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Food
Food in Wartime
Food in Wartime

Food in Wartime

Discover the impact of war on how soldiers and civilians eat. With hardtack biscuits during the Civil War, the ubiquitous ration cards of World War II, and modern relief efforts to regions around the world, follow how war and conflict have affected diets from the front lines to the homefront.

  • Cast iron pot carried by soldier J.S. Howell during the Civil War

    Commercially cast iron pot for cooking food and making coffee. Donated to Crockett Tavern Museum in Morristown, Tenn. by Mrs. Lillard Howell.

    View Full Item  in Tennessee State Library and Archives
  • Civil War hardtack biscuit, 1865

    2 pieces of hardtack brought home at the end of the Civil War by Pvt. Milo G. Stone, Co. B, 143 Pa. Inf., USA. One piece has letters embossed into it.

    View Full Item  in Tennessee State Library and Archives
  • Red Cross volunteers preparing food for soldiers in the Spanish-American War

    Burr, Alice, 1883-1968

    Original negatives are nitrate; only digital images available. Title supplied by cataloger.

    View Full Item  in California Historical Society
  • American soldiers fighting in the Mexican Revolution in line outside the mess tent

    Aultman, Otis A., 1874-1943

    Photograph of soldiers waiting in line outside of a mess tent. The soldiers are wearing hats and military uniforms. 1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7 in.

    View Full Item  in El Paso Public Library
  • Book on food economy during war time, 1917

    Wood, T. B. (Thomas Barlow), 1869-1929

    View Full Item  in University of California
  • Poster promoting food rations during World War I

    Text from item: Be patriotic. Sign your country's pledge to save the food. U. S. Food Administration Image of a distressed young woman dressed as lady liberty with both arms outstretched in a pleading…

    View Full Item  in Perkins School for the Blind
  • Catalog for strawberries to plant in a victory garden, 1919

    C.N. Flansburgh & Son

    1919

    View Full Item  in U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
  • Soldiers eating in the mess hall on submarine

    View Full Item  in Cornell University
  • Mess hall line at the Tanforan Race Track, an assembly center for Japanese internees, 1942

    Lines to eat at Tanforan Race Track, a relocation center in California. Many of the Japanese-Americans at Tanforan would be relocated to Topaz Relocation Center.

    View Full Item  in Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement
  • Print by Louis Bourgeois titled “During the War: Shortage of Food in Easton,” 1943

    Louise Bourgeois

    Print

    View Full Item  in The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
  • Men harvesting sweet potatoes from the victory garden in Austin, Texas, 1943

    Bureau of Identification Photographic Laboratory

    Photograph of men gathering sweet potatoes from Austin's Victory Garden. Baskets of sweet potatoes are visible in the foreground and cars are parked along the road in the background. Image was used in…

    View Full Item  in Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
  • Poster for the use of pesticides in victory gardens, 1943

    Morley, Hubert, artist

    Lang: "U. S. Government Printing Office : 1943--O-523387"

    View Full Item  in UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
  • Breakfast from a K ration, commonly used during World War II

    Title from item or from accompanying material. Date from item or from accompanying material. G.T.

    View Full Item  in U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
  • Drawing of a food closet in a diary kept by a prisoner of war, 1944

    Mitchener, Hardy A., 1919-1957

    This page in Mitchener's diary from World War II includes a drawing of the food closet. A number of cups are hanging from the wall, and a pitcher is on the floor. Mitchener writes, "As you enter the r…

    View Full Item  in Tennessee State Library and Archives
  • Stamp for Food Industry’s War Savings Stamp Drive, 1944

    Unknown, artist

    Lang: 1 print: circular in 33 cm diameter

    View Full Item  in UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
  • U.S. soldiers giving food to children during the Korean War, 1952

    Williams, Hanson A., Jr., 1928-2009

    Williams captured this moment that appears to show two staff sergeants with the U.S. Army passing food through a barbed wire fence to Korean children begging at the perimeter of a military camp. compl…

    View Full Item  in Pepperdine University, Special Collections and University Archives
  • Students purchasing food to send to troops in Vietnam, 1965

    As a part of the Operation Thanks campaign for Thanksgiving 1965, Pepperdine College students shop for food to donate to US troops serving in Vietnam.

    View Full Item  in Pepperdine University, Special Collections and University Archives
  • Proceedings of a symposium on food crops and livestock in the event of a nuclear war, 1970

    no.24

    View Full Item  in U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
  • Prisoner of war having his first meal back home, 1973

    Clark AB, R.P.: Capt. Kevin McManus (top), Babylon, Tex., appears to be more interested in the cafeteria worker than the food as goes through the line for his first American meal since his capture Jun…

    View Full Item  in Chapman University, Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives
  • Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) container, 1978

    Title from item or from accompanying material. Date from item or from accompanying material. AJM

    View Full Item  in U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
  • Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) heating bag, 1985

    Title from item or from accompanying material. On item sleeve: FEL MRE heating bag white background - for b+w negitive. Date from item or from accompanying material. G.T.

    View Full Item  in U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
  • Bag of food delivered to airlift squadron during Ethiopian relief operations, 1985

    Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994

    The original finding aid described this photograph as: Base: Khartoum Country: Sudan (SDN) Scene Camera Operator: TECH. SGT. James R. Pearson Release Status: Released to Public

    View Full Item  in National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures
  • Shelf stable pizza from a Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), 1989

    Title from item or from accompanying material. On item sleeve: Food lab, shelf stable pizza MRE. Date from item or from accompanying material. G.T.

    View Full Item  in U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
  • U.S. aircraft delivering food and other supplies to five African countries suffering from war and famine, 1989

    Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994

    The original finding aid described this photograph as: Base: Freetown Country: Sierra Leone (SLE) Scene Camera Operator: SGT Marvin Preston Release Status: Released to Public

    View Full Item  in National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures
  • Milkshake from a Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), 1990

    Title from item or from accompanying material. On item sleeve: Food lab. Date from item or from accompanying material. G.T.

    View Full Item  in U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
  • U.N. soldiers aboard American aircraft with food and relief supplies, 1993

    Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994

    The original finding aid described this photograph as: Subject Operation/Series: PROVIDE PROMISE Base: Sarajevo Country: Bosnia And/I Herzegovina (BIH) Scene Camera Operator: SSGT Efrain Gonzalez Rele…

    View Full Item  in National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures
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Food
Food in Wartime

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