Selling Mrs. Consumer

White Castle's "Give Mother A Night Off" poster was developed to introduce the nation's housewives to its products and convenient carry-out service. Fictional spokeswoman "Julia Joyce," played by various actresses, gave local housewives and women's clubs tours of the restaurants and samples of company products. The company also published menu books containing suggestions of foods to serve with White Castle hamburgers. This 14" by 22" (35.56 by 55.88 cm) poster from the White Castle collection document the company's innovative marketing strategy.

In the 1920s, White Castle introduced the concept of fast food, chain restaurants and "sliders" to the American people. Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson founded the White Castle restaurant chain in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. Seeking a more central location as the business expanded, Ingram moved the headquarters to Columbus, Ohio in 1934, thus earning the city the title "Hamburger Capital of the World." Part of White Castle's success can be attributed to its innovative production equipment, marketing strategies, and trademark steel and porcelain enamel buildings.

Appealing new household technologies like the electric refrigerator began to appear in American homes during the 1920s.  The Servel Corporation of New York based their campaign on the notion that women are responsible for men's happiness, and that a modern "way to his heart (through his stomach)" is through the purchase of a modern refrigerator.  The relaxed posture of the woman is interesting in that the ad seems to be saying that technology has in part taken over the role, allowing her to relax and enjoy the benefits of fresh, wholesome food as well.

In her 1929 book, "Americanization Through Homemaking," Pearl Ellis said that since girls are the family's potential homemakers and mothers, they would have much control over the destinies of their future families. This book describes school programs in homemaking and citizenship for young Mexican immigrant women. It reflects the "melting pot" approach to American immigration and shows how assimilation could be effected in the home.

Chapters concern sewing, food, household budgeting, home nursing, preschool childcare, motherhood, the location and interior decoration of houses, and the important role young Mexican women played in the Americanization of Mexican immigrants generally. According to the author, the principles and projects spelled out in this work could apply to immigrants from other countries also.

Ellen Swallow Richards.  Early home economists promoted a variety of rationalized, and even utopian, schemes for food preparation. Ellen Richards, for example, founded the New England Kitchen in 1890, which sold inexpensive and nutritious food to working-class Bostonians for them to take home and eat. This experiment was not a success, as the people targeted by Richards' plan resented the implied paternalism of her efforts to improve their eating habits. The New England Kitchen exemplified the shortcomings of home economists' approach to food: in emphasizing nutritive value and convenience, too often they did not sufficiently take into account the sensual, communal side of eating. They also frequently sought to impose Anglo cooking styles on immigrant and minority groups.

An instructor in sanitary education at MIT and the most prominent female American chemist of the 19th century, used the scientific approach to teach her students and the public about domestic topics. In her 1882 book The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning, Richards used her experience operating a Woman’s Laboratory at MIT to advise housewives on the most efficient way to accomplish everyday household chores.

Home Economics & Food Reform. The home economics movement helped homemakers apply scientific principles to improve conditions in their homes, institutions, and communities. By sharing their knowledge of nutrition and hygiene through outreach programs, home economists had a significant influence on American eating habits in the 20th century. The impact of the movement was strengthened after 1914, when federal funding from the Smith-Lever Act established the Cooperative Extension Service, an educational system designed to enable people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships with experts and institutions. Initially, many women responded skeptically to the new ideas promoted by home economists, particularly since their emphasis on Anglo-Saxon cooking did not reflect the rich culinary traditions of immigrant populations.

Don't be a saboteur on the home front!  "We asked 5 foolish women why they don't check ceiling prices" (1943) was a poster by the War Advertising Council, a division of the Office of War Information, and published in a variety of magazines by the Magazine Publishers of America trade association.

The five women depicted here employ a variety of self-centered excuses rather than doing their patriotic duty and asking what the ceiling price is, thereby holding retailers to the price controls set by the government to curtail the black market.

Completely condescending in tone, the poster seemingly expects women to put their interests above the nation's in the quest for a shopping bargain.  "The shopkeeper might get mad," says one woman, to which the poster admonishes "you're wrong there, lady!"