Food Values and Economics (Exhibition)

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Exist Dates

1917 May 23 - 1917 September-October, approximately

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract
Exhibition. Opened May 23, 1917 and closed approximately September-October 1917. Located in Section 2, Floor 1 in Memorial Hall at the American Museum of Natural History. Food Values and Economics at the American Museum of Natural History illustrated issues concerning food conservation.

Summary

Food Values and Economics illustrated issues concerning food conservation. It featured models, including those of 100-calorie portions of common foods and an exhibit on corn and corn products. Artists A.M. Renaud and Christian Jaegar created the food models for the exhibit. Curator of Public Health C-E.A. Winslow wrote a companion handbook, Health in War and Peace. The exhibition was slated to close a month after opening, but references to the exhibit in the "foyer" continued into October 1917 (1, 357-358; 2, p. 420). It was curated by C-E A. Winslow and Thomas G. Hull of the Department of Public Health (3, 1917, p. 96). Winslow was given leave of absence in June 1917 to accept an appointment as Deputy Commissioner and member of the American Red Cross Mission to Russia, and Thomas G. Hull was asked by President Herbert C. Hoover to be appointed as Chief of the Division of Exhibits of the United States Food Administration (3, 1917, p. 96).

The exhibition was created to illustrate the problems of food conservation in the United States and the world and was considered a contribution by the Museum to the National Defense Council in preparing for the country's entry into the First World War (4, p. 295).

Models by Museum artist A.M. Renaud were made with paraffin, plaster, and agar-agar (Japanese seaweed). Some were cast in wax and painted with oil colors (1, p. 357-358). In October 1917 another set of models donated by M.J. Roth of the Plastic Art Novelty and Specialty Company in New York consisted of 74 models of 100-calorie portions of food made by Christian Jaegar (2, p. 420).

Highlights included (2, p. 420; 3, 1917, p. 97):

*Food models by Museum artist A.M. Renaud

*Food models by Christian Jaegar donated by M.J. Roth of the Plastic Art Novelty and Specialty Company

*An exhibit demonstrating the value of the corn crop featuring 22 products presented by the Corn Product Refining Company

*Unutilized food stuffs including seaweeds, marine mollusks, shark, and skate

*Photographs, models, and specimens illustrating food production problems

*Statistical diagrams and color cartoons by A. Operti illustrating food conservation challenges during war

After its original run in the Museum's Memorial Hall, the exhibition was transferred to Washing Irving High School and exhibited for two months, followed by installation in the Lincoln Corridor of the College of the City of New York on December 15, 1917. (3, 1917, p. 96). It was on view in Grand Central Station in New York City in the spring of 1918 and later became part of Grand Central Palace's food show. Afterward, the exhibition returned to the Museum to become part of the Forestry Hall (5, p. 623). The Food Needs and Food Economics section of the Hall of Public Health developed from the temporary exhibition, opened approximately 1919, and remained on view until the hall's closure in approximately 1943-1944 (6, 1919, p. 29; 6, 1943, p. 174; 3, 1918, p. 91-94).

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

    (1) American Museum of Natural History. "Museum Notes." The American Museum Journal 17 (May 1917): 355, 357-358.
    (2) American Museum of Natural History. The American Museum Journal (October 1917): 420.
    (3) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1917-1918.
    (4) Hull, T.G., "The Conservation of Our Food Supplies in War Time." The American Museum Journal 17 (May 1917): 295-298.
    (5) American Museum of Natural History. "Museum Notes." The American Museum Journal (November 1918): 623.
    (6) American Museum of Natural History. General Guide to the Exhibition Halls of the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1919-1943.
    For more information on this exhibition see:
    "Food Exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History." Science 45, no. 1169 (May 25, 2017): 496.

Chronology

  • 1917 September-October, approximately - 1917 November-December, approximately: Exhibition on view at Washington Irving High School
  • 1917 May 23: Food Values and Economics exhibition opens in Memorial Hall
  • 1917 October, approximately: Food models by Christian Jaeger donated to exhibition by M.J. Roth of Plastic Art Novelty and Specialty Company, New York.
  • 1917 December 15: Exhibition opens in the Lincoln Corridor of the College of the City of New York
  • 1918, Spring: Exhibition opens in Grand Central Station.
  • 1918, approximately: Exhibition opens in Grand Central Palace for food show following installation in Grand Central Station.
  • 1918 November, approximately: Food exhibits from original exhibition return to the Museum and are installed in the Forestry Hall.
  • 1919, approximately - 1944, approximately: Food Needs and Food Economic exhibit, based on the original Food Values and Economics, on view, in Public Health Hall.

Terms

localDescription
temporary exhibition
localDescription
enhanced
place
New YorkExternal link
AMNH: Section 2, Floor 1

Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Public Health.
Related department
American Museum of Natural History. Grand Gallery.
Location of Food Values and Economics May 23-approximately September-October 1917, then called Memorial Hall or Foyer (1, 1917, p. 357)
American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Public Health.
Features of exhibition were permanently installed in the Hall of Public Health from approximately 1919-1944 (6, 1919-1943)
American Museum of Natural History. Jesup Hall of North American Woods.
Initial location of exhibits from Food Values and Economics after return to Museum. Referred to as Forestry Hall in documentation (5, 1918, p. 623)
Grand Central Palace (New York, N.Y.)External link
Exhibition traveled to Grand Central Palace for food show after Grand Central Station (5, 1918, p. 623)
Grand Central Terminal (New York, N.Y.)External link
Exhibition traveled to Grand Central Station after Museum (5, 1918, p. 623)
Hull, Thomas G. (Thomas Gordon) 1889-
Curator of exhibition; Department of Public Health at the Museum (3, 1917, p. 96)
Jaegar, Christian
Artist, food models donated by M.J. Roth (1, 1917, p. 357-358)
Operti, Albert, 1852-1927
Museum artist, color cartoons (3, 1917, p. 97)
Renaud, Anne Marie
Museum artist, food models (2, 1917, p. 420)
Roth, M.J.
Of the Plastic Art Novelty and Specialty Company, New York; donated models by Christian Jaegar (2, 1917, p. 420)
Winslow, C.-E. A. (Charles-Edward Amory), 1877-1957
Curator of exhibition; Curator of Public Health at the Museum; Composed Handbook of Health in War and Peace (2, 1917, p. 420)

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1917: 10, 24-25, 95-98, 134, 201.
American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1918: 22, 43, 91-94.
American Museum of Natural History. General Guide to the Exhibition Halls of the American Museum of Natural History, New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1919-1943. 
1919 (pages 29-30); 1920 (pages 29-30); 1921 (pages 29-30); 1922 (pages 29-30); 1923 (page 29); 1926 (page 2); 1927 (page 2); 1928 (pages 11-12); 1929 (pages 11-12); 1930 (pages 11-12); 1931 (pages 50-51); 1932 (pages 50-51); 1933 (pages 52-53); 1934 (pages 41-42); 1935 (pages 41-42); 1936 (pages 41-42); 1939 (page 169); 1943 (page 174)
Handbook of health in war and peace : a manual of personal preparedness / by C.-E. A. Winslow ; with foreword by Henry Fairfield Osborn.
Date of resource: 1917
The American Museum journal
"Museum Notes," 17 (May 1917): 355, 357-358; (October 1917): 420; Hull, T.G., "The Conservation of Our Food Supplies in War Time," 17 (May 1917): 295-298; "Museum Notes," (November 1918): 623.

Written by: Clare O'Dowd
Last modified: 2016 November 10


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