Browsing: Food

A Brief History On July 22, 1942, due to wartime demands on gasoline, the US instituted a national rationing program for this fuel.  World War II saw many items rationed, including fuels, tires, and even cars.  But it gets worse! Digging Deeper World War II begat the issuance of ration stamps, resulting in black market and counterfeit stamps. Dog food in cans disappeared, and toothpaste tubes were limited.  A national 35 mph speed limit was instituted, coffee availability was cut in half, shoes, bicycles, rubber products, many foods, coal, firewood, and medicines such as penicillin were rationed.  Silk was rationed,…

A Brief History On July 17, 1984, President Reagan signed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, requiring all states to raise the legal age for buying alcoholic beverages from 18 to 21.  The penalty for states that did not comply would be a reduction in Federal highway funds. Digging Deeper In the Vietnam War era, a shift in public opinion regarding the age when an American could be considered an adult came about largely based on the argument that if an 18 year old could fight and possibly die for his country, then surely that same 18 year…

A Brief History On July 14, 2013, a statue of Rachel Carson was erected at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, commemorating her environmental activism, including writing the book, Silent Spring in 1962 that served to alert Americans about the dangers of pesticides. Digging Deeper Many persons have done service to mankind and deserve a statue.  Today, we ask you, who you would dedicate a statue to that does not already have statues in their honor? Here are some people we think are worthy of being immortalized on statues, and in any instance in which a statue already exists depicting any of these…

A Brief History On June 3, 1844, the last known pair of Great Auks was killed on a small island off Iceland, a magnificent species of flightless bird resembling but not related to Penguins, 30 to 33 inches tall but with tiny six-inch wings. Digging Deeper Long a staple food and source of feathers and skins for Native American people, the soft down of the Great Auk made it a target for European hunters that decimated the populations of the aquatic birds. Changing climate and geography naturally eliminates some species of plants and animals, but humans have greatly accelerated the…

A Brief History On January 24, 1935, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey, introduced the world to the convenience of beer in cans.  Lucky for American servicemen, canned beer became popular in time for World War II, making transporting beer to thirsty troops a much easier task. Digging Deeper If you are wondering, soda pop did not appear in canned form until 1955 when Coke first made the leap and then in 1964 when RC Cola first canned their bubbly soda in aluminum cans, a further refinement of the beverage industry.  As usual, the dates of these…