Modernizing the Kitchen: Manufactured Food in 1940s and 1950s Mexico

Sandra Aguilar-Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Fellow in Latin American Studies, Department of History, Lehigh University

Commentator: Margaret Power, Illinois Institute of Technology

This paper situates the home, and particularly the kitchen, at the center of the modernization process. It focuses on women’s memories of eating practices in Mexico City and Guanajuato to explore the values that women identified with certain foodstuffs and the elements that propelled change. Manufactured goods began to enter Mexican kitchens along with a discourse of modernization, aiming to transform habits and customs while strengthening gender roles. In using manufactured foodstuffs women were saving time and effort, providing a healthy diet and acting as professional housewives who fulfilled their role as mothers and modernizers of the nation. All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. The seminar will be devoted to discussion of the paper, so please be sure to read it in advance. For a copy of the paper, e-mail Leslie Kan at research@newberry.org, or call 312-255-3666.

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The seminar will be held at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, Illinois (check bulletin board in lobby for room location).