JMME
Window to the West
Grain Growers' Guide → The Country Guide
Food
The varied and often harsh climate of Canada’s West greatly affected farmers’ livelihood and food to sustain them. Many of the readers were self-sufficient, able to live off of the food they farmed for themselves. As the Grain Growers' Guide trasitions into The Country Guide, mirroring the economic transition into the Great Depression, food ads for canned and frozen foods dramatically increased.
1923
This ad appeared in an April issue of the GGG. Food advertisements changed with the seasons. Spring and summer centered around fresh food and farming. Fall and winter advertised frozen and canned foods, the frozen fish ad was found in a January issue. This trend is indicative of the Canadian farm lifestyle. Brands could capitalize on farmers needing to look elsewhere for sustenance when the ground froze.
1929
This ad for ""Clark's Soups" indicates the shift from "fresh" food to food that is mass produced and non perishable, , which means it would last longer. During the Depression canned foods may have been the one of the few options of sustenance for rural families.
1935
During this period fridges began to become commercialized single units in homes. With improved food production, storage and availability, freshness was at the forefront of everyone’s mind, demonstrated quite clearly through this ad. In addition, cooking and especially baking was associated as a female task. This is driven home with the ad including an image of a young girl. Although this may be subtle it reinforces these gender roles.