There is nothing like a good pun, such as using the words, “War Fare” to launch a discussion about food.  Of course, some of you are groaning and thinking, “That was nothing like a good pun.”

Still, I wish I thought of it.

For those of you casting about ideas for the centennial of the Great War, one might consider food–important on the home front, important in the front lines.

The National World War I Museum and Memorial (NWWIMM) has an online exhibit dedicated to the topic.  This is a great overview of seeing how food was handled at home to make the best use of it, and then in feeding the troops.  Photographs, much information and recipes for home use in 1918 can be found on the museum’s website.

One of the exhibit’s organizers, NWWIMM Curator of Education Lora Vogt, delivered an excellent talk on the exhibit last April 8th at the Kansas Museum of History.  In an article in the Topeka Capital-Journal, Lora set the stage:  “Food defines us.  It shapes us.  It’s the way we can connect.  With family over dinner.  With friends over coffee.  It’s also how we connect with history.”

Once you look at the exhibit, you may find a few ideas worth using.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.