A Treet to End 2020

 To round out 2020, let's look back at another difficult time in American history. I'm not sure of the exact date of this ad for Treet (a canned meat that resembles Spam but is a lot less well-known/ popular), but it has to be from sometime between spring 1943 and mid-1945.

If you're not sure how I know that, it's the mention of Red Points-- used to ration meats and cheeses during World War II. One might be tempted to contrast a time when people were actually willing to cut back on personal consumption to help a larger cause with now, when they can't even be bothered to put on a damn mask to help themselves as well as others, but I won't. Of course there was a thriving black market to get around rationing (like this one). People have always been selfish dipshits, and it dangerously romanticizes the past to imagine otherwise. Still, the dipshits can be counterbalanced by people like Mary-Helen, who apparently compiled the binder full of recipes (including this Treet ad!) I've been terrified to go through because they're overcrowded and I'm afraid of destroying them when I try to turn pages. She was devoted enough to cut recipe sections and food ads out of her magazines and stash them away so she could make low-point dinners and save the rationed items.

So what could she have made with a can of Treet?

Option 1 is a platter of Treet and Spanish Corn. I'll admit that I was intrigued by the idea of Spanish corn since I'm secretly in love with 1970s-era Spanish rice. I think the corn would need a little more seasoning that green pepper, onion, and pimiento to be able to compete with Spanish rice, though. It looks more like a lame version of Mexicorn.

For families that liked a little more protein and a little less roughage, there's the Treet and Egg Salad Sandwich.

I'm not sure how excited "war-workers" would be to find this soggy, smelly Treet sandwich in their lunch boxes, but at least it would be low points! (Low ration points! Not Weight Watchers' points, modern readers.)

And of course, since these are vintage recipes, we can't leave out the most important food group of all: gelatin molds!

Yep, it's cold, salty-sweet jellied meat next to cold, sweet-and-sour jellied pickled peaches! Maybe it's the platter mom leaves in the fridge for dinner when she has to work the evening shift so she doesn't have to watch everybody glop individual servings from the platter onto their plates and squish their way through dinner. But, hey! She was doing her best in a tough time, just like most of us are doing now.

I'm not sure what 2021 will bring, but I made it through 2020 without having to rely on Treet, so that's a win! Here's hoping that 2021 will improve enough that it will take more than a cursory glance across the grocery aisle to identify the dipshits among us.