Dining du Jour: American Food Fads in the 20th Century

June 22, 2023 Archive Insight

Roast chicken. Mashed potatoes. A simple chocolate cake. Some foods have a sense of timelessness about them — they are reliable standbys that seem or stand the test of time with little to no alteration. Other foods, however, drift in and out of the public consciousness — and our refrigerators and stomachs. These foods are fads — practices followed for a time with exaggerated zeal, per the Merriam-Webster dictionary — and they reflect the values and preoccupations of the times in which they were popular.

As the 19th turned into the 20th century, domestic science and home economics arose as formally taught disciplines. Many domestic scientists espoused a view of women and women’s work that emphasized “feminine virtues” like beauty and daintiness. This changed the way women were expected to cook, as more emphasis was placed on presentation and nutritional value, rather than on creating culinary experiences that delighted the senses and filled the stomach.

This emphasis is readily apparent in the popularity of aspics — gelatinized dishes — in the first decades of the 20th century. Recipe booklets — most often produced by gelatin companies like Knox Gelatine and Jell-O — gave home cooks a myriad of ways to incorporate gelatin into their meals, in ways both savory and sweet. These dishes were often served on beds of iceberg lettuce, or in hollowed-out halves of fruit, providing a compact way of serving all of a meal's component parts in one tidy package.

The 1924 recipe booklet “Dainty Desserts for Dainty People” included recipes for jiggly jellied creations like "Salad-Dessert” and “Corned Tongue in Aspic.” / THF708085, THF708087

Aspics would remain a somewhat popular part of American cuisine into the 1970s, when they began to decline in popularity; some regional gelatin dishes hung on, though, and can be found at potlucks and family gatherings to this day.

While some food fads stem from the prevailing advice of the time, others stem from pop-culture trends of the moment. In the mid-20th century, American thoughts turned to space, and their appetites soon followed suit. Tang — the powdered vitamin C breakfast drink first produced in 1957 and marketed as a healthier, more convenient alternative to orange juice — rocketed to popularity after it was sent to space with John Glenn when he first orbited Earth in 1962. Tang’s subsequent marketing would lean heavily into the space connection, while continuing to tout its superior vitamin C levels and convenience. While its popularity in the U.S. waned in the years following the Space Race — despite being marketed as a potential ingredient in all sorts of recipes — it remains popular in Asia, South America, and the Middle East.

Advertisement for Tang, “Chosen for the Gemini Astronauts,” 1966 / THF230075

Less enduring in popularity after the Space Age were Space Food Sticks. These “non-frozen balanced energy snacks in rod form containing nutritionally balanced amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein” (to quote the 1970 patent) were first produced by Pillsbury in 1969, and modeled after the food cubes the company had created for the 1962 Aurora 7 mission. They were marketed primarily to children, and had a consistency similar to a Tootsie Roll. Production halted in 1980, although for a period of time between 2006 and 2014, visitors to the Kennedy Space Center and the National Air and Space Museum could purchase a revival version produced by Retrofuture Products.

Pillsbury Space Food Sticks, 1969-1971 / THF175150

There have also been trends against certain foods. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) — first prepared in 1908 by Japanese chemist Dr. Kikunae Ikeda to achieve the distinctive, savory umami taste found in sea kelp — was first used by American food manufacturers in the late 1920s. In the wake of World War II, interest on the part of the military and the advent of frozen foods saw increased demand for MSG, and the first U.S. brand — Ac'cent — hit the shelves in 1947.

The 1960s, however, brought with it a rising distrust of industrialized food, and MSG came under scrutiny — alleged to be the culprit behind everything from the vague “Chinese restaurant syndrome” to brain damage in mice. Despite questionable scientific evidence — the FDA has consistently classified it as safe for human consumption — MSG quickly fell out of public favor, although recent research into the science of umami has led to a resurgence in popularity.

Food fads can also be about how we eat. There has often been an element of prescriptive diet or health advice behind food fads, often tied to the idea of getting thinner as a synonym for getting healthier.

This introduction to “Sophia’s Recommended Recipes,” published by Weight Watchers in 1971, reflects the idea that being “lighter” is better, as well as the notion that diets are primarily for women (whom it assumes eat smaller portions), not men. / THF296150

“Fad dieting” has become its own term, often used to refer to trendy schemes that promise dramatic results, but have little to no scientific veracity. These trends come and go, with a new regime seeming to crop up every few years. Even the more long-standing weight loss programs change with the times, shifting their marketing and programming to best attract new clients.

1975’s “The Skinny Book,” published by Better Homes and Gardens and sponsored by diet soda brands TAB and Fanta, focused on low-calorie dieting as a method to weight-loss — with a healthy dose of product placement. / THF708069

The transitory and often contradictory nature of diet advice perhaps serves as a reminder that well-trained medical professionals — not marketers — remain an important resource for healthy eating guidelines.

Whether they stem from well-meaning advice or well-placed marketing, whether they are embraced or derided, food fads are an inescapable part of the culture of cuisine. Whether you dig into the latest dish or stick to the classics — bon appétit!