burners. The door opened either to the side or toward the ceiling. They were quite popular for awhile. My grandmother's was coppertone - and her house was built in the 1890s.
As for the Tupperware, I vehemently disagree with you that it wasn't common. Tupperware was all the rage and everyone's mom had some.
Ok, just thinking about the turkey fryers makes me remember what it was like preparing holiday meals 30, 40, 50 or more years ago and wondering what our family members would think if they could see us today.
We didn't have micro waves to heat things: we had smaller ovens, many didn't have freezers, and deep fryers for turkeys would have made our parents or grandparents just laugh. No one ever heard of throw away containers made of aluminum , and no there was hardly any decent way to cover the left overs, plus there was no room in the fridge anyway,
Meals wise, no dinner was complete without sweet potato casserole topped with canned pineapple and marshmellow melted over the top. Oh, and don't forget the jello salad. We always had Parkerhouse rolls to go with all the other foods.
What else was different then, compared to now?
Speak for yourself! My family absolutely had a microwave and freezer 30 years ago! My grandmother has had 2 stand alone freezers for well over 40 years. She's also had a microwave since the month they became available where she lives. The oven wasn't smaller. Maybe you just had a smaller stove than others?
You never had aluminum containers? TV Dinners didn't exist in your neck of the woods? And no way to store leftovers? What planet did you live on? My word my family has had Tupperware for decades! And they have TONS of it. There's also Corning Ware and Pyrex. Not to mention aluminum foil, Saran wrap, wax paper, butcher paper.
There's no such thing as Sweet Potato Casserole with canned pineapple and marshmallows where I live. I can't even imagine why you would do that to a sweet potato!! Jello salad? Hello Donna Reed! Parkerhouse Rolls don't exist here either. A great deal of this is regional.
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- and her house was built in the 1890s.
