“Cheerio for Good Health”

Black and White photo of three ladies standing in a Fair booth, using a sign to educate the importance of pressure cookers. — Extension Fair Booths educated people on a variety of topics, including food preservation. These ladies from Pennington County tout the importance of pressure cookers to protect from botulism.

Black and white photo of Fair booth with sign on food preservation. Vegetables pour from a basket as decoration. — Extension Fair Booths educated people on a variety of topics, including food preservation. These ladies from Pennington County tout the importance of pressure cookers to protect from botulism.

Taken in 1943, this week’s “Throwback Thursday,” celebrates Extension Clubs’ efforts to educate the public. These three ladies of the Pennington County Cheerio Extension Club stand in their Fair Booth. The booth encouraged people to know their pressure cooker and how to use it in food preservation. The sign in the booth proclaimed that pressure cookers are “the only sure method to kill botulinus.” Botulinus is the bacterium that causes botulism, which occurs in improperly preserved non-acidic foods such as green beans and asparagus.

All levels of Extension in one form or another encourage education through various methods. During this time, the U.S. was in the thick of WWII, and communal pressure cooker use for food preservation was considered to be part of the home front war effort. It was an admirable way supporting the troops. The Fair Booths promoted public education on various topics, such as rationing, proper household practices, child care, good health and food preservation. The Cheerio Extension Club was one such club that worked to educate the public on household practices, food preservation, and good health.

SDAHM Pennington County Extension Office

2008:011:013:088 and 2008:011:013:090

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