Come & Get It! The Way We Ate 1830 -2008, until 1-12

In this presentation we draw on data from oral histories and archival documents to examine student foodways at Illinois State Normal University during the Great Depression. During this era, enrollments soared at “Old Normal” as teaching again became an attractive profession for both women and men. Most students lived in boarding houses and rented rooms around campus. Some heated meals in their rooms; others worked for their board; many brought food from the family home. One Rural Education student describes “living on peanut butter and pork and beans” and her envy of a housemate who dined on canned meat from her nearby family farm. A soda at the corner Co-op or a hamburger from Meltham’s was a special treat.

Such are the stories we have uncovered through the Old Main Project (oldmain.illinoisstate.edu), an archeological and oral history investigation of the first building of Illinois’ oldest public university. Our interviewees, alumni from 1935-1940, have shared their memories of working, living, and studying on and around campus. Many describe the ways they “made do” or “got by” and all relate feeling “lucky to be” at ISNU.

In this presentation, we will share information we have gathered through oral histories, photos, and artifacts that together create a picture everyday life and common foodways of students. We invite ISNU alumni and other audience members to share family stories of depression-era student foodways.

That’s certainly true about “Come and Get It!” While it’s the “stuff” that’s on display, the exhibit successfully provides visitors a sensual time-trip through Midwestern foodways. As with the museum’s other exhibits, it focuses on McLean County, but of course much is applicable to central Illinois in general.

Central to the exhibit are four kitchens. The first is a typical Midwestern kitchen of the 1840s. Cooking was done in the fireplace. By the 1880s wood was still the fuel, but cast iron stoves provided a flat surface for pans and better heat regulation. In the 1920s, stoves were fueled by gas, and even had temperature-controlled ovens – a huge step forward. There was running water, another vast improvement, as were ice boxes which kept foods cool by means of large blocks of ice.

The 1970s kitchen – with harvest gold appliances, of course – has a dishwasher, electric stove and refrigerator with freezer. Other electric appliances have made their appearance: a crock pot, mixer and electric skillet.

Interspersed between the kitchens are displays of the evolution of what foods were eaten and how they were prepared and procured – from hunting and growing-your-own, to specialty markets (butchers, bakers, greengrocers), local food producers and processors, to the rise of supermarket chains. Dining out is explored, from nonexistent in the 1830s, to special occasion only in the late 1800s and early 1900s, to today’s fast food franchises.

For this special project, the McLean County Historical Museum appointed a guest curator, Robert Dirks. He is an emeritus professor at Illinois State University who specialized in the anthropology of food and nutrition for nearly 30 years. Dirks spent more than two years researching and conducting interviews for “Come and Get It!” The essence of the resultant manuscript was developed into a “script,” then Dirks collaborated with a set designer to create the exhibit.

Dirk’s full manuscript also resulted in a companion book that’s due out in print in a few weeks. “Loads and loads of what’s in the book didn’t make it on the walls,” he says.

On June 18, Dirks will lead an all-day tour featuring the “Come and Get It!” exhibit as well as other historic sites of culinary note, most of which are in the book. “I’ll have lots of two cents to throw in,” says Dirks with a laugh. Sponsored by the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, the tour will begin at 10 a.m. at the exhibit (those who wish can arrive earlier for the Bloomington Farmers Market, which is located around the square).