Jane Nickerson: First NYT Food Editor & Later Lakeland Ledger Food Editor

Kimberly Wilmot Voss, PhDAssociate Professor, UCF

Presented at the Florida Conference of Historians, UCF, 2016

Jane Nickerson

Miami Herald, 1950s

Nickerson’s Background

Food News

WW II Rationing

Cookbook Reviews

Food History

Convenience Food Explanation

Making Bread

New York Food Community

1952 Cookbook

Many Were Jane’s Recipes

Adding Jane to NYT History

Still Working On It

Jane’s “Retirement” to Lakeland

Univ of Florida Press, 1973

Dedication Page

Mrs. Dorles Musselman’s Chicken

Cecily Brownstone’s Recipe

Jane’s Cookbook as a Draw

Testing Recipes

Jane’s Accomplishments

Local Celebrity

Lakeland Restaurant Reviewing

• Jane Nickerson dined one evening last week at an old established eatery whose manager had changed. It was a motel restaurant which Jane had panned pretty badly a year ago. Wanting to do amends, Jane returned hoping to find new management serving better and more exciting dishes. But lo, what did Jane find? The usual fare, higher prices and poorly prepared food. Overly concerned that she would have to again give the restaurant a bad review, she talked with her editors. We agreed that we would forego the review and try it again in six months to see if things get better.

Jane’s Obituary