Better Than Homemade: Amazing Food That Changed the Way We Eat (Paperback)

~ Carolyn Wyman (Author) "What's for dinner? For those who must answer that question long about 5 P.M. every day, no foods have been more prized than those in..." (more)
Key Phrases: frozen concentrate, instant mashed potatoes, Cheez Whiz, Homemaker Helpers, Cool Whip (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In an effort that will perhaps be best enjoyed by baby boomers who have yet to overdose on the Food Network, Wyman (Spam: A Biography; Jell-O: A Biography) unwraps 46 very familiar products to reveal their histories, revel in their mysteries and devour their marketing ploys. Anyone still intrigued by Hamburger Helper, Twinkies, Wonder Bread and Jiffy Pop will enjoy the efforts at wordplay ("Velveeta, All-American Hunk") and the concise narratives (the saga of Minute Rice in a two-minute read). Trivia connoisseurs will be happy to learn it takes more than 90 minutes a day to wash the walls and floors at the Marshmallow Fluff factory and that "among Hispanics with Caribbean roots, Clamato (and most other shellfish-based foods) is considered an aphrodisiac." Odder than the inclusion of Beer Nuts in a chapter entitled "Triumphs of Technology" is the fact that Instant Mashed Potatoes and Minute Rice are delegated to the more humble "Homemaker Helpers" section. Most interesting is the chapter on "Marketing Marvels," which explores Jell-O flavors that are no longer available, the voice behind the classic SpaghettiOs jingle and the birth of the Jolly Green Giant. The book's graphics sparkle and should induce cravings for Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks and a nice Hawaiian Punch.
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Product Description

(1)Who put the Minute in Minute Rice? (2)What, exactly, is Spam? (3)And why do Pringles come in a tennis ball can?

Discover the answers to all these questions and more in Better Than Homemade, a freewheeling illustrated history of the packaged foods industry. From Green Giant and Hamburger Helper to Jiffy Pop and Jell-O, syndicated columnist Carolyn Wyman reveals the fascinating origins of your favorite 'food' products -- along with never-before published advertisements, innovative packaging (cheese in a can!?), and hilarious 'unauthorized uses.'
You'll learn that Birds Eye frozen foods were invented by an Arctic adventurer; Kool-Aid got its start from an 11-year-old entrepreneuer; and Twinkies were once used to capture a gang of escaped baboons. Perfect for fans of the Food Network's Unwrapped, this guide is the ultimate paean to processed pleasures!

(1) Afghan prince Attaullah Durrani, who brought the idea to General Foods.
(2) According to Spam's website, 'Pork shoulder and ham, mostly.' Mostly?!
(3) To answer consumer complaints that potato chips were greasy and broke too easily.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (September 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931686424
• ISBN-13: 978-1931686426
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #839,870 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun food histories, September 4, 2005

By	Frank Chen (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Retro-Fun Abounds with an Entertaining Look at Familiar Baby Boomer Kitchen Staples, October 28, 2007

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both old and young will enjoy this!, June 13, 2005

By	David J. Miller "student" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.