American Breakfast Through the Decades

Illustrations by Lucas Adams

Honestly so much bacon

CAROLINE GOLDSTEIN Updated: February 06, 2018

As with everything in this fast-paced, fleeting world, the average

American breakfast has evolved over time. One hundred and ten years
ago, that kale-and-almond-butter smoothie you’re clutching in your
Soul Cycle-sweaty claw would be replaced with a f iligreed silver table
fork, perhaps spearing a wiggly lump of jellied veal. Or, 42 years ago,
you might have been choking down something called Crab Imperial
Chesapeake in between slurps of Tab. Or, 31 years ago, you could have
been double-dipping between bowls of Rainbow Brite and Mr. T
novelty cereals. (I hope you ’80s kids know how good you had it.)

And as with every trend, the popular dishes and products gracing
American breakfast tables over the years were influenced by a number
of factors: the socio-economic and political landscape (like food
rationing during the World Wars), breakthroughs in technology
(welcome to the 1930s, ref rigerators!), and the advent and evolution of
pop culture (hello, 1950s “teen-agers”!). But some trends proved lasting
—even during the Great Depression, families still managed to f ry up a
plate of bacon and brew a pot of coffee.

1900s: Rice, cold meat, and jellied veal

In the days before ref rigeration, home cooks prepared only regional,
seasonal foods. Many upper-class families had the time to enjoy three
lavish meals a day, and breakfast was no exception. In Mother’s Cook
Book: Containing Recipes for Every Day in the Week (1902), author
Marion Harland offers a handful of heavy, complicated breakfast
recipes. There’s chicken in jelly, hashed cold meat, jellied veal, rice-and-
meat croquettes, and something Harland calls “A Nice Breakfast Dish.”
A sample recipe: 
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 “Chopped cold meat well seasoned; wet with gravy, if convenient, put
it on a platter; then take cold rice made moist with milk and one egg,
seasoned with pepper and salt; if not suff icient rice, add powdered
bread-crumbs; place this around the platter quite thick; set in oven to
heat and brown.”

Notable breakthroughs: In 1906 the Kellogg Company debuts their

Toasted Corn Flakes, and the electric toaster is invented in 1908.

1910s: Canned fruit, fried hominy, and coffee

Soon after the US entered the Great War in 1917, the government urged
citizens to monitor their food intake in an effort to conserve staple
food items, such as meat and wheat, to ship to US troops and their
allies. This meant that the pig-trotters-in-aspic-laden breakfast tables
of yore were replaced with canned f ruits and vegetables, oatmeal, and
butterless/eggless/milkless (a.k.a. proto-vegan) baked goods. But
following a food conservation program apparently didn’t mean totally
skimping. The classic Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1918) by
Fannie Farmer includes this sample breakfast menu: Fried hominy,
maple syrup, raised biscuits, sliced peaches, and coffee. 

Not too shabby, World War I.

Notable breakthroughs: Ref rigerators for home use are invented in

1914, but don’t become available until after the war.

1920s: Codfish and bacon

Home
1 ref rigeration changed the game in the 1920s; for those with
access to money and electricity, safe food storage meant increased
creativity in the kitchen. Codf ish cakes, anyone? In this post-food-
rationing era, people once again welcomed cushy breakfast spreads.
This is the era of Gatsby, after all. Cocktails, f ruit or otherwise, abound.
As does bacon. Bacon all the time.

In a 1922 edition of Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and

Household Discoveries, a sample breakfast menu included: grapef ruit,
codf ish cakes, bacon muff ins, and coffee.

Notable breakthroughs: Quaker Quick Oats are introduced in 1922,

packaged bacon makes its triumphant debut in 1924, and Kellogg’s
Rice Krispies appear in 1928.

1930s: Toast, coffee, and Bisquick

For the “average” American family that wasn’t totally fucked over by
the crash, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 didn’t result in
deprivation or starvation. Rather, it marked the arrival of what would
become an integral philosophy driving the modern American lifestyle:
f inding cheaper alternatives. This aligned nicely with the introduction
of readymade food, which required only one purchase in the place of
several.

A regular breakfast circa 1935, as outlined in Ida Bailey Allen’s Cooking,

Menus, Service, might include: Pears, cracked wheat, top milk,
creamed codf ish on toast, coffee, and milk.

Notable breakthroughs: Bird’s Eye f rozen foods appear in 1930,

Bisquick pancake mix in 1931, and Campbell’s Chicken Noodle and
Cream of Mushroom canned soups in 1933.

1940s:
1 Mint, orange juice, and apple butter

Another war, another round of food rationing. Between 1942 and 1947,
the government urged families to plant “victory gardens” in order to
cultivate their own produce, to can their own food, and to cut down on
the good stuff like sugar, butter, and meat. 

However, the sample breakfast menus offered in a 1944 issue of the

Good Housekeeping Cook Book still include staples like bacon, eggs,
and something called “waffles de luxe,” which really doesn’t sound so
bad. A sample brunch menu includes: orange juice topped with mint,
creamed ham and mushrooms, waffles de luxe, maple syrup, apple
butter, coffee, and milk.

Notable breakthroughs: General Mills rolls out CheeriOats in 1941; the

name is changed to Cheerios in 1945.
 

1950s: Casseroles, ham and eggs, and cocoa

Frozen foods, casseroles, “exotic” ingredients (think pineapple, ham,

and pineapple-and-ham casseroles), TV dinners, bomb-shelter
pantries, and the rise of the ideal housewife: Welcome to the 1950s.

