The U.S.stock marketcrash of 1929 greatly affected the landscape painting of entertaining for the 10 of the 1930s . family who were able-bodied to yield a maid or housekeeper a few years earlier were thrust to scale back . The formula books of the period aid hostess do more with less by offering up posh and refined dishes that were still comparatively cheap and leisurely to put together . That ’s a challenge in any decade , but at a time when a server ’s swear out man may have been courtesy of a Depression trash promotion put on by the local gas station , ingest friends over for a shindig could be a curious mix of the smart and reasonable .
recollect , too , this was manner beforefatbecame a dirty word and masses learned to fear carbs . you could in all likelihood put together a respectable 1930s computer menu by just bathe everything in butter or cream . Keep the nutritionary information to yourself , and you have a sure winner .
Using food in time of year was an important computer menu circumstance in the 1930s , too . The globular food economic system did n’t survive then , so if you wanted peaches for shoemaker , your dinner party had better be in June or July or you ’d be eat your canned bounty from last season . Being able to add bracing cherries to a gelatin mold or make a dessert using tropic fruits like bananas or wise pineapple were considered indulgences , too . If you lived in California , you might have offered guests a slice aguacate starter . If you were living in Kansas , though , you in all probability only have sex " gator pears " from magazines . If an Persea Americana did make it to your local grocery store , it would have cost a big chunk of you meal budget . The same depart for other regional delicacies like asparagus , soft - beat crab and crawfish . Depression - epoch soup kitchen were common in large cities , but you do n’t have to limit your thirties dinner party party menu to thin broth and deep-fried potato . Many areas around the country were lucky enough to be fence by family farms where fairly priced constituent were comparatively abundant for sale or swap .
With unelaborated phone service of process , no television and no net , parties in the 1930s were the big entertainment venues of the daylight . People partied like they meant it . Edgar Guest came to feed , catch up on the local scuttlebutt and leave their troubles . This was a time when people were listening to the radio for the recent news show and yearning for the lavish lifestyle of their favorite movie beau ideal . Daring mobsters were making big headlines with their turf warfare and their provision of Prohibition bathtub knock rummy . frequent blue devil medicine and sour malarky by legend like Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday and freehanded circle favourite like Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey helped define the distinctive sounds of the earned run average .
Whether you require an elegant , small assemblage or a large , raucous brawl , you could find 1930s recipes and fun ideas to fit the bill . On the next page , we ’ll investigate a few foods your granny ( or her mom ) may have considered just the thing for a especial soiree .
Popular 1930s Dinner Party Foods
If you have a fondue spate in your cupboard or apastamaker gathering dust in your garage , you know firsthand that food prep is vulnerable to the whim of manner . We may be getting our formula off the Internet these Day , but in wanting to strain the newest contrivance or preparation cognitive process , we are n’t that unlike from our granny . Today it may be goat cheese and marinated Ficus carica , but whatever the latest food rage happen to be , in a couple of decades it will become a culinary footnote in the cultural sum-up of the times . To get a skillful take on 1930s company food , you have to search the trend . They may seem tame today , but back then , they were oh - so chichi . Think of them as the food mavin that could make or break in a host ’s reputation :
Using the proper ingredients was important , too : A lavish shrimp cocktail appetizer like our Pineapple - Ginger Shrimp Cocktail , carried as much stash in the 1930s as it does today . Including ingredients like lobster , squab , huitre , tongue , crab , fruit punch , prune , peaches , pineapple , honeydew melon vine and orange marmalade in the menu serve gentrify the repast and add that touch of elegant refinement that was so crucial . A 1930s dinner party party bill of fare would probably also have included dishes that mirror what Hollywood think sophisticated European penchant with detail like scones , crumpets , cucumber or watercress sandwich , salmon croquettes , trifles , tortes and meringues . A impudent hostess could also show her edification by serve big metropolis menu particular like Waldorf salad or curried lamb .
Now that you infer a little about the solid food , permit ’s research some ways to make your 1930s - era political party reckon and vocalise as good as it try out .
1930s Era Dinner Party Ideas
For a crash course in make a 1930s party the talking of your social circle , all you need to do is review the fable or movies of the point . Nero Wolfe , the rotund gourmet investigator in Rex Stout ’s enormously popular serial of thirties novel , is as good at crafting repast options as he is at solving murder . For some unique ideas , contain out the Nero Wolfe Cookbook available through Viking Press . It explore the wit and cooking apprehension of this ' 30s gourmet gumshoe .
you’re able to also apply any one of the many 1930s subject to unify your company :
Depression - era party planners were often working alone and watch their penny ( much like us ) . The idea was to make entertaining look effortlessly elegant , an fantasy that help kinfolk shell out with economical rigourousness and convince themselves that upright times were just around the corner .
