Vintage Friday: Life in 1919

By Unknown. Publisher: Buffalo, N.Y. : G.H. Dunston, Lith. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Can you imagine the world 100 years ago? 1919 was my father’s birth year, as well as an all-around momentous time in our cultural history. About thirty years prior, modern baking powder came into availability as a leavening agent for the home cook. Leavening creates air pockets to make a cake or quick bread rise to become lighter and tastier. Before that, cooks used yeast or a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda. The distribution of baking powder simplified the process and made it faster than adding double ingredients or waiting on the yeast to rise.

PEANUT BUTTER QUICK BREAD 1919

Ingredients: ½ cup wheat flour, 1½ cups rye flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ cup peanut butter, ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup milk.

Directions: Sift together the first four dry ingredients. Cut the peanut butter into the dry ingredients with a fork, butter knife, or your fingers. Add sugar and milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Either eat warm from the oven or let sit for a day before slicing.

This bread is declared to be a great treat in lunch boxes.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 1919

Hooch Hound – National Photo Company Collection [Public domain] Wikimedia
  • Prohibition, the 18th amendment, declared law (President Wilson’s veto was overridden)
  • Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline (a penny a gallon)
  • America’s first passenger flight and the first flight across Atlantic
  • 2 million gallons of molasses flooded Boston, drowning 21 people
  • Founding of the League of Nations
  • Signing of the Treaty of the Versailles to end World War I
  • World War I soldiers welcomed home
  • White Sox intentionally threw the World Series
  • Carl Sandburg won a Pulitzer

Cheers & Happy Reading,

Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance

By Flossie Benton Rogers

Paranormal romance author who loves to shake the edges of reality.

4 comments

  1. I’m not sure if this “Friday” post showed up early, but either way I enjoyed it. I love historical facts and learning about the past. I had to shudder about the people drowning in molasses. Even thinking about that gives me chills.

    Reply

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