"Food Will Win the War"
This part of the exhibition features photographs, posters, and other physical evidence from the homefront. Frugality, efficiency, and the rationing of food were seen as ways that women and children could fulfill their patriotic duty and support the war effort on the frontlines.
Case 1 - Contents Below
Foods that Will Win the War
C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss
New York, 1918
Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College
This cookbook contains a multitude of recipes promoting food conservation and rationing during the war. In addition to recipes, the book contains propagandistic rhetoric implicating those at home in the waging of war.
C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss
New York, 1918
Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College
This cookbook contains a multitude of recipes promoting food conservation and rationing during the war. In addition to recipes, the book contains propagandistic rhetoric implicating those at home in the waging of war.
Home Economics Class
Middlebury College
1913
Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College
Middlebury College
1913
Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College
Propaganda Poster
United States Food Administration
United States Food Administration
Conservation Recipes
The Mobilized Women's Organization of Berkeley
Berkeley, 1917
This book, written by the "Mobilized Women's Organization of Berkeley," provides a detailed perspective on "bottom up" efforts within the political sphere of food during wartime. In contrast to government propaganda, this work highlights civilian involvement in encouraging both frugality and efficiency in food consumption during WWI. Which civilians were motivated by these efforts towards efficiency and conservation in the home? Who had access to the food needed for these recipes?
The Mobilized Women's Organization of Berkeley
Berkeley, 1917
This book, written by the "Mobilized Women's Organization of Berkeley," provides a detailed perspective on "bottom up" efforts within the political sphere of food during wartime. In contrast to government propaganda, this work highlights civilian involvement in encouraging both frugality and efficiency in food consumption during WWI. Which civilians were motivated by these efforts towards efficiency and conservation in the home? Who had access to the food needed for these recipes?
Scarcity Recipes
Scan the QR code or click the link below to watch TikToks of students testing WWI scarcity recipes like Nut Chowder.
"One Lid Fits All"
Central to the day-to-day experience of conflict was the struggle to obtain and prepare nutritious food, let alone cook food that tasted good. We have chosen three locations, Vienna (Austro-Hungary), Frankfurt am Main (Germany), and Middlebury to explore the impacts of wartime rationing and scarcity on the home front.
A piece of bread, a miniature kitchen set, and photographs accompany our digital exhibition; taken together, they lay bare the politics of food under the catastrophic conditions of global warfare.
A piece of bread, a miniature kitchen set, and photographs accompany our digital exhibition; taken together, they lay bare the politics of food under the catastrophic conditions of global warfare.
Mini-kitchen
An example of a prefabricated kitchen, ca 1960s. Wood, acrylic paint. The movable components of this “mini kitchen” work to symbolically represent the standardization and universal nature of Frankfurt kitchens. The easily assembled, affordable materials of such kitchens reflect the familiar principles of mass production also seen in the toy industry. |
K-brot
Brown, whole rye bread with substitutes, 2023. Whole rye flour, sawdust, yogurt. Due to shortages during the war, the traditional Kommissbrot — a hearty bread of rye and other grains that was standard for military provisions — became known as both Kriegsbrot (war bread) and Kartoffelbrot (potato bread). As the war continued, the recipe effectively changed to reflect worsening material conditions. With sawdust and potato meal largely replacing traditional wheat and rye, the Ersatz, or replacement, version that found its way to mouths on the homefront and the front lines became colloquially known as K-brot. |
Sugar Ration Promotion Poster
Library of Congress This poster, most likely posted at the entry of a store in the United States, emphasizes the owner’s pledge to ration sugar for the war effort. The poster compares America’s “voluntary” rationing with “compulsory” rationing in England, France, and Italy. Photograph of a Food Line
Library of Congress In this photograph, a shopkeeper stamps the pages of a housewife’s ration book with her weekly allotments for tea, sugar, butter, margarine, and bacon. His inked hands show hours of stamping, exhibiting the laborious and tedious process ration distribution. Propaganda Poster
United States Food Administration This poster reminds the viewer that by cutting quotidian foods (like a slice of bread) out of their diet, they can potentially provide necessary nutrients to those at the front. In suggesting that simply removing a loaf of bread from your grocery cart will “help win the war,” the United States Food Administration welcomed Americans at home to join the war effort. |
Ration Card
University of Michigan (go Blue!) Ration cards, like this one, were used in World War I to track and restrict the distribution of food to people on the home front. Rationing, conserving, and sending food to soldiers on the front lines enabled those at home to actively contribute to the war effort. Propaganda Poster
United States Food Administration Funded by the United States Food Administration, this work pulls on the heartstrings of the American civilian population, drawing a direct connection between their frugality – specifically, the conservation of meat and wheat – and the wellbeing of those in theaters of battle. The pairing of image and question, “Are you doing your part?” puts civilian patriotism in the spotlight and highlights the politics of food during WWI. Propaganda Poster
United States Food Administration By placing quotidian kitchen items in front of men on horseback, this propaganda poster creates a direct connection, and contrast, between the home front and the front line. In suggesting four options with which Americans can replace wheat, which should be saved for the “fighters,” the poster is persuasive and informative. |