Cover photo by National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Bumper music by Cab Calloway and orchestra.
Today’s topics: The erroneous historical account of Herbert Hoover, highlights and lowpoints of the era.
Prohibition in the U.S., ongoing since 1920, brought a certain panache to the earliest years of the Great Depression evoking memories of “broken-hearted gangsters with roses in their hands” (“Tango in Macao,” Stacey Kent). During the mid-1990s a swing revival group, Squirrel Nut Zippers put a new spin on Prohibition era music with their number “Put a Lid on It.”
For a deep dive into cooking during the Great Depression, be sure to visit Clara’s Kitchen, particularly the episode where she shows how she and her mother made dandelion salad.
Compare Clara’s dandelion salad with the one from my friend’s mother which I posted in the notes section in the tabs:
Virtual History Westport features a dandelion salad recipe tested by a student, inspired by Clara’s Kitchen, with added ingredients like honey and parmesan.
Grow Forage Cook Ferment offers a modern take on dandelion salad, citing Clara’s method for cleaning greens and adding a dressing with orange juice and apple cider vinegar.
Nourished Kitchen describes a dandelion salad with a garlic dressing and breadcrumbs, noting its popularity during the Great Depression.
And lastly, there’s an old Betty Boop cartoon (1932) featuring the song “Minnie the Moocher” performed by Cab Calloway. Something tells me it wouldn’t be allowed for children nowadays, as much as its subtle references to sex and drugs as for whatever it was I mentioned in the podcast. See it while the link still works (because you know how ephemeral links can be). P.S. My mother, who was born in 1930, was named Betty, and her family nickname was Boopie, after Betty Boop.
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