I have used many of the following food history sources to build this timeline, but this list also includes other food books I’ve found interesting and informative. The other invaluable source is, of course, the National Library of Australia’s Trove website, which allows you to search through hundreds of newspapers dating back to 1803. The Advanced Search page can be found here. I also use newspapers.com which has more recent articles from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age but I have not provided links to this material in my posts as you need to be a subscriber to access them. The State Library of Victoria’s Research Guide lists many food history sources under categories including Indigenous foods, cooking and cookbooks, hotels and restaurants, nutrition and more.
Food history sources – Australian books
Bannerman, Colin Seed Cake and Honey Prawns, National Library of Australia, 2008
Blainey, Geoffrey Black Kettle and Full Moon, Penguin, 2003
Downes, Stephen Advanced Australian Fare, Allen & Unwin, 2002
Durack, Terry Yum: A voyage around my stomach, W. Heinemann Australia, 1996
Evans, Matthew Never Order Chicken on a Monday, Random House, 2007
Fahey, Warren Tucker Track: The Curious History of Food in Australia, ABC: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 2005
Farrer, Keith To Feed a Nation: A History of Australian Food Science and Technology, CSIRO Publishing, 2005
Harden, Michael Lygon Street, Murdoch Books, 2008
Harden, Michael Of a Nation: Nestle Peters 100th Anniversary, Hardie Grant, 2007
Humphrey, Kim Shelf Life: Supermarkets and the Changing Cultures of Consumption, Cambridge University Press, 1998
Newling, Jacqui Eat Your History, Sydney Living Museums and NewSouth Publishing, 2015
Newton, John The Oldest Foods on Earth, NewSouth Publishing, 2016
Newton, John The Getting of Garlic, NewSouth Publishing, 2018
O’Brien, Charmain Flavours of Melbourne, Wakefield Press, 2008
Risson, Toni Aphrodite and The Mixed Grill: Greek cafes in twentieth-century Australia, Kytherian Association of Australia 2007
Santich, Barbara Bold Palates, Wakefield Press, 2012
Shun Wah, Annette & Aitkin, Greg Banquet: Ten Courses to Harmony, Doubleday 1999
Symons, Michael One Continuous Picnic, Melbourne University Press, 2007 (2nd Edition)
Thompson, Darryl J. & Smith, James S. Traces: Where Adelaide Ate Out 1836-1960, James S. Smith & Associates, 2015
Wheelhouse, Frances Digging Stick to Rotary Hoe, Rigby Limited, 1973
The Age Good Food Guide, Penguin, Various years
The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, Penguin, Various years
Books from elsewhere
Cowen, Ruth Relish: The Extraordinary Life of Alexis Soyer , Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2006
Davidson, Alan (ed.) The Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford University Press, 1999
Dickie, John Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and Their Food, Hodder & Stoughton, 2007
Kingsolver, Barbara Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Harper Collins, 2007
Lovegren, Sylvia Fashionable Food:Seven decades of food fads, University of Chicago Press, 2005
Mallet, Gina Last Chance to Eat, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004
Petrini, Carlo & Waters, Alice Slow Food Nation, Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2007
Pollan, Michael The Omnivores’s Dilemma, Bloomsbury,2006
Shephard, Sue Pickled, Potted and Canned, Headline, 2000
Steingarten, Jeffrey The Man Who Ate Everything, Headline Book Publishing, 1997
Steingarten, Jeffrey It Must Have Been Something I Ate, Review, 2002
Websites and articles
A Hundred Years of Agriculture Article on the 20th century in agriculture from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering: Technology in Australia 1788-1988 Melbourne 1988, Online edition updated November 2001 Chapters 1 and 2 deal with agriculture and food technology
Australia’s Food and Nutrition 2012 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Primarily a resource for public health and food professionals
Australian Food News is no longer being published but has an archive of food news articles
Australian Food: 40 dishes locals like to call their own CNN Travel
Eat Your History Museum of Sydney: The Cook and the Curator
Farmers and Farming Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012
Gastro Obscura “The world’s most wondrous food and drink”
Joy of Baking An alphabetical history of baking from Afternoon Tea to Valentine’s Day.
Monroe M. H. Australia: The Land Where Time Began Website updated November 2013
State Library of Victoria Food in Victoria (Research Guide) List of useful resources
Wine Literature of the World: State Library of South Australia
Other food timelines
Carlton & United Breweries A history of Victoria’s brewing giant and its predecessors
Food Engineering Magazine A somewhat technical history of food technology (for example, 2000: Automated gamma, e-beam and x-ray irradiation plants). Stops at 2002.
Food Reference A comprehensive food timeline from pre-history to the present, with particular focus on the USA.
Food Timeline: