(See Cover)
Mrs. Judah Holstein, 32, of Los Angeles, last week faced the harrowing test that comes to almost every young working wife: her first big dinner party. A top Hollywood secretary (to Producer Stanley Kramer), Selma Holstein had to grapple with phones, mountains of paper, and hubbubing actors and directors all day, rush off at 6 p.m. to prepare a dinner for 14. To complicate matters, she had to go through her paces at her sister's house because her own apartment has no dining room, only a small kitchenette.
By the time dinner was served, Hostess Holstein had lost all her anxiety, was as calm and unhurried as if a horde of servants had prepared the meal. That, in fact, was just what had happened. Except for the cooking water and seasoning, almost every bite of the appetizing meal she placed before her guests had been washed, cut, peeled, shelled, precooked, mixed and apportioned by "factory maids" long before it reached her hands. After cocktails and hors d'oeuvres (frozen), Mrs. Holstein began her meal with shrimp (frozen) in cocktail sauce (prepared), a green salad (fresh) with Swiss dressing (from a bottle).
With her main course of lobster Newburgh (frozen) she served asparagus tips in Hollandaise sauce (frozen), quick rice with mushrooms (canned) and hot rolls (heat and serve).
Coffee (instant) and a white cake (made from ready-mix) and ice cream topped off the meal. Mrs, Holstein's harvest from husband and guests: a burst of praise (spontaneous) for her "home-cooked" meal. Such jiffy cooking would have made Grandma shudder, but today it brings smiles of delight to millions of U.S. housewives. The remarkable rise of "conven-ience" or processed foods—heralded by the slogans "instant," "ready to cook" and "heat and serve"—has set off a revolution in U.S. eating habits, brought a bit of magic into the U.S. kitchen. It has freed the housewife from long hours at the stove, made her more conscious of sound nutrition, provided her with a happily bewildering variety of foods and delicacies. A few years ago it took the housewife 5½ hours to prepare daily meals for a family of four; today she can do it in 90 minutes or less—and still produce meals fit for a king or a finicky husband.
Such a time cut was forced by the changing role of U.S. women. Today's housewife not only runs her kitchen, but takes the children to school, picks up her husband at the train, belongs to the P.T.A. and a host of other organizations, reads the latest bestsellers, takes a voice in community affairs. Even more important, more than 20 million U.S. women hold jobs outside the home; they do not want to come home to overtime hours in the kitchen, so need foods that can be prepared quickly and without fuss. For such women processed foods are indispensable; there is no other way.