Peoples of all times and places have been feeding their babies. With the exception of mother's (or wet nurse's) milk, what was served and how it was made, was a function of culture, cuisine and economic status. Babies in Ancient Egypt thrived on different foods from those in Medieval England, Jomon Japan, 18th century Russia and early 20th century Kenya.
Up until the middle of the 19th century [in industrialized nations] infant food was generally made at home. Recipes and instructions for feeding babies were sometimes found in cookbooks. These foods were often grouped with invalid cookery. Why? They were generally thought to have similar properties. Both were highly nutritious and easily digested. Finely ground grains (oats, rice, barley) mixed with a liquid are found in most cultures. Example: Cookery for Children, Sarah Josepha Hale, 1852.
Food historians generally agree that manufactured baby food, as we know it today, was a byproduct of the European Industrial Revolution. The first mass-produced baby foods were invented by scientists/nutrition experts and manufactured in the mid-19th century by innovative companies. These were infant formulas, substitutes for mother's milk. At that time, tainted milk was often connected with infant mortality. Then, as now, there was much controversy regarding the use of artifical baby food. Ideas regarding amounts, timing, and what consitituted a healthy diet have likewise changed.
By the 1920s infant foods, which had grown to encompass ready-made baby cereals, fruits and vegetables, were promoted as convenience items. Food companies capitalized on "modern" notions of scientific feeding and the superiority of manufactured items over those homemade. Interestingly enough? American consumers did not immediately embrace these new foods. It took some very agressive marketing to win them over.
Some foods we regard today as sweets were originally marketed as health foods for children. Two cases in point: malted milk and chocolate pudding.
RECOMMENDED READING:
A SHORT SURVEY OF MANUFACTURED BABY FOODS THROUGH TIME
[1867] LIEBIG'S SOLUBLE FOOD FOR BABIES/LONDON
"Perhaps not surprisingly, a major step in capitalization on the new advances in chemistry by
marketing proprietary infant foods came from the scientist who laid the foundations of the New
Newtrition, Baron Justus von Liebig. If indeed foods were constituted of protein, carbohydrates,
and fats, could these nutrients not be combined into a replica of mother's milk? Thus, in 1867 the
Baron introduced Liebig's Soluble Food for Babies in the European market. By the next year it
was being manufactured and sold in London by the Liebig's Registered Concentrated Milk
Company and within a year after that it had migrated to the United States. Liebig did not
challenge the prevalent notion that mother's milk was the perfect infant food. Rather, he claimed
that he had succeeded in concocting a substance, at first liquid, then powdered, whose chemical
makeup was virtually identical to that of mother's milk. Liebig's Food was soon followed by a
host of imitators. Some contained dried milk and called only for the addition of water. Others, like
Liebig's original formula, were to be added to diluted milk. Soon some doctores were proclaiming
these foods to be superior to the milk of wet nurses."
---Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet, Harvey Levenstein
[Oxford University Press:New York] 1988 (p. 122-3)
About Justus von Liebig.
[1874] MELLIN'S FOOD & NESTLE'S MILK/United Kingdom & United States
"The exhibits of Mellin's food in the Mechanics and Instituted exhibitions now in progress have attracted the attention of thousands
of visitors, and the people are beginning to examine and discuss the suggestive topic which the displays suggest. Time and
experience have put this food to a successful test, and its important bearing upon the rising and future generations cannot be
oversetimated. Its history proves again that it is almost invariably the case that a really good article is slow in making
its way into the favor of the public, but, when finally its excellences are known, its success is assured and the rapidity
of its introduction marvellous. This is notably the case with the article which is known as Mellin's food, and which is now being
so generally received into public favor. For years it has been a deplorable but acknowldged fact, that an alarming percentage of
children die before reaching the age of five years. In England, the number of children that die under one year old is in the ratio
of one to every twelve births...Liebig's food,...came the nearest to a practical solution of the difficult problem, but it was
unsuitable for distribuion and exportation, and much trouble and ascrifice of time were entailed by its daily preparation. G.
