Prologue: Pieces of History

Today’s guest post comes from Jennifer Audsley Moore, who is an archives technician and volunteer coordinator at the National Archives at Kansas City. Whale: It’s what’s for dinner. At least, that is how the U.S. Food Administration and U.S Bureau of Fisheries would have it. During World War I, the U.S. Food Administration was established [...]

Schools around the country are back in session, and while course loads may vary greatly, students from kindergarten to high school all have a slot in their schedules for lunchtime. On Wednesday, September 8, the National Archives in Washington will be showing the documentary film Lunch Line as part of our series of programs related [...]

The only five-star general ever to be elected President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower was a man of many accomplishments. That is why it should come as no surprise that Ike was a leader in the kitchen as well. Throughout his Presidency, Eisenhower used the kitchen on the third floor of the White House [...]

Want a waffle with that earthshake? All Virginia earthquake jokes aside, today is a momentous day indeed. On this day in 1869, Dutch American Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York, received a U.S. patent for the first waffle iron. Described as simply a “device to bake waffles,” the waffle iron was heated over a coal [...]

The National Archives current marquee exhibit, “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?”, is drawing some good crowds and public press. It’s showing in our main building in downtown Washington through Jan. 3, 2012. It’s all about how the Government has tried through the decades to dictate, or influence, what we should eat and why we should eat something from each [...]