Convenience products and a relish tray would surely make an appearance on the 1950’s Christmas dinner table.
What items are on the menu for your Christmas dinner? Do you prefer ham over turkey? Or how about prime rib? Many of the same things we eat for Thanksgiving return to the table for Christmas, such as mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. Everyone has their favorites and family recipes that make the holidays so special.
The 1950’s Christmas dinner menu was a bit different than what you’d find today. Convenience foods were growing in popularity during this time so many recipes took advantage of products like canned soups. Frozen vegetables became widely available so you’d likely see peas as a side dish, often with canned pearl onions. Relish trays featuring raw vegetables, pickles and olives were also very popular for entertaining. A Jell-O mold was a popular addition to the holiday table as well.
The Family Circle magazine listed this Christmas dinner menu in the December 1956 issue, “Holiday glazed ham, parsley potatoes, spiced peaches, cornbread diamonds, vegetable scallop, relish tray of olives, watercress, watermelon rind, radishes and celery, eggnog pie, coffee, salted nuts, mints.”
This 1950’s Christmas dinner menu was listed in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook, “French onion soup, holiday duckling with orange stuffing, cranberry sauce, mushroom wild rice, almond green beans, gala fruit wreath, Parker House rolls, butter, assorted cheese and crackers, hot coffee.”
Whatever you decide to make this holiday season, enjoy with your friends and family in good health!
FAQs
This 1950's Christmas dinner menu was listed in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook, “French onion soup, holiday duckling with orange stuffing, cranberry sauce, mushroom wild rice, almond green beans, gala fruit wreath, Parker House rolls, butter, assorted cheese and crackers, hot coffee.”
What food was popular in the 1950s diner? ›
Items like pancakes, sausages, meatloaf, burgers, and sandwiches were standard on diner menus, and still are today. The meals were priced low, making diners popular even before their rise in the 1950s.
What was the typical daily menu in the 1950s? ›
1950s Dinners
There was no such thing as the keto diet in the 1950s—meat and potatoes reigned supreme. You'd find hearty main dishes like Salisbury steak, beef stroganoff and meat loaf on a '50s dinner menu, plus scrumptious sides. Casseroles were also popular, particularly those featuring seafood or ham.
What was the original Christmas dinner? ›
It is believed that the forerunner of the Christmas dinner was the midwinter feast enjoyed by our ancient ancestors. Feasts were held to celebrate the pagan midwinter solstice, and archaeological digs have discovered that the most popular meats served up were pork and beef.
What was the top Christmas gift of 1950? ›
The 1950s marks the decade that Barbie first hit the shelves and was at the top of most little girls' Christmas list. Her rival, Sindy followed four years later. Mr Potato head also came out around this time, although the original was a little different from the one we know today.
How much did a TV dinner cost in 1950? ›
Initially, the dinners sold for the princely sum of 89 cents each, a bit of a splurge in 1954 (at that price, today each dinner would cost just over eight dollars). Despite that, TV dinners were a clear success – in the year after they came on the market, Swanson sold 25 million of them.
What was a popular breakfast in the 50s? ›
Breakfast was viewed as the meal to set you up for the day so was, at the very least, porridge, followed by bacon, eggs and fried bread, then toast and home-made marmalade, and lots of milky tea. As children it was also when we had our vitamin tablets - Haliborange and Adexolin capsules.
What was a traditional Christmas dinner in 1960? ›
The turkey came with all the trimmings: chipolatas or pigs in blankets, bread sauce and stuffing. The stuffing was sometimes sausagemeat and sometimes chestnut, a little more luxurious than the usual sage and onion. Roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, parsnips and of course, sprouts accompanied the meat.
What did they eat in the movie A Christmas Story? ›
The Bo' Ling Chop Suey Palace is a Chinese restaurant in Bob Clark's 1983 film, A Christmas Story. This restaurant is where the Parkers went out to eat on Christmas, after The Bumpus Hounds ate their turkey. They described the food as "Chinese Turkey" even though it was really a duck.
How was Christmas celebrated in the 1950? ›
In those years, decorating the house, yard, and other places was very common. There were many more people walking the streets and singing Christmas carols. Some homes even offered the dad accompanig their children and singing carols a warm drink called liquor. Houses were well decorated, as were trees.
When we think of Christmas most of us think of turkey. But it hasn't always had pride of place at the festive table. Before explorer Sebastian Cabot introduced turkey to England in the 16th century, the rich feasted on peaco*ck or swan, while boar's head was main course for everyone else.
