50 Recipes from a 1950s Housewife- A Cultivated Nest (2024)

FAQs

What did 1950s housewives cook? ›

Dad grew up eating his mother's Russian shtetl cuisine of borscht, pulverized potatoes, and desiccated meat, so he thought his wife's cooking was wildly exotic: an elegant relish tray with celery, carrots, and olives on ice; chicken à la king; green bean casserole made with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup; instant ...

1950s Dinners

There was no such thing as the keto diet in the 1950s—meat and potatoes reigned supreme. You'd find hearty main dishes like Salisbury steak, beef stroganoff and meat loaf on a '50s dinner menu, plus scrumptious sides. Casseroles were also popular, particularly those featuring seafood or ham.

Marketing efforts of the 1950s sold the idea of a "happy housewife" as one that is efficient, spends money wisely, makes food from scratch, always keeps the house clean, and make it all look effortless.

Famous chef, author, and television personality, Julia Child made French cuisine accessible to American audiences. She was one of the first women to host her own cooking show on television, providing tips and lessons on how to prepare French food simply and easily.

Not only did the women of the 1950s have to make exciting meals, ensure their children are well behaved without disciplining them excessively, keep their home smelling lemon fresh and always look appealing for their husbands, they had to make it all look easy. But of course, it wasn't.

The glazed ham became the ultimate main course during the 1950s and everyone looked forward to grabbing a slice of this nostalgic favorite. Whether the flavor brings back a classic Easter meal or just a regular night in, this American staple can make anyone feel at home. Get our recipe for Glazed Ham.

Breakfast was viewed as the meal to set you up for the day so was, at the very least, porridge, followed by bacon, eggs and fried bread, then toast and home-made marmalade, and lots of milky tea.

I was a child in the 1950s. On school days, we usually ate cold cereal (Cheerios, Wheat Chex, or Grape Nuts flakes—never corn flakes for some reason) or hot oatmeal with raisins in it on cold days. On Saturdays, we usually had one egg (fried, boiled, poached, or scrambled) and bacon. On Sundays, we had pancakes.

However, packaged snacks were not about to concede to the fast food trend. Peanut M&Ms, Atomic Fireballs, Certs Mints, Hot Tamales, PEZ candy, Pixy Stix, Smarties Candy Necklaces and Marshmallow Peeps were all candies developed during this decade.

Were TV dinners a thing in the 50s? ›

By 1950, the company had produced over 400,000 frozen dinners. Demand continued to grow, and in 1952 the Bernstein brothers formed the Quaker State Food Corporation. They expanded distribution to markets east of the Mississippi. By 1954, Quaker State Foods had produced and sold over 2,500,000 frozen dinners!

The publication also outlines daily tasks that one should complete each and every day, which include: Kitchen: Put away food, clean coffee grounds, wash dishes & sink, sweep, empty wastebasket. Bedrooms: Hang up night clothes, make beds, straighten & dust, dust/vacuum blinds.

The 1950s house dress is also sometimes referred to as a shirtwaist dress, as it often, but not always, buttoned down the front, or on the “shirtwaist.” It was met at the waist in a delightful gathering of pin tucking and then extended out in a circle skirt.

A typical day for married men in 1950 was for their wives to wait on them and make their lives easy for them. If men held full-time jobs, they were considered amazing husbands. If they even “babysat” their own child, they were revered. Housewives' jobs were to wait on their husbands and children, hand and foot.

The '50s Housewife was a Mid-Century Minimalist

A real '50s housewife didn't spend all her time cleaning. She cleaned more thoroughly than most women do today, but she spent less time tidying her house, because she had less stuff.

Not only did most married women walk down the aisle by age 19; they also tended to start families right away. A majority of brides were pregnant within seven months of their wedding, and they didn't just stop at one child. Large families were typical.

During the 1950s, food processing was viewed as a modern and scientific approach to food production. This perception was influenced by advancements in technology, such as refrigeration, canning, and freezing, which allowed for mass production, preservation, and distribution of food.