Today is National Egg Day. On this day we recognize these protein and vitamin packed edible delights for their culinary versatility. From scrambled, fried, poached, to hard boiled, the economical egg has long been a staple item on tables all over the world.
According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, America’s egg consumption is currently at around 260 eggs per person each year. It is reported that the highest per capita rate was in 1945 with an astounding 402 eggs per person! Due to growing health risk concerns associated with egg consumption, the per capita number had steadily decreased with its lowest point in 1995 at 232 per person. After this time, the reported benefits of eating eggs has made for an upward trend and increased demand.
Today, the mass production of eggs on commercial farms with year round operations provide consumers with a robust selection to choose from. This was obviously not the case at the turn of the 20th century. The majority of eggs produced and distributed were sourced by local farms and only during certain months of the year. Modern day amenities offer consumers the luxury of purchasing and storing eggs readily. After all, eggs are perishable and require refrigeration. This begs one to ask, how were eggs kept before the dawn of domestic refrigerators?
We in the NJ Digital Newspaper Project office thought it would interesting to post some of the methods that were utilized at the turn of the century for storing eggs. It was common for household to harvest eggs for the winter months when production slowed down. The articles below describe preserving eggs in ‘water glass.’
This ‘Efficient Housekeeping” column below from the Perth Amboy Evening News suggests “packing eggs in oats and storing them in a cool basement or spring house, but it is suggested that each egg be dipped in warm or melted vaseline.”
In another ‘Efficient Housekeeping” column, the author, Dr. Henrietta Grauel, makes an argument against price gauging of stored eggs by suppliers. She also touches on the distinctive traits of a ‘fresh egg.’
As important as it was to use effective storing methods of eggs, it was also equally important to detect their freshness and edibility. The article below describes a bulletin distributed by the Unites State Department of Agriculture that illustrated varying color of eggs which a, ‘housewife wishing to test the eggs she is to serve to her own family’ could utilize as a point of reference.
The article above was published on the cover of the August 6, 1914 issue of the Bridgeton Pioneer.
What would our post honoring National Egg Day be without a few egg recipes published in the New Jersey titles on Chronicling America? Below are a few of our favorites.
The article above was published in the March 6, 1915 issue of the Perth Amboy Evening News.
To end this post commemorating National Egg Day, we are sharing few ‘eggs-amples’ from an egg-themed word guessing game published in the April 7, 1913 issue of the Perth Amboy Evening News.
- What eggs are unusual? Eggs-ceptional.
- What eggs are always overdone? Eggs-aggeration
- What eggs are too many? Eggs·cess.
- What eggs surpass all others? Eggs·cel.
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