Reddit reviews The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal

I'm not a historian but I am in middle of this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Food-Younger-Land-Food-Before/dp/1594488657 and it's got a ton of information on what people in different parts of the country ate up until the second world war.

For anybody that's seriously interested in what Great-Grandma ate from a US historical perspective I'd recommend thumbing through a copy of Fannie Farmer's 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Get prepared for lots of recipes featuring tripe, sweetbreads, organ meats, tongue, calf's head, mackerel and lots of desserts.

And, if you want an engaging book to read on US historical regional foods try Mark Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal.

Not precisely about 1912, but these two books provide great insights into food culture in the early 20th century.

• Mark Kurlansky, The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal.
  
  
• Jane Ziegelman, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement

You might be interested in “The Food of a Younger Land” by Kurlansky. It’s a collection of short articles documenting eating habits, traditions and struggles of Americans during the Great Depression. They were written as part of the New Deal program to put people to work again, but ended up being a treasure trove of stories, anecdotes, and photos of what people all across America were eating.

The Food of a Younger Land, an amazing compilation of folk recipes and food travelogues by a team of WPA writers in the 1930s.