Marcel Green

Petrides
10/26/15
Eng 101

Smithsonian
Artist Robert Smithson once said visiting a museum is a matter of going void to void.
The Smithsonian has plenty of amazing exhibits, I choose to visit the Food:
Transforming The American Table, which features Julia Child's kitchen and the
Lemelson Center for The Study of Invention and Innovation. Within these two exhibits
you can find change in America from different perspectives that while may contrast also
come and intertwine with one another.
Julia Childs was a famous cook who changed food forever. She was the food
network before it was created(Boyer). The Julia Childs exhibit displays Julia Child's
kitchen from when she started on television in 1963 all the way through 2000 when she
ended her television career. Childs was born the eldest of three on August 15th 1922 in
Pasadena, California. She attended Smith College in Massachusetts where she starred
on the basketball team and received her bachelor's degree in history. She graduated
with the small desire to become a writer. She wanted to become a famous woman
novelist (Childs, 2006). After moving around from job to job a lot, Childs decided to
attend a famous french culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. She initially struggled
however she was able to get herself back on track. She fell in love with it saying The

whole experience was an opening up of the soul and spirit for me . . . I was hooked, and
for life, as it turned out. (Childs 2006).

While in paris she met Simca Beker, and Louisette Bertholle who happened to be
writing a cookbook geared toward Americans and needed an actual American in it. She
went on to spend years trying out different recipes for the book. Once completed the
book was named Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Unlike previous cookbooks,
Childs actually gave step by step instructions for cooking each meal. Her instructions
were not simply just how long to cook the meal, she broke it down step by step to create
a type of manual for cooking.
Childs was more than just an average chef. Before Childs everything was
plain(Boyer). She introduced French cooking to America. After completing the book she
became even more famous. She starred in a very well known television show The
French Chef which debuted in 1963. The show ran for 10 years winning her an Emmy
in 1966. She became the first chef to win the U.S Medal of Freedom award which she
won in 2003.
While Childs, affected how we cooked in the kitchen she also had some of the
hottest utensils on the market, which leads me into my next exhibit I visited. I visited the
Places of Invention exhibit in the American History Museum. The exhibit covered
different topics than I was expecting. I walked and saw some turntables which
connected to hip hop's creation in the Bronx. However, I did find precision
manufacturing which is related to Julia Childs kitchen. People gathered around as one
person would attempt to wrap a flexible piece of metal around different objects to show
whether it was made correctly or not. Without this manufacturing ability new innovations

would not be possible. Because of inventions and innovations life has more
possibilities(Boyer). These tools allowed us to make life easier within the
kitchen(Boyer).

Childs Kitchen was full of new inventions. For example, in her kitchen she had a
soapstone and wooden pestle. She originally purchased this item from a flea market in
1948 to help her crush, mix and grind ingredients together. Then in the 1970s she
transitioned to a food processor, which she thought was so important because of its
electric motor. And lastly in 1975 she began using a stand mixer to mix all of her
ingredients. Those three inventions were all for the same purpose. Innovations allowed
Childs to move from a bowl and a spoon, to an electric mixer and finally to a stand mixer
. Innovation allows people to do just as she did, to start off with something that requires
a lot of effort and gradually overtime improve to the items we still use today.

Virtual tours are used predominantly during real estate and online . They have
plenty of benefits for consumers and sellers.. However, I cannot say the same when one
is simply trying to inform, and not sell. I found the same with the Julia Childs exhibit

online. While it was beautifully laid out it is not exactly what you would need. The virtual
tour did give me tons of information. However, it is information I did not really need. In
one piece of the tour it gave a complete layout of the exhibit, within this most of the
individual gadgets had an option to hover over and learn more information. To my
dismay I read facts such as Olives and Vinegars are kept close to the
stove"(American.si.edu). Fact such as that while very interesting to an extent are
somewhat useless.
The online exhibit for the Places of Invention was much better. It gave me many
more options than the in person did exhibit did. I was able to simply click and find
innovations in cooking. These innovations include the creation of potato chips and use
of mushrooms. When digging in deeper, one can find more information about
technology advancements such as trademark files and a stove collection.
During my visit I learned a lot about the American culture than I had previously
known. I learned where french cooking in America started from and some of the
technologies innovations that make today's world possible. The two virtual exhibits gave
two different perspectives. While one was lacking in information the other was very
fruitful and kept me asking more. I guess Smithson was right because in the museum I
definitely went through a couple of voids.

Cite

Boyer, Chris: Interview at Smithsonian: Washington DC Oct 24th,2015

Child, Julia." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk &
Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Julia's life in France: two very different picture-book biographies of Julia Child
arrive in time for what would have been her 100th birthday." Publishers Weekly 2012:
88. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28Oct. 2015.
"Julia Child's Kitchen." National Museum of American History. N.p., 14 June 2013. Web. 27
Oct. 2015.

LEMELSON CENTER for the Study of Invention and Innovation. N.p., n.d. Web.
28 Oct. 2015.
Spitz, Bob. Dearie : The Remarkable Life Of Julia Child. n.p.: New York : A.A.
Knopf, 2012., 2012. MC Library Catalog. Web. 28Oct. 2015.
Photo was taken by me during my visit