Food and Culture in the 1960s

There seems to be an idea that persists in the cultural memory that, in terms of food and meals, the 1950s was the golden era. The stereotypical housewife slaving away all day in a muted-pastel kitchen, making the perfect dinner for her hard-working husband is an image that comes readily to my mind, at least. By the 1960s, however, all that seems to have changed. According to English Through the Ages, the words entering English that dealt with food show us the different ways that food was dealt with, both within the home and the culture at large.

To begin with, it was during this time that foreign foods supposedly started to make their way onto the American menu.

• Calamari appeared in COHA for the first time in 1968, showing perfectly the willingness of Americans to try new things. Its use has increased steadily since then, probably as more people travel to foreign ports.
  
• Carbonara entered the language in 1965, according to the book, but doesn't show up in COHA until 15 years later, in 1980. Its use has been small, but fairly steady since then.
  
• Fettuccini Alfredo supposedly entered the language at this time as well, but instances don't show up until 2002. If we look just at the pasta itself, spelled fettuccine, it appears to be more popular, being introduced in the '50s and slowly growing until the '90s, when it became much more popular.
  
• Fortune cookies began bewildering diners in 1962 and have been used a bit in the decades since then.
  
• While not technically international cuisine, soul food also entered the vernacular at this time and has been used steadily since then, except for a peak in the 1990s, thanks in part to a movie of the same name.
  
• Teriyaki appeared in 1970 and its use shows the growing love the American public have with Chinese food.
  
• Lo mein was also supposed to appear for the first time during the '60s, but doesn't show up in the COHA until 1990.
  

Besides the new American foods of this time, other new words mark the beginning of the health craze that has lasted for the remainder of the century. To begin with, foodaholic was apparently used during this time, but doesn't show up in the corpus at any time. Similarly, chocoholic showed up during the '60s as well, but only appears twice in the COHA, in 1980 and in 2007. It is interesting that both cases occur with scare quotes, so it is clear that the term has not yet achieved widespread usage.

• The term empty calorie shows the beginning of the trend that not all foods are good for you. It first appears in the COHA in 1970 and decreased in usage until the 2000s where it is used as much as in the '70s.
  
• Junk food appears in the COHA in 1973 and is the only term in this project that shows a significant number of tokens. It has grown in usage quite drastically since it first appeared.
  
• Lo-cal
  was used to describe healthy new food stables beginning in 1955, but doesn't show up in the COHA again until the 2000s.
  

Finally, as the hustle and bustle of American life began to speed up, several words and phrases entered the language to reflect this cultural change.

• As more people were eating in restaurants, the opportunities for carryout and doggie bags also increased. Carryout first appears in the COHA in 1963 but reaches its peak during the 1980s. The term Doggie bags was first used in 1977, but don't show up often in the COHA.
  
  
• Food got easier to eat on the go, so fish fingers and the more common fish sticks appears at this time, as well as corn dog, although none of these terms really take off until later in the century.