Customer Reviews

Better Than Homemade

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Fans of the Food TV series "Unwrapped" will feel at home with this book. As does the TV series, this book tells the story of a parade of food products. Unlike the TV show, this book focuses exclusively on specific products invented by American food industry -- inventions such as SPAM, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Hawaiian Punch and Kellogg's Pop-Tarts.

In general, I'm not a big fan of pre-packaged food. Having said that, I've probably eaten just about everything Ms. Wyman chronicles at least once. And so it was fun learning the origins of foods like Tater Tots (designed to use the leftover potatoes from making Ore-Ida French Fries) and Redd-Wip whipped cream (which had to overcome the 1940s association of aerosol spray cans and insecticide).

The author seems vacillates between a genuine admiration and a healthy (pun intended) disdain for her subject. On the one hand, she says of Kraft's mac-and-cheese: "It's cheap, keeps nearly a year without refrigeration, and is quick and easy to make while still demanding enough to make you feel like you're cooking." On the other hand, she opens her chapter about Wonder Bread this way: "Bread is called the staff of life. What does it say about America that its best-selling bread is as soft as a pillow, as absorbent as a sponge, and as gaily dressed as a clown?"

The book is attractively laid out and filled with graphics including some of the original packaging and ads for the foods (see, for example, a young Frank Gifford reaching for a glass of Minute Maid Orange Juice from concentrate).

So if you can get past the schizophrenic editorial voice, it's a fun romp through the good, the bad, and the ugly of the American food industry.

I'm in my 20's, a child of baby boomer parents. This book is both hysterical and comforting as I was raised on the vast majority of these "foods of the furture." If you remember eating Mom's special blue box Mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs, then this book is a must have. Nearly every deliciously disgusting processed food product ever made is chronicled in this colorful little book. My mother still makes a green bean cassarole every Thanksgiving that has more Campbell's soup and Velveeta in it than actual vegetables. She still owns and uses an original rectangular Tupperware Velveeta container introduced when Kraft merged with Tupperware. It must be 20+ years old. This book has plenty of product history, marketing successes (Kool-aid) and failures (Seafood Helper), and "fun fact" style notes in the margins (Dinty Moore stew was invented simply as something to fill $25 grand worth of war-surplus aluminium cans that were lying around in storage). I had a great time reading this, horrifying my "Whole Foods"-dedicated wife with stories and pictures of what I used to eat. Enjoy.

This is a retro treat aimed squarely at baby boomers that get a nostalgic rush every time they watch an episode of "Unwrapped", the addictive Food Network show that details how classic American food is made. As a junk-food connoisseur who has already written comprehensive books on Spam and Jell-O, author Carolyn Wyman has compiled eminently readable snapshots of forty-six familiar packaged goods created in the wake of World War II. At the time, housewives, who experienced the fruits of labor on the home front with their husbands away at war, were not as interested in fussing over meal preparation. Convenience came by way of increased industrialization and even the space program, manifesting itself into the kitchen staples highlighted here.

Wyman cleverly categorizes the products into five groups - Homemaker Helpers, Powerful Packages, Triumphs of Technology, Indestructibles and Recyclables, and Marketing Marvels. First up were products designed to free up mom from the kitchen, for example, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Bird's Eye Frozen Vegetables, Marshmallow Fluff, and of course, Hamburger Helper. The packaging itself was the key differential for products such as Reddi-wip, PAM, Jiffy Pop Popcorn, and Pringles Potato Chips. Technology breakthroughs encompass revolutionary, genre-expanding products like Sanka, Bac-Os, and Carnation Instant Breakfast. Long shelf lives made Twinkies, Velveeta, Cheez Whiz and Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks constantly available to harried housewives without worry of food poisoning. Lastly, the power of marketing became palpable with a diverse range of products from Jell-O to Kellogg's Pop-Tarts to Swanson TV Dinners, arguably the most duplicated concept on the market.

A wealth of pleasing graphics is provided in the book, including images of original ads and packaging. There are also fun facts galore such as the evolution of the Green Giant as an advertising icon and a listing of the actual twelve ways that Wonder Bread helped build strong bodies, and bizarre trivia like the origins of the phrase, "Drink the Kool-Aid", in the 1978 Jonestown massacre and the fact that the Unabomber left an empty box of Ore-Ida Tater Tots in his deserted Montana shack. With the focus on organic foods now, these forty-six products have fallen mostly out of favor, although there are signs of a revival among some, for example, Swanson TV Dinners were being offered at San Francisco's trendy trash-food eatery, Butter, just a couple of years back. Regardless, Wyman knows that there is a strong affinity for these foods among an aging segment of the population, those who really feel they taste good in a pleasantly predictable way. I suppose that's why the idea of a Deep Fried Oreo still appeals to me now.