The June 1954 issue of Good Housekeeping includes recipes to arm the
aforementioned ideal housewife for an onslaught of weekend
occasions, including an unexpected visit f rom the neighbors, a heat
wave, a picnic, “entertaining teen-agers,” and a nuclear attack (that last
one I made up). Breakfast menus include: “Pineapple juice, baked
ham-and-egg sandwiches, quick-f ried apple rings, coffee, and cocoa”
for1 the teens; and “Orange juice, help-yourself cereal tray (assorted
ready-to-eat cereals and milk); Gen’s ham and eggs, buttered toast,
and coffee” for guests.

Notable breakthroughs: Dunkin’ Donuts is founded in 1950 and IHOP

shows up in 1958; Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes are introduced in 1952, Eggo
f rozen waffles in 1953, General Mills’ Trix in 1954 and Cocoa Puffs in
1958. 

1960s: Bacon strip pancakes and corn Lorraine

Enter the junk-food boom. Sugary cereals stake their claim as the
breakfast of choice in most American households. Fast food drive-
throughs also emerge, as do inventive breakfast recipes advertised by
big brands like Aunt Jemima, Post, and Kraft, many of which include
bacon. Like Aunt Jemima’s bacon-strip pancakes. 
If you’re not yet convinced of this decade’s reckless use of bacon and
cheese, check out Del Monte’s 1962 recipe for Corn Lorraine, a
horrifying spin on the classic quiche Lorraine involving canned
creamed corn and evaporated milk plopped into a pie shell and topped
with Swiss and a pound of pork.

Notable breakthroughs: The nation’s f irst Wendy’s restaurant appears

in 1969; Kellogg’s Fruit Loops and Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch become
available in 1963, Pop-Tarts and Lucky Charms in 1964, Yoplait in 1965,
Quaker’s instant oatmeal in 1966, and Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats in
1969.

1970s: Chicken livers and Egg McMuffins

The
1 1970s saw the emergence of a farm-to-table/locally sourced food

movement. Coupled with the decade’s passion for fondue, booze,

muumuus, and all things funky and foreign, this resulted in some
interesting food trends.

Case in point: In 1974, the food editors at Family Circle Cookbook

offered their ideal “Party Brunch” menus, including: pineapple-orange
shrub, Crab Imperial Chesapeake, chicken livers, stroganoff, fluffy
boiled rice, cherry tomatoes, coffee or tea.

Notable breakthroughs: Post’s Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles

appear in 1971, Starbucks is founded in 1971, and Honey Nut Cheerios
go on sale in 1979. Fast food breakfast sandwiches, like McDonald’s Egg
McMuff in in 1972 and Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfast in 1977, become
popular. The f irst soy-based bacon appears in 1974. (Thanks, hippies!)

 
1980s: Diet Food, breakfast on the go, and more
bacon

Oh, hey, chemicals and additives! Welcome to the average American

breakfast table. In the ’80s, novelty cereals, f rozen breakfasts, and
diet/lite/lo-cal everything became the sustenance of choice for a
shoulder-padded army of Jane Fonda-worshipping working gals (and
guys, probably). If an off ice-goer had time to eat breakfast at all, she
might opt for portable food, like a muff in or quiche, so she could stash
her breakfast right alongside her kitten-heeled work pumps and her
Rolodex.

Betty Crocker's Working Woman's Cookbook, published in 1982, offers

an ideal weekend brunch menu for the titular Working Woman: eggs-
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stuff ing casserole, bacon or sausage, broccoli spears, f ruit and spinach
salad, spiced coffee

Notable breakthroughs: Tofutti hits the shelves in 1981, Pillsbury

Toaster Strudels in 1985, Snapple in 1987, and Healthy Choice f rozen
meals in 1989.

1990s: Novelty cereal and fun yogurt

Everyone loves the ’90s, probably because you were watching cartoons
on a sugar high. TV-show-inspired cereals like Reptar Crunch, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal, Jurassic Park Crunch, and Batman Returns
Cereal arrived on grocery store shelves; YoCrunch encouraged you to
put candy in your yogurt; and thanks to the Bagel Bites theme song,
pizza for breakfast was a totally legit choice.  

A typical Saturday morning of binge watching Recess may have

included a bowl of Trix and a blue-raspberry Go-Gurt.

Notable breakthroughs: Berry Berry Kix appear in 1992, Trix Yogurt in

1992, Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs in 1994, French Toast Crunch Cereal
in 1995, Oreo O’s in 1998, and Go-Gurt in 1999.

2000s and beyond: Kale, cupcakes, and more bacon

In the early-aughts, kale, smoothies, kale smoothies, low-carb

everything, and cupcakes became pop culture-fueled food trends. This
is also when the organic/farm-to-table/fair-trade/small-batch
revolution (Part 2) began, hence the kale smoothies.
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Also, if you were at least semi-conscious and a meat-eater in the 2000s,

you probably ingested a bacon doughnut, a bacon martini, a bacon
milkshake, and/or Baconnaise. That’s because bacon was in everything.

To relive the confused, cupcake-obsessed, bacon-slinging, health-

conscious aughts, have a bacon breakfast cupcake and a smoothie.
(Best enjoyed while wearing a Von Dutch hat and watching The O.C.)

Notable breakthroughs: General Mills’ Milk n’ Cereal bars appear in

2000, making cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast
Crunch a portable treat thanks to a “milk” f rosting. Heinz rolls out
purple EZ Squirt ketchup in 2001. 

  

The moral of the story here, kids? Coffee and bacon are forever. 
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