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Post-war homemakers: Creamed eggs and ham
What do women want? In 1945, CBC broadcasters were asking that question — at least in terms of radio and television programming. As the Second World War ended and Canada's postwar boom began, happy homemakers heard Kate Aitken's cold remedy or tips on how to make a pizza pie. But as the cheery '50s got on, women listeners requested more intelligent programming. They began to learn about setting up a theatre company and hear frank discussion about what going through a divorce was really like.
Langdon is an expert in the kitchen: At the top of the show, she conducts culinary research in a book called 300 Better Ways To Cook An Egg. Her assistant, "Mr. Tilden," doesn't seem quite as at home in her kitchen. Playing the role of sous-chef, Lamont Tilden searches the refrigerator for eggs. Once he finds them, he chimes: "Something's written on them: 'Hard.' Oh, I get it, they're hard-cooked eggs."
Tune in next week for Langdon on: How to avoid cream puff pitfalls.
• The 1948 CBC Radio guide said the show was aimed at Canadian homemakers. It explained that host and Montreal cooking expert Eustella Langdon (pictured left) would present ideas for "tastier and more tempting meals."
• Listeners could write in to Landgon for her recipe of the week.
• Besides Creamed Eggs and Ham Casserole and Cream Puffs, Langdon's recipes included: Green Tomato Marmalade, Lima Bean Chowder, Dilled Vegetables and Apple Charlottes (custard cake made with bread or lady fingers).
• Like Cooking School of the Air, many programs for women after the Second World War had a homemaking tone.
• According to the essay, "Henrietta the Homemaker, and Rosie the Riveter: Images of Women in Advertising in Maclean's magazine, 1939-50," the way women were being portrayed in the media was beginning to change. In 1950, advertisements in Maclean's depicting women as homemakers rose to 70 per cent from 40 per cent in 1943.
• An ad for Weston's Bakery called mothers the "heart of her home."
• Authors of Canadian Women: A History found the francophone media to be even more traditional with images of women as "fervent Catholic, devoted wife and mother, and still attached to the rural way of life."
Program: Cooking School of the Air
Broadcast Date: Jan. 28, 1946
Guests:
Host: Lamont Tilden, Eustella Langdon
Duration: 11:30
This clip has poor audio.
Last updated: June 14, 2013
Page consulted on June 14, 2013
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