“This book has been twelve years in the making. It was in January 1948 I started criss-crossing the United States as roving Food Editor for This Week Magazine–my assignment, tell “How America Eats.” I have traveled by train, plane, automobile, by mule back, on foot–in all over 800,000 miles.” –Clementine Paddleford, How America Eats
Happy Thanksgiving, all! Who is thankful we don’t have to catch our turkeys? Hope everyone has just exactly the sort of day you’re hoping for! More of Grandma Moses’s work here.
Yes, indeed, Dear Readers–it’s time once again for our annual mini-rant about why I don’t like the term, “Black Friday.” [Minor edits form original] “Black Friday” Thoughts: Part 1 Originally published on November 24, 2011 These two short essays are from Lines of a Layman: T)he Golden Rule in Every Day Living. The author is a guy named
Long time readers will recall that I have a very personal relationship with J.C. Penney–the store, and the man. My attachment to the store began before I was born, and continued until we broke up after a very long and sad decline. “It’s not me, it’s you,” was how I finally ended it. My attachment
#LaborDay (3) Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica Mr. and Mrs. Luis Avila grow fruit and vegetables and sell them at a roadside stand in Chimayo, New Mexico, thus eliminating the “middleman’s” margin. Farmers get only about 40 cents of the consumer’s food dollar. The Face of Rural America: The 1976 Yearbook of Agriculture [Link goes to
#LaborDay (2) Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica Ordinary People and Everyday Life: Perspectives on the New Social History (1983) [Link goes to Amazon. Used from$1.98] Review: Ordinary People and Everyday Life: Perspectives on the New Social History presents thoughts by ten prominent scholars in American history and material culture on a new way of doing history in the
From a couple of years ago. #LaborDay Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1939) [Link goes to Amazon. Audible version of this crappy old book is free.] That infallible source which has “multiple issues” (I’ll say!): Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is a book with text by American writer James Agee and photographs by American photographer Walker Evans,
This is a good one, especially if you live some place that approximates flyover land. No Gun for You! Published on August 22, 2019 by Marica | Edit This is hilarious. I tried to buy a gun at Walmart twice, and roadblocks left me empty-handed both times I encourage you to read the whole thing because it is laugh out
This is an interesting one. And you know this is not a political blog. But we do like history and we think there’s value in the observations of those who lived in the past. Interesting also because this was another instance of Big Dogs Jawin’–the early years of developing Missy and Rocky’s characters. This one
Miss Missy’s School Book I: A Pack of farm Dogs Starts a School (2021) is so much more than an endearing family story. It’s also a place for children and their grownups to learn! From the Introduction, “A Letter from Marica to you” “I hope you make some new friends here at Miss Missy’s School! Before
In the ten (?) years of Bigfoodetc’s existance, I have mentioned this crappy old book in 43 posts. Anniversaries and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them (Mary Emogene Hazeltine, American Library Association, Chicago, 1928) “Extracts from his speeches can be part of a program in Burke’s honor.” Right.
Photos from 12/12/2012 Woodland is a town up the road a bit. It’s a Company Town. From Woodland’s web site, copied 2012; all grammatical errors reproduced intact: You might wonder how Woodland Furniture, the largest furniture store in Mississippi and the second largest furniture store in the South, became such a store while it is
from History as You Heard It, Lowell Thomas, 1957. Thomas was a very famous radio broadcaster / newsman. The book is a collection of transcripts from his nightly news show, 1930-1955.
I wrote about Paddleford last March when I posted the recipe for Ruth Thornton’s Stuffed Peppers. Some years ago I took an online class, Writing American Food. Among the food and restaurant critics, cooks and authors the course covered was the “first food journalist,” Clementine Paddleford (1898-1967). She was a hoot. While based in New York,
reposting today. Happy Independence Day! Grievances Survey Originally published on July 4, 2019 by Marica An annotated Declaration of Independence is here, complete with what prompted the inclusion of each Grievance. As I could not figure out how to embed a real survey, we will do this the old fashioned way. Please use the Comments to answer the following
Reposting today. If you’ve been following along for the past … 10 years or so Originally published on June 30, 2020 by Marica You know that I really really like Independence day.
Reposting today Crappy Old Quote of the Day | NO. 138 Originally published on July 4, 2020 Cato’s Farewell John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon The London Journal, Saturday, July 27, 1723 “SIR, As I have with a success which no man has yet met with (if I regard the number of my readers, and the sale of
Reposting today Crappy Old Quote of the Day Originally published on July 6, 2020 Today we return Cato’s Letters (1720-1723) to the fourth shelf of the big bookshelf in the living room. It was a good run. Hope you enjoyed it. This is a bit late– I missed it entirely until just now as Lines of a Layman had been piled
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