I have no idea where to begin about this, as well as the rest of the Gallery of Regrettable Food.
It reminds me of a Fourth of July dinner years ago with some step-relatives in small-town Virginia. One of the dishes was a casserole of beans (the sweet sort, with lots of pork fat) and slices of corned beef hash with pineapple slices laid on top. There was a maraschino cherry in the center. Apparently, this was a variation on a classic family dish they had all grown up with. For some time, they debated the merits of canned corned beef hash versus Spam. Yes, Spam. Then again, these are the same people who call a Jell-O mold with celery and canned fruit "salad."
It is comic and frightening that we, as a culture, have invested so much in trying to justify our food production industry that we try to invent dishes just to make use of pre-packaged crap. Tuna Casserole, anyone? Ham Salad? American Cheese?
Anyway, there's a brilliant gallery of old food advertising at Plan 59. And just think of it... if we feed our kids dishes like this, they're guaranteed to come out looking like this.
Bon appetit!
