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Bottles of imitation flavoring from Watkins and Currens plus one glass jar of Watkins Paprika |
Welcome to the supplemental blog post for Episode 17 of the Victory Kitchen Podcast! The availability of many of the popular spices for Americans was put at risk during the war because... well they were shipped in from all over the world and world war affected shipping a lot! We owe a lot to thank chemists and scientists. They created imitation equivalents to replace Americans' favorite spices that disappeared during the war like black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and flavorings like vanilla, banana, and pineapple!
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Crescent brand Mapeline - imitation maple flavor |
The Birmingham News Sun, 6 June 1943, had a great article called "Your Favorite Flavor" that described the process of making extracts and told about all the cool work scientists were doing to create synthetic flavorings for Americans during the war. They described the process this way:
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Warren's Imitation Nutmeg Check out the ingredient list! |
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Watkins Almanac 1942 |
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Watkins Almanac 1943 Sage is gone! |
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Watkins Almanac 1944 |
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Watkins Almanac 1944 |
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Watkins Almanac 1944 |
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Watkins Almanac 1945 (...and sage is back!) |
Cookbook Feature: Watkins Cook Book, 1945. I tried four different toast recipes and they were all delicious!
Websites/Articles:
Aldehydes
https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/aldehydes/
A really heavy article from 1941 about price control in
wartime
History of Old Bay Seasoning and its creator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bay_Seasoning
Interesting history of Joseph Burnett of the
Burnett’s Standard Flavoring Experts who made a pure vanilla extract and was
known for his other pure ingredients, including in his work as a pharmacists
and his role in the first successful painless dental surgery using ether.
https://oldmainartifacts.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/joseph-burnett-company-boston-ma/