Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Corn Bread for Breakfast, 1917 |
Object Name |
Sketch |
Description |
Corn Bread for Breakfast, 1917. Pencil on lined off-white paper cartoon sketch depicts three cooks preparing cornbread. The first figure, which occupies the middle half of the page, is using a paddle to mix the contents of a large bucket. On the floor beside him is a sack of corn meal and a small scale. Behind him is a hanging light and a window looking out onto a grinning moon in a dark sky. The second man, in the bottom left corner, kneads dough on a table. The third, in the bottom right corner, kneels before an open oven and retrieves a tray from inside. At the top of the page is written "CornBread for Breakfeast." |
Date |
1917 |
Creator |
Colby, Alvin Page |
Role |
Artist |
Medium |
Pencil/Paper |
Catalog Number |
2017.052.012 |
Dimensions |
H-9 W-6 inches |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Inscription Text |
"CornBread for Breakfeast" (top of page); "Corn / Meal" (written on flour sack); "Colby / 17" (far left) |
Provenance |
Original sketch created by Alvin Page Colby during training and active duty during World War I and mailed home to his family. Donated to the San Mateo County Historical Association courtesy of the Daughters & Grandchildren of Alvin Page Colby. |
Notes |
"Burlingame resident Alvin Page Colby documented his experience serving in WWI with comic sketches... Alvin Page Colby, a resident of Burlingame, made dozens of drawings while training at Fort Lewis in Washington and later serving in France as a cook in the 91st "Wild West" Division." [http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/26/peninsula-museum-offers-personal-new-look-into-old-war/ 10/17/2017] Food rationing during WWI meant that soldiers and civilians alike had to come up with substitutions to reduce the consumption of foods like wheat flour, sugar, and meat. Cornbread, made from a mixture of corn flour and wheat flour, was an example of such substitutions. Flours made from potatoes, oatmeal, barley, or rye were also common wheat substitutions. [http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~worldwarone/WWI/HomeFront/BestWarTimeRecipes/BestWarTimeRecipes.html 11/03/2017] |
Search Terms |
Army Burlingame Colby, Alvin Page Cooking Drawing Food Production War War History War Service World War 1 World War I WWI |
Subjects |
Baking Cartoonists Cartoons (Commentary) Cooks Food preparation Military cookery Military life Sketches War World War I |
People |
Colby, Alvin Page |
Credit line |
Courtesy of the Daughters & Grandchildren of Alvin Page Colby |