1920s America was an interesting period for food. It was the time of Prohibition (no alcohol & many speakeasies), exotic culinary experimentation (Chinese food was popular), opulent wealth (Delmonicos & 21), extreme poverty (tenement kitchens), social nutrition movements (home economics & Ladies Aid Organizations) and vegetarian alternatives (Dr. George Washington Carver was creating recipes for mock chicken made from peanuts).

The 1920s marked the beginning of a new age in the food industry. With the invention of the refrigerator came the invention and popularization of canned and easy to prepare foods.  Quick-cooking rolled oats, pancake mix and canned goods replaced the most often lavish more traditional home-cooked meals of the earlier decades. By the end of the 20’s consumers could even purchase pre-sliced bread. 

People started trying new appetizers like shrimp patties and oyster cocktails along with new dishes such as Swiss steak, Billi-Bi, and chiffon pies.   Caesar salad was invented and fast became a family favorite, which in turn increased the popularity of salads in general. 

The Pineapple Upside Down Cake was invented in the 1920s.  Exactly when and by whom, it is not clear.  Some say the recipe, then entitled, Pineapple Glace, was printed in a fundraising cookbook in Seattle in 1924.  Others report that when the Hawaiian Pineapple Co, the predecessor of Dole Food Co, held a recipe contest in 1925, 2,500 of the 60,000 entries were for Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

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