A century of cranberries Marketing group pulled out all the stops to get the public to eat more cranberries By: Eva Wasney Posted: 2:00 AM CST Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 Last Modified: 1:14 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/12/2022 (1371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cranberry propaganda was having a heyday 100 years ago. In 1922, the pages of the Free Press were littered with advertisements for the tart red berries, with promotions ramping up, understandably, around the holiday season.

Single column ads espousing the benefits of Eatmor Cranberries — the not-so-subtle brand name for the American Cranberry Exchange — ran dozens of times from between September and October that year.

The Exchange was a commodity group originally founded in the early 1900s by Wisconsin cranberry growers looking for a better way to sell their crop, according to an article published by a state museum. The collective was so successful, it expanded nationwide, becoming the second fruit marketing co-op in the country after California’s citrus grower’s organization.

How do you get people to eat more cranberries? With a calculated marketing campaign targeted at the primary shoppers and cooks of the household (read: women), of course.

Eatmor Cranberries started publishing ads in magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Ladies Home Journal, as well as newspapers, like the Winnipeg Free Press.

Promoting food products with recipes is a marketing strategy that continues today. Eatmor pushed cranberries with “healthful” and “economical” recipes for jams, jellies, butters, puddings, salads and sauces.

Just because a recipe is part of a concerted advertising effort, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Oftentimes, it’s quite the opposite, thanks to all the money spent on recipe development to make the product shine. The accompanying cranberry meringue pie is definitely shiny.

Originally published on Dec. 8, 1922, this recipe is sweet and tart and only reminds me a little of cranberry sauce. It’s also relatively easy for a pretty snazzy looking dessert — frozen cranberries and a store-bought pie crust work just as well as fresh and handmade. A tip: Keep an eye on your meringue while it’s in the oven to avoid over-cooking and let the pie cool all the way before cutting into it.

Alongside a glut of recipe advertisements, there were also a suspicious number of columns touting the health benefits of cranberries published around this time. Like so many modern superfoods, cranberries were ascribed magical, life affirming qualities by doctors and so-called dietary experts.

For those looking to “reduce” (i.e. lose weight), cranberries offered the answer in a column titled, “If You Are Too Fat Eat More Cranberries!” The exclamation point feels rude. In another column, it was discovered that most common ailments could be prevented, and even cured, by the berry’s alkaline properties — quite literally, “A few cranberries a day keeps the doctor away.”

Thanks to lax advertorial rules, it’s hard to tell who’s behind the health claims, it’s likely Eatmor had some influence.

I can’t promise this pie will make you live longer, but it is tasty.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney

Cranberry Meringue Pie, 1922

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water
2 cups (500 ml) cranberries
1 tbsp (15 ml) flour
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp (15 ml) butter
1/2 tsp (2 1/2 ml) vanilla
2 tbsp (30 ml) powdered sugar
1 deep pie crust, baked

On the stovetop, cook sugar and water to a syrup. Add cranberries and simmer until berries have popped. Let cool a little.

In a bowl, whisk together flour and egg yolks. Slowly add three tablespoons of the cranberry syrup to the bowl, whisking constantly. Add mixture to the berries and simmer for three minutes.

Stir in butter and vanilla, let cool.

Whip egg whites and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.

Pour filling into baked pie crust and cover with meringue. Place pie in a cool (200 F) oven to set and slightly brown the meringue, five to 10 minutes.

Recipe has been edited for clarity.