Recommended Daily Intake
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s scientists around the world succeeded in isolating vitamins and understanding their benefits and the effects of vitamin deficiencies. This was a major breakthrough in healthy eating. Health authorities encouraged people to eat a big breakfast and morning and afternoon tea - the first national government health campaign.

Next Stop, Flinders Street
The development of the railways allowed the transport of wheat north and tropical fruit south, and trains were the main form of transport for people. Harold Clapp Chairman of Victorian Railways wanted to increase the volume of fruit and vegetables transported by rail. He realised that busy stations were an ideal place to sell things and set up a stall selling fruit, which was understood to be healthy by that time, outside Flinders Street station, Melbourne. In 1923 Clapp opened a bakery selling pies and scones, and later ice cream and milkshakes. Clapp is often credited with creating raisin bread in 1923 and for being the first person to sell wrapped bread in Australia in 1925.

Cooking With Gas
By the mid-1920s nearly 90% of Australians cooked with gas, making baking (with plenty of sugar) less of a hit and miss affair. But electricity was just around the corner. Electricity was installed in many homes in the 1920s for lighting but few had power points. Imported domestic electrical appliances like vacuum cleaners, fridges and irons were available in the 1920s but it was not till the 1940s that their use became widespread in Australia.

Outside Influence
The first wave of Italian migrants arrived in the 1920s. They gravitated towards the catering trade and many established restaurants. In this decade soda fountains serving flavoured carbonated drinks, which originated in America, became popular. Eating out was still rare but family picnics to the botanical gardens or the beach were common.

Please Come To My Party
The typical food served at a children's party in the 1920s included cocktail frankfurts, fairy bread, cup cakes and cordial. Sound familiar?

• In 1921 CADBURY set up a factory in Claremont, Tasmania.
  
• In 1920 the Australian trifle appeared for the first time.
  
• PETERS ESKIMO PIE (ice cream) entered the marketplace in 1923.
  
• The 1920s also saw the arrival of PMU tinned food, KELLOGG'S and SANITARIUM.
  
• It was a good decade if you were a child with the arrival of VIOLET CRUMBLE, CHERRY RIPE and MINTIES.
  
• Another Australian favourite, AEROPLANE JELLY, was launched in 1928.

PETERS, ESKIMO PIE, VIOLET CRUMBLE AND MINTIES ARE ALL TRADE MARKS OF Societ? des Produits Nestl? S.A. of Vevey, Switzerland and are used with their permission.

Kraft News

Launch Of An Australian Icon
Supplies of a yeast extract product from England were restricted during the war and Fred Walker decided to make an Australian version. In 1923, chief chemist Dr Cyril Callister created Vegemite from yeast produced during brewing at CARLTON & UNITED BREWERIES. It was sold in amber 2oz glass jars. With its unique flavour it was not an immediate success. After some changes, sales started to pick up. The name Parwill was trialled 1928-1935. The original name was reinstated and it hasn't changed since.

Morning Tea Breaks
Fred Walker was widely seen as a friendly employer who tried to provide the best working conditions for his employees. He knew each of them by name and encouraged them to further their studies. In 1928 or 1929 he introduced morning tea breaks for the production line workers and may have been the first employer in Australia to do so. His employees responded with increased output.

Kraft And Walker Meet
In 1925 Callister came across JL Kraft's patent for processed cheese. Walker travelled to America to meet JL Kraft and obtain the Australian rights for Kraft processed cheese. In 1926 the Kraft Walker Cheese Company was formed and the first blue packets of processed Cheddar cheese rolled off the production line. The Company's total sales doubled in the following year and, for the first time, Australian sales exceeded export sales. The cheese was a success because it did not need refrigeration at a time when fridges were rare. Also, it is a nutritious alternative to meat, which was expensive, especially during the Depression years.

Production Consolidated
Red Feather canned meats (pies, pat?s and pastes) introduced in the early 1920s were manufactured in Dandenong; Bonox and Vegemite in Albert Park; and cheese in Maffra Street, South Melbourne, in the former JP Sennit ice-cream factory. In 1928 all activities were consolidated in larger premises at Riverside Avenue, where the Southbank buildings along the Yarra River now stand.