I knew I purchased a great book when my husband exclaimed 'I used to eat that - yes that - all the time growing up'. I enjoyed reading the history of each product and the little facts about each too. Cheez-Wiz, Pringles, Sanka, you name it. Fabulous coffee table book, or just to read and sometimes giggle.

Better Than Homemade is a trip back in time, in an era when food was enjoyed for what it was, without dire warnings of what consuming the product would do to one's health. Many of the products in the book bring back memories of when I worked part time at the now defunct Red River Co-op grocery store in Winnipeg. Marketing food was fun in the 1970s, as there was none of today's customer obsession with "healthy", low fat, low calorie tasteless food.
And yet the irony is that these days far more people have weight problems.

I like to collect pop culture "curio" books, and this is one of my favorites. It's lightly humorous while being very interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone casually interested in food, trivia, and pop culture. It's also great for people who take forever to poke through the asiles of the supermarket, reading all of the labels and product packaging out of interest more than anything else. Highly recommended, and also a great gift idea for children to discuss with parents or grandparents who "lived through it."

What a wonderful, entertaining book! It takes me back to all the newfangled technological innovations that were invented during the time I grew up, such as TV Dinners in the metal tray, complete with overcooked, dried-out peas! A fun book full of nifty information. Enjoy!

This is such a fun read! It's a fresh change of pace from all the dieting, natural and healthy food cookbooks that crowd the shelves of the cookbook section. This is probably one of the best retro food books out there. Wyman aims to neither worships nor ridicule these `miracle foods' of postwar years but instead showcases these foods and their stories with lighthearted fun. She makes the reader both question their food choices (Jell-o is made out of what?!) as well as quell the guilt of so many who eat and enjoy these processed foods. For example, Velveeta was made to be a healthy alternative to milk and Cheese Wiz a way to free up time spent making cheese sauce. The histories behind the foods are a lot of fun to read, especially for anyone liking trivia.

While this book is a lighthearted, fun read, it does make you think more about food, the reasons behind buying and eating, and the social implications of how we eat. Food can signal a political leaning (potato flakes), an income (Hamburger Helper), a destruction of a way of life (the TV dinner and families eating around the dinner table) even teenage rebelliousness (Slim Jim). I like that Wyman focused so much on the way advertising affected the consumer. The more you know about the reasons why you eat the way you do leads to greater purchasing power or at least a heightened awareness of the food you buy. At any rate, this is a really fun book and would make a great gift to any food lover.

Writer Carolyn Wyman has previously written books about the history of Spam and Jell-O. She broadens her scope here by briefly tracing the stories of a multitude of convenience food products, from Hamburger Helper to Slim Jims to Tang. Wyman devotes about 3 pages to each food; these synopses typically include information about the invention of the product, how it's been marketed over the years, as well as other interesting tidbits. Some of these descriptions are quite interesting, such as the story behind the development of Swanson TV dinners. In addition, a few recipes are also scattered throughout the book, such as Queso Dip made with Velveeta -- the kinds of recipes usually featured on the back of the box.

Unfortunately, the tone of the book is inconsistent, veering from a tongue-in-cheek examination of cheesy food products to a seemingly sincere homage to American ingenuity. Perhaps as a result, the humor is very uneven; the author ends up trying far too hard to be funny and falls flat. I think part of the problem is that different audiences view these foods through their own perspectives, and Wyman seems to be trying to appeal to everyone. Most of these products were popularized in the 1950s, so Baby Boomers will probably have a sentimental view of products such as Wonder Bread and Tater Tots; whereas younger persons are likely to find these products a bit quaint or laughable.

The book is easy to digest for sure. However, like a twinkie, it's insubstantial and soon forgotten. "Better Than Homemade" goes down easily because of its format, but you shouldn't expect much.

Used paperback in good condition. This book reviews some of the most influential foods in ourpast 100 years. Many food innovations that particularly stir a fond or not so fond memory in the hearts of Baby Boomers everywhere!