Gender

In the 1960’s the Lipton Recipes booklet came out and around this time these cook booklets were targeted towards modern housewives. A modern housewife is a wife, a mother, and a working woman that takes care of the family. “women were educated during the 1960s at a higher rate than in any previous time, many of them in fields not traditionally thought to be accessible to women” (Holt, n.d.). Lipton Recipes were specifically targeted the modern housewives because it was a quick and easy way to put a meal on the table to feed the family. Women, at this time were still in charge of preparing, cooking, and serving the meals. The cook booklet states that the results are real-home cooked flavor, which enhances the idea that women must be cooking a homemade healthy meal for their families every day.

Marketing

After the Civil War there were many railroads built, this made it easier to transport large quantities of products from factories. Magazines and cook booklets were made much more accessible to the public due to the availability of transportation and resources. These reading materials contained advertisements and branded recipes that were full of colour to attract the readers interest. This booklet also included an Italian dressing advertisement, Lipton was advertising another one of their products inside of their booklet. The cook booklets were marketed towards the women who at the time were cooking and preparing the meals. I believe that the marketing played a large role on how women in the 1960’s were viewed, it almost advertised that if a woman is not cooking for her family she must not be a good mother.

Technology

The technology used to create the processed soup mix was by dehydrating the vegetables, this kept the health aspect of the product that people relied on. The big companies used a machine to dehydrate their products, but it is easily done at home as well it can be done in the sun or the oven. This process was new to food because everything was fresh and by introducing this new technology it allowed modern housewives spare time to finish their daily responsibilities for the family.

Changes in Society

We have come a long way since the 1960’s, now both men and women cook and provide for their families. Marketing has changed tremendously, advertisements are gender neutral as that is the norm now for food products. Little girls aren’t the only ones watching their parents cook, so are the boys. Cooking and baking is now a family activity. Almost everything now is processed, around 70% of food at grocery stores are processed. The only way to avoid this is to shop the outer isles of the store, everything in the middle is normally processed. Many people don’t realize how far we have come in the transition of society, but by acknowledging culinary ephemera we are able to discover our past.