08/31/2026
It’s Wednesday, November 17th, 1948. You sit in class and watch the clock because it’s almost lunchtime. You ask your classmate if she knows what’s for lunch today. She doesn’t know what’s on the menu either.
Upon arriving at the lunchroom, you find it’s venison stew with potatoes and carrots, diced beets, honey peanut butter and bread and milk or orange juice.
Sounds like an Umatilla lunch to me. Guessing the venison, honey, and orange juice are what they call today,” locally sourced.”
Some other yummy and classic southern lunches:
Meat Loaf, grits and gravy, okra and tomatoes, carrot stocks and pineapple. Beets seemed to be on the menu almost every other week. Always orange juice or milk and good old, mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy, spaghetti, mac and cheese and bread-white or wheat. There is also a 1949 desk diary for grades 1 to 12th Julie Wingfield’s desk diaries. This 1949 book labeled Umatilla schools includes recipes for up to 100 people if you are thinking of meal prepping!
An additional 1949 labeled Umatilla Elementary with Mildred J. Devault’s name inside that includes menus, recipes and a breakdown of food cost.
Hamburger gravy $19.00
Corn bread $ 1.00
Carrots and raisins $ 3.39
English peas $ 4.50
Milk $ 14.40
Bread $ 2.75
Total $ 46.02 to feed 276 people.
I am ready to travel back to 1949 and enroll back in school.
