Fresh Orange Juice

Last week I wrote about orange juice and its role in American life, now declining (blog post here). Today I'm posting photos from random web searches, illustrating various juice squeezers that have been used to squeeze juice by hand. I also found a few vintage orange juice serving sets and glasses from the olden days when people drank a small glass of juice almost every day -- these come up for sale on eBay, Etsy, and similar sites.

This Foley juicer/strainer was a classic. It fit over a container such as a
Pyrex measuring cup, so the juice you squeezed could be measured out.

A classic for squeezing juice by hand: still available.
You have to strain the juice or pick the seeds out.

Older version, maybe Depression Glass.

 

My old but still working citrus juicer.
I use a wooden reamer for lemons, but not for oranges.

If you are interested in buying a juicer, here's an article for you: "The 8 Best Citrus Juicers of 2021." Prices range from $7 for a wooden reamer to $295 for a powerful electric juicer.

Juice Glasses from the Fifties and Sixties

Note that most juice glasses held 4 to 6 ounces of juice. They were often decorated with fruit motifs in various styles.

There's nothing like this available new these days!

Kraft Pimento Cheese Spread in a glass 

Cheese, jelly, peanut butter, and other processed foods were, and are, packaged in drinking glasses with pry-off lids. You could easily wash these, remove the label, and use the container for your drinks. When I was a child, we drank orange juice from the jars from Kraft cheese spread, as well as from other glasses, which constantly broke and had to be replaced. Several flavors of Kraft cheese spread are still available in such glasses, though my taste in cheese has changed. (For a history of pimento cheese see this site.)

Juice glasses from the early 1900s.

I'm sure that many people will recognize these styles of squeezers and glasses from their own experiences, both past and present. Quite a few people, in response to my post from last week, mentioned that they remember drinking from little juice glasses when they were children -- or they still do. I'm sharing with Elizabeth and the many bloggers who participate in her celebration of drinks!

Finally, on a completely different subject, here is my thought for today's holiday, Martin Luther King Day. I believe that we are about to finish with our 4 year nightmare of injustice, racism, glorification of ignorance, and mob rule.