Food

Using Newspaper Articles to Uncover the History of Eating Disorders from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth Century

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│By Lebohang Seganoe, Gale Ambassador at the University of Johannesburg│

As a child, you absorb everything you are taught within the community you are raised in. Because your mind is still developing you rarely question how different someone’s reality might be from your own. I grew up in a society that had strong views on beauty standards. These include that a woman in her prime must have a full face and big curves, and she must look like she is eating well so that her potential spouse can see that she can bear as many children as possible. This post will explore different beauty standards and their impact on women’s bodies.

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Baking Through Time: Gale’s Food History Bake Off!

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│By Lucy Dow, Associate Acquisitions Editor and Cheryl Moody, Marketing Manager│

The recently published Archives Unbound collection Food History: Printed and Manuscript Recipe Books 1669-1990 contains 36 manuscript recipe books and 328 printed recipe books from the Winterthur Library and Museum in Delaware. The majority of the books are in English, with a few in French and German. The published volumes come from the UK, USA, France and Germany; the manuscript volumes are, most likely, from the UK and USA.

Thrilled to be releasing this exciting new archive collection, we ran a historical baking competition between Gale staff in which the unique and illuminating primary sources piqued the interest of colleagues in numerous departments within Gale. And thus arose Gale’s inaugural Food History Bake Off!

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Somewhat Saving Summer 2020 – A Virtual Tour of Marseille

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View of Marseille Old port

│by Meg Ison, Gale Ambassador at the University of Portsmouth│

After a busy exam season, students up and down the country look forward to long summer vacations, hopefully with a trip or two! Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, many of us don’t want to catch a flight this summer. But all is not lost! Gale Primary Sources, an online database of digitised primary sources, allows you to explore your cancelled holiday destination in a virtual way – from the safety of your own home!

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The Story behind Pure Brightness Festival

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Pure-JinWen

By Cathy Huang

Chinese people celebrate the Pure Brightness Festival each year, they largely take it as an occasion to offer sacrifice to ancestors. I was unclear of its origin but through Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), Gale’s ebook platform, I found out the fascinating legend behind it.

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