Introduction Essay
The virtual exhibition, “Czech Farming and Canning in the Great Depression,” explores the lives of Czech-Americans, especially in Texas, during the periods including and leading up to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This introduction aims to explain the historical background and sociocultural influences that affected Czechs in these endeavors at this time.
Following the infamous prosperity and economic growth of the 1920s, the Great Depression refers to a period of time marked by the most devastating economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. Beginning in the year 1929 with the Wall Street Stock Market crash, this recession of the early 1900s caused businesses and factories to decrease production of consumer goods. This in turn resulted in a decrease in buying power and forced many Americans to turn to credit payments to be able to afford life’s necessities ultimately resulting in an increase in debt for Americans. Coupled with this growing debt was a surge of foreclosures, repossessions, and unemployment. However, it was not only the members of urban societies affected by this economic bust.
Farmers experienced the Great Depression in a unique way. As the price of crops fell so heavily, farmers were going bankrupt, and some were even forced to abandon their farms as they could no longer afford to harvest their crops. Despite this, farmers who kept their land were able to produce food to sustain themselves and their families. Whether this be fruits and vegetables from the fields or milk and eggs from the farm’s animals, farmers were more equipped to be self-sufficient when it came to food. Also, food preservation techniques such as canning came into prevalence.
While farm families were more so accustomed to preserving food from the surplus of harvests, the Great Depression saw a rise in canning across families in the United States. In order to support those American who did not have the knowledge of pressure canning or the facilities and equipment to complete the canning process, a number of community canning centers were opened across the nation. In these centers, people, mostly women, were able to learn how to operate pressure canners and can their own foods under the supervision of those knowledgeable about the canning process.
Shifting focus to the specific history of Czech people in Texas, the first settlements were made in the 1840s with Czech immigrants arriving from areas of Bohemia and Moravia. Seeking refuge from issues like poverty, famine, disease, and unemployment, Czechs arrived in Texas due to the availability of Texas farmlands. Living near German settlements, many Czechs built farms in the Texas Blackland Prairie. The Blackland Prairie is named for its rich soil heavy in clay and calcium carbonates which gives the land its characteristic black color. While the prairie lands were originally native grasslands, the landscape has been changed into a cropland. Crops that grow well in this area include cotton, wheat, milo, and corn, of which cotton and corn were staple cash crops for Czech families in Texas. For some Czechs, however, families were unable to purchase their own farmlands when they initially arrived in Texas. As such, they would work as tenant farmers and sharecroppers on farms owned by other people until they were able to afford their own land.
For most of the Czech farming families, the kitchen was a central space for the preservation of Czech culture. Run by the wife and mother, Czech kitchens, especially in the 1900s, were a place where culturally Czech foods were prepared. Many 1930s Czech farm kitchens included only a wood-burning stove and perhaps a manual pump through which water could be drawn into the kitchen through a window. The kitchens were typically composed of wood-boarded floors and ceilings with sheetrock walls. Also, near the kitchen would be storage for the canned foods. In the Czech farm kitchen, canning was necessary to preserve the harvested fruits and vegetables and was employed regularly by Czech farm wives in the 1900s.
Informed by the cultural and historical contexts discussed above, the “Czech Farming and Canning in the Great Depression,” exhibit will utilize resources including photos, interviews, and texts from the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures archives, as well as the model 1930s Czech Farm Kitchen and pantry displayed within the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures “Czech,” exhibit to examine how Czech farm life, both in the fields and in the home, was experienced. In addition, the exhibit seeks to portray this information using an animation of a model Czech farm family in order to allow children accessible exploration of central processes of life for Czechs living in Texas.
Czech Kitchen at the Institute of Texan Cultures (left)
Czech Kitchen Canning Room at the Institute of Texan Cultures (right)
Resources
“Interview with Ladislav Zezula, 1996.” Institute of Texan Cultures Oral History CollectionUniversity of Texas at San Antonio, 1996-09-17. https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p15125coll4/id/703/rec/2.
This is an interview led by Laurie M. Gudzikowski, of Ladislav Zezula, a son of Czech immigrants to Texas. It provides detail about what life was like for Czech immigrants living in Texas in the 1900s. There is some mention of Zezula’s mother canning items. Overall, this source would be best used to provide cultural context to the topic of Czech people in Texas. It is a primary source: oral history. This interview also provides context for how Czech Texans interacted with Texans of other ethnicities and nationalities.
“The Kolache: Czech, Texan or All-American? (All Three).” New York Times (Online), 2013. https://www-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/2214336951?pq-origsite=primo.
This is an interesting article from the New York Times that questions the authenticity of the kolache. While not particularly connected to the practice of canning, this article provides context for other Czech food staples. In addition, this article is a good source for discovering how Czech cuisine is viewed, used, and adapted in Texas.
Oommen, Sheena. “Texas Czechs.” The Czech Texans, Houston Institute for Culture, http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/czechs.html.
This brief article coming from the Houston Institute for Culture, focused on the history of Czech coming to Texas. It also includes information about Czech settlement patterns, as well as, how Czech culture has evolved through its interaction with Texas and the many other cultures that exist in the state of Texas. There is also information regarding institutions with afficiations with the Czech in Texas that could be a good source to find more information on Czech Texans.
University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. “Czech Texans.” UTSA. Institute of Texan Cultures. Educational Programs Department Records, 1972-1991. University of Texas at San Antonio, 1980. https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p16018coll6/id/260.
This is a source from the ITC’s Special Collections which documents the contributions of multiple Czech Texans in the 1900s. There is significant information on the practices of Czech people in Texas including the section on Czech farmers. In addition, there is some brief discussion of Czech Texans during the war and extensive information of prominent individuals. This is a great snapshot of where Czech were in relation to major events in Texas and the nation, as well as, an excellent way to discover specific people who we might be able to look into further to find more background, specific examples, oral histories, etc.
University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. “The Melting pot : ethnic cuisine in Texas..” University of Texas at San Antonio. Institute of Texan Cultures Records. University of Texas at San Antonio, 1977. https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p16018coll6/id/322/rec/1.
This source, also from the ITC’s Special Collections, is from 1977, and is a recipe book dedicated to showcasing all of Texas’s culinary cultures. The ten pages from page 34 to page 44 document Czech foods and recipes. The recipes themselves are a good source since they provide context for characteristically Czech foods and could work as an aid to discover what was commonly found in Czech kitchens. Prior to the recipes there are also two pages of content that cover Czech immigration history into Texas and context for where and why these recipes would be made and consumed.
USDA. “How Did We Can?” Omeka RSS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/canning/exhibits/show/wartime-canning/the-great-depression.
This is a fairly short informational webpage published by the USDA to document how canning was performed during the Great Wars which affected the United States. While not specifically mentioning the Czech Texans, it does provide a great amount of information about the process of canning food, the reasons behind canning food, the benefits of canning food, and more. This webpage is also home to a lot of photos of canning, processing plants, at home canning, ads for canning, etc. Overall this webpage provides better national context for the topic of canning foods, especially during the World Wars and during the Great Depression.
