Visalia’s Insatiable Appetite for Cooking Shows

Visalia’s Insatiable Appetite for Cooking Shows

Words and Photos Provided by Terry Ommen

There’s no question about it, television cooking shows have captured our attention. Programming is packed with celebrity chefs preparing their favorite dishes, amateur cooks competing with each other, and restaurateurs showing off their best menu offerings. Viewers can’t get enough of watching others cook!

But our appetite for watching food being prepared by others is not new. In Visalia, at least, this craving dates back to over a century ago. In 1912, the Globe Mills A-1 Flour Company sent a home economist to Visalia to conduct a cooking class. It was a big hit, and since then, cooking schools and classes have been a Visalia favorite. During the years that followed, several visiting home economists from different companies came to Visalia to share their cooking skills and secret recipes, all free and in front of a local live audience. These public exhibitions were held at various locations including Merryman Hall and the Visalia Municipal Auditorium. Local merchants got involved too, providing door prizes, food, and appliances.

After the Visalia Fox Theatre was built in 1930, its stage became a favorite venue for these cooking events. One of the biggest was held in 1935. On May 14th the Visalia Times-Delta announced their sponsorship of an “all electric” cooking school at the movie house. The Southern California Edison Company was happy to supply the electrical power. The dates set for the 3-day event were May 22, 23, and 24, with Ruth Erb, a popular Hotpoint company home economist presenting the class. She came with impressive credentials: Erb was considered both an authority on electric cooking, and one of the outstanding home economists of the West. This popular presenter made the circuit to many towns.

Each member of the May 1935 cooking school audience was given a program that contained recipes prepared at the school.

The newspaper hype promised that “housewives will appreciate and enjoy every minute of each session,” with cooking demonstrations and new methods of getting more housework done. They promised it would be the “most interesting and valuable cooking event ever attended in Visalia.” Prizes would be awarded throughout the three days to those in attendance with the grand prize being a Hotpoint electric range to be awarded at the end of the third day.

The day before the opening of the school, Ruth Erb came to town to personally supervise the final details. She shared her impressions of Visalia with the Delta saying, “The lovely exterior appearance of Visalia homes leads me to believe that women here are interested in modern housekeeping and I have given much time and thought to preparation of this cooking course…”

On the first day of the school, the Fox Theatre doors opened at 1:00 pm, and anxious visitors filed in to gaze at the electrical appliance displays, all while L. Kay Kindig played background music on the theater organ. A nursery was provided for guests with small children.

When Erb introduced herself, she was greeted with an enthusiastic response by the audience. She then took them on a “conducted tour of the well-arranged kitchen.” A Delta reporter noted that her “informal manner” and gracious personality won the hearts of many in the audience. “As she deftly prepared the delicious food, she explained each step fully making the procedure so plain that many families tonight are enjoying duplicating the dishes demonstrated by Miss Erb this afternoon,” the reporter added. The first day’s events were capped off with the awarding of door prizes, and each in attendance received a program filled with recipes of the day. They included fancy dinners like salmon loaf with vegetables and desserts such as devil’s food cake. With each, a full list of ingredients and detailed directions for preparation were included.

Word spread of the event, and on the second day there was a larger crowd. The expert cook prepared many dishes and the food was shared with those in attendance. The Delta noted, “Many useful recipes were used by Miss Erb to demonstrate the superiority of electricity as a medium for cooking and refrigeration.” Prizes for the second day were awarded, including a Hotpoint electric mixer won by Mrs. A.M. Becker, and a Newport electric toaster by Mrs. C.F. Rose. Baskets of groceries were also given to many lucky ladies.

The lovely exterior appearance of Visalia homes leads me to believe that women here are interested in modern housekeeping and I have given much time and thought to preparation of this cooking course…

On the last day, the school attracted 785, the largest of the 3-day event. Erb continued to show off her talent. The Delta raved about her cooking, and obviously impressed with the benefits of electric cooking, praised the convenience of the automatic oven timer and the even heat offered by the electric range. At the closing of the last day, the grand prize Hotpoint electric range was awarded to Mrs. C.W. McGinty, courtesy of Cooper Furniture, the Hotpoint dealer in Visalia.

After the cooking school ended, the Visalia Times-Delta published a thank you to the community saying, “Never before in Visalia was such interest shown in a cooking school. Hundreds of women thronged each session of the course and were impressed with the advantages of electric cookery…and to everyone who contributed in any way to the unqualified success of the All-Electric Cooking School, we wish to express a simple and hearty ‘thank you.’”

Visalia cooking schools continued into the 1950s—all sponsored by the Visalia Times-Delta, alternating between electric and gas as the power source.

In this June 1938 rodeo parade photograph, the Visalia Fox Theatre can be seen in the background. It was here that the cooking school was held.