Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources
For a Fiesta of Good Eating. 1950. Van Camp Mexican Style Foods.
This 1950s food ad is a series of ads by the Van Camp Company,
promoting its Mexican style food products. The ad shows sultry Latin
women holding a plate of the product advertised. The image is a
portrayal of 1950s sexulization of food and exploits the Latin women. I
will use this image to strengthen my argument.

Kitch, Carolyn L. The Girl on the Magazine Cover: The Origins of Visual
Stereotypes in American Mass Media. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 2001
This award-winning book by Kitch is a collection of 75 photos of cover
art and popular images in United States advertising. The book contains
numerous images of women and food in the 1950s. The images are
helpful in provided visual aid and further elaborate my argument.

Sheehan, Kim. Controversies in Contemporary Advertising. Thousand

Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003.
The controversies covered in this book range from economic, political,
social and ethical. It covers the variations of consumer culture
throughout history. It also, contains a large volume of print ads that
show women during the 1950s in gendered roles prepping meals.
Relevant to my research, the book explores the topic through history
but also looks at advertising today.

Sign of Good Things. 1950. Coca-Cola Advertising.

This image from Coca- Cola during the 1950s shows the sexulization of
women and food product. The image also demonstrates the
characteristics desired in women during the time (blond hair,
blue eyes etc.)The image will serve will as I make my argument.

Balanced Diet. 1950.

This image appears in a series of calendar and demonstrates the
sexulization of food and women in the kitchen. The image does not
provide an author or exact date. The image will help to further my
argument and provide visual ad through my paper.

Secondary Sources
Adams, Carol J. The Pornography of Meat. New York: Continuum, 2003.
In this provocative book, Adams finds the subliminal messages found in our culture
through advertising. Specifically, she argues the oppression of women through meat
advertisements as well as the paring of women and animals. Published in 2003, the book
explores 1950s and 1960s among other decades. Adams book helped me view
American food advertising in a much broad context. The Ads in the book also help to
serve as primary sources.

Dotz, Warren, and Masud Husain. Meet Mr. Product: The Art of the Advertising
Character. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003.
Critically acclaimed, this book provides the reader with the development of the
advertising character in the United States. It take the reader on a historical journey
through advertising and the consequences emerging out of it. Particularly of usefulness is
the content under 50s advertisement in which Dotz and Masud, describe what lead to the
shift in advertisement. I have found this book very helpful during my preliminary
research as a way of understanding advertising alone.

Inness, Sherrie A. Kitchen Culture in America: Popular Representations of Food,

Gender, and Race. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
This book is a collection of essays examining how food advertisements, beginning in
1895 through the 1970, have shaped the roles of women. The collection of essays cover
how food Ads use imagery targeted towards women first as consumers. The Collection of
essays serve as a guide to uncover the many different aspects of advertising and
especially female focused ads.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
This book provides an overview of the American fast food industry. Written in 2001, it
looks back and reflects on the dark side of the fast food industry in regards to
advertisement and the products consumed through fast food. The books relevance will
stand as I attempt to uncover advertising towards women.

Shapiro, Laura. Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950's America. New
York, NY: Viking, 2004.
A captivate look at the all-out campaign run by the food industry in an effort to make the
American women complete again after WWII. The book explores food industry ads and
the history behind big business and advertising with subliminal messages. The book also,
agues the struggles women felt during this time being shown in a role they no longer find
fitting. The book as a whole itself has become a useful resource during my research it is
set specifically in the correct time-period and is an easy read.

Young, William H., and Nancy K. Young. The 1950s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
2004.
In this book, the feelings and attitudes of the 1950s transpire through the pages. The
book is an encyclopedia of sorts of the particular decade that covers a wide range of
defining elements during the 50s such as, the automobile, film, popular culture, and
advertising. Its relevance to my research paper is to provide not only historical
background of the 50s but also to provide a sense behind the surge in sexualizing food
Ads during 1950.