Mellin of London, following Liebig's suggestions, produced an article which is portable, easy of preparation, and which gives entire
satisfaction. Mellin's food, requires neither boiling nor strianing, that having already been done, but is almost instantly
prepared for use by dissolving a certain quantity in hot water and then adding cold milk. Analysis of the food after mixing
shows it to contain a large proportion of grape sugar, which enters so largely into the composition of mother's milk, together with a large
amount of protein and soluble phosphates, indicating flesh and bone forming nutrients of the highest type...Thus sucenc e finally
conquered all difficulties, and produced a food that all mothers will hail with delight. Not until 1874 did it make its appearance in this
country, and then through the enterprises of Theodore Metcalf & Co., who, in response to the growing demand, obtained the North
American agency. In order to supply the greatly increased demand in Europe and America for this food the proprietor was obliged to erect
larger works, and since 1877 the food has been regularly supplied....The best medical men in the coutnry now ackhowldege its merits
and prescribe it in cases where formerly they were almost helpless."
---"A Public Benefactor: An Exhibit at the Fair--Mellin's Food for Infants...", Boston Daily Globe, November 6, 1881 (p. 5)
"The Duty of Every Mother and espeially those who are charged with the delicate and great responsibility of rearing hand-fed
children, is to investigate the merits of the best artificial food for the preservation of infant life. The universal testimony
of our most skillful physicians, and of thousands of mothers who have practially tested it, demonstrated beyond a doubt that
Mellin's Food for Infants is the best, and contains exactly the ingredients necessary to insure the life and health of the little
ones to develop them in body and mind, and secure robust health in childhood, manhood and womanhood."
---display ad, Theodore Metcalf & Co., 39 Tremont St., Boston Mass., "Sole agents for the United States and British
America," Boston Daily Globe, April 11, 1880 (p. 30) [NOTE: this ad contains physican testimonials.]
"By the 1890s the most popular by far of the powders to be added to milk was Mellin's Food,
developed in England and manufactured in Boston, whose advertisements claimed that it was "the
genuine Liebig's Food," The best known of the dried-milk products was another European
import, Nestle's Milk Food, which was manufactured and distributed under license by a New
York City firm. Advertisements for various proprietary infant foods because well-nigh ubiquitious
by the 1890s....Nestle's ("Best for Babies") said it was better for babies than milk, for "impure
milk in hot weather is one of the chief causes of sickness among babies."...A favorite promotional
technique was to offer free samples by mail to the readers of middle-class magazines. Perhaps the
most effective with middle-class mothers...were the free handbooks on infant care feeding
distributed by the companies. Mellin's with its own press, was especially active in this field. The
handbooks explained the chemistry of milk and feeding in clear but relatively sophisticated
language, adding an aura of science to the food they were promoting. Not only did they prove
effective in convincing mothers of the efficacy of proprietary infant foods, they convinced many
doctors as well...Thus, by the 1980s a number of sources spread the growing impression that
artificial feeding was both scientific and modern."
---Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet, Harvey Levenstein
[Oxford University Press:New York] 1988 (p.124)
[NOTE: This book contains much more information on this topic. If you need more details ask
your librarian can help you obtain a copy.
Our survey of historic American newspapers reveals the Boston-based firm Dolibar, Goodale & Co. [41 Central Warf] was a distribtor for Mellin's in 1884. Articles and advertisements confirm Doliber continued to distribute Mellin's food at least until 1906.
[1924] SPECIAL INFANT FOODS
"Of the many patent infant and invalid foods on the market, some consist of cow's milk combined
with varying amounts of carbohydrates of other materials and others seem to be made of starchy
materials without milk. In some cases the carbohydrates have apparently been malted before being
combined with milk, or else malt extract is added during the process of manufacture. Experience
had shown that these special foods, when they contain nutrietns of milk, are sometimes valuable
for infants when it is necessary to resort to artificial feeding. Too much faith should not be put in
the extravagant claims made for some brands of infant foods. The safest course is to follow the
advice of a competent physician in selecting the substitute for natural feeding. It is often wiser to
use cow's milk, modified at home under a physician's direction, rather than these commercial
foods."
---Milk and Its Uses in the Home, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin No.
1359 [Government Printing Office:Washington DC] revised January 1924 (p. 15)
[NOTE: This booklet also states "That the best food for an infant is milk from a strong, healthy
woman is admitted by everyone. When it is not obtainable, the more nearly the substitute
resembles it the better. Cow's milk is the most common substitute, and when necessary may be
artificially modified. Goat's milk, too, is in some cases recommened for infants." (P. 5)]
[1928] GERBER'S/United States
Gerber's launched its new baby food line in 1928 with a special promtion intended to get mothers
to try the
product and create a demand for the item in retail grocers stores: About Gerber's.
