Table-setting suggestions for casual settings

Cookbooks are excellent sources of historical information, as they often reflect common societal themes, norms and issues at that specific time. The cookbook When You Entertain: What to Do, and How, by Ida Bailey Allen, does not simply teach contemporary readers on how to entertain according to the 1930s, but it also educates readers on the historical period in which it is from. Implications of the book's contents pertain to American patriotism, the CocaCola company, as well as gender in the time of the Great Depression. 

CocaCola was originally invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton, in Atlanta Georgia USA. The drink, like most other sodas created in the 18th century, were introduced and advertised as ‘plant remedies,’ intended to have healing properties for various ailments. In the case of CocaCola, headaches were its main purpose. Very quickly, the drink’s reputation changed. From the beginning of CocaCola in 1886, to today, the drink has become a symbol of America. So much so, that even during the Great Depression (1929-1930’s), when the stock market fell and both businesses and people struggled to make ends meet, CocaCola sales did not suffer. Instead, investors continued to make money through Coke stocks, proving that even in a time of global economic turmoil, people were still willing to pay for their favourite drink. Therefore, it is also possible that by publishing Allen's book and having her advertise the drink in her recipes, CocaCola was ensuring that their product was still being bought by Americans, even in the Great Depression. 

Given that CocaCola was increasing its reach globally every year, it is clear that it was no longer just an American commodity, but an international one. Nagata, Barg,Valeggia & Bream for example, discuss how the drink was finding its way into international cuisine, in their analysis of CocaCola in Guatemala. Coca Cola was increasing its reach, but so was American culture. A new term emerged, ‘Coca-colonization,’ which defined how American culture was increasingly becoming globalized through American products such as CocaCola. 

Table-setting suggestions for more formal settings

Coke was considered “bottled America,” and amid the chaos of the Great Depression, people needed unity and to be reminded of their nation’s strength. What better way for Allen to assure people in this time of turmoil, than to use and promote the infamous drink of America? It seems that this would have been a likely motive behind Allen publishing her book under CocaCola, as well as it exhibiting the historical importance of American cultural items such as Coke, and their powerful reputation and the immense gratification certain cultural items can supply to Americans in times of need. 

The concept of gender and gender roles during the 1930s are prevalent throughout Allen’s book as well. Allen’s book is designed to be a guide for domestic women on how to entertain guests, and her family, in a way that is elegant, seamless and seemingly effortless. The book pushes the idea of the domestic woman, conveying popular ideas about gender and the expected roles of women in the 1930s. According to Harris, “Traditionally ‘separate spheres’ connotes a middle class world of privatized households in which women, excluded from the public arena, protect the values associated with piety, purity and domesticity against a competitive, aggressive, and individualistic world.” Ida’s book conveys this message perfectly through her book. Although chapters include vague recipes, they include detailed guidelines on how to act and how to serve appropriately for each event or setting. The message here is clear, the book wants middle class women to know their place in the home, and to be informed on how to do it well. In this way, the book is conveying popular ideas about gender, and the separate spheres of women and men in the 1930s, aiding readers in their understanding of what life was really like for domestic women in the 1930s. 

It has become clear that the intentions of Allen’s book go far beyond just serving as an instruction manual for entertaining guests, but also as a historical text, with and within itself. The book gives modern historians insight into life in the 1930s during the great depression. More specifically, it mainly highlights life and expectations for domestic women at the time, as well as the role and intentions behind the book’s involvement with CocaCola during the time of the Great Depression.