"1928: Danel Gerber improves baby foods with improved methods for straining peas and finds by
a maket
surey that a large market exists for such foods if they can be cold cheaply through grocery stores.
Gerber
advertises in Child's Life magazine and offers six cans for a dollar (less than half the pices of baby
foods
sold at pharmacies) to customers will send in coupons filled out with the names and addresses of
their
grocers."
---The Food Chronology, James Trager [Henry Holt:New York] 1995 (p. 455)
"By the late 1920s, commercially canned baby food was introduced and quickly adopted by
American consumers. Conditions were favorable: advertising had become widespread, the cost of
canned foods had fallen, and experts recommended the addition of fruits and vegetables to the
infant diet. The Gerber Company initiated this revolution in infant feeding by expanding the scope
of the canned foods industry. According to the Gerber company history, in 1927 Dorothy Gerber
laboriously hand-strained vegetables for her seven-month-old daughter, Sally, and urged her
husband, Daniel, to consider manufacturing stained baby food a the Gerber family's Fremont
Canning Company. The next year, the company introduced strained peas, prunes, carrots, and
spinach to the market. The Gerbers launched an advertising campaign featuring a sketch of an
infant known as the Gerber Baby that ran in such publications as Good Housekeeping, The
Ladies' Home Journal, the Journal of the American Dietetics Association, and the Journal
of the American Medical Association. The Gerber Baby icon, drawn by Dorothy Hope Smith,
became the company's official trademark in 1931."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford
University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 58-9)
Recommended reading
[1931] PABLUM/CANADA
"During the 1920s and 1930s, considerable time and effort were spent studying the science of
artificial feeding. The scientific management of child-rearing in general - from food to behaviour
advice - increased the professional role and authority of physicians in child care issues. Society
seemed to welcome the scientific approach to infant feeding and food and bought products that
advertised increased nutritional value for their children. In 1931, Pablum, an infant cereal
containing necessary minerals and vitamins for children's health, became available in Canada and
the United States. The food was heralded as an excellent cereal addition to the infant's diet and
remains a popular infant food today. It was three Canadian doctors - Frederick Tisdall
(1893-1949), Theodore Drake (1891-1959), and Alan Brown (1887-1960) - who developed
Pablum at
the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. "
http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts/canadian_studies/english/about/study_guide/doctors/better_foods.html
[1960s, USA]
"Fixing formula for your infant will soon be quicker and easier than pouring a glass of milk for your preschooler...If your pediatrician approves, you will be able to buy
ready-to-serve formula at your grocery or drug store in disposible glass bottles, marked with ounces. The formula is already sterilized, will keep unopened without
refrigeration and need not be warmed before feeding. All you have to do is replace the bottle's cap with a sterilized-sized collar. The ready-bottled formula...is due for
national distribution within a few months...A carton of four four-ounce bottles is priced at 75 cents; of size ounce bottles, 87 cents; of eight ounce size, 99 cents...The
same ready-to-serve formula has been available in cans since 1962, but most be poured into sterilized bottles before feeding. Coming on the market soon is kit which
makes it possible to attach a nipple to the metal can for quick feedings. A new manufacturing process had to be developed, however, before the formula could be
preserved in the glass bottles without refrigeration. The last dozen years have seen major changes in the way infants in the United States are fed. Only one mother in
five now fixes the baby formul using the traditional evaoprated milk mixed with carbohydrate modifiers, a mainstay of two-thirds of babies in 1952. Half of today's mothers
now use a prepared infant formula, either a powder or liquid which is mixed with water, or the ready-serve formula poured from a can into sterilized bottles. The percentage
has doubled in the last five years, was only 15 per cent in 1952. One baby in five, usually those past three or four months of age, gets whole cow's milk. Only one in
10 is breast fed, still the safest, most convenient and least expensive method of nourishing an infant. But even some breast-fed infants are ocasionally given formula as a
supplement, or when the mother must be away from home at feeding time."
---"Feeding a Baby is Easier, But There Are Still Problems," Joan Beck, Chicago Tribune, March 24, 1964 (p. A2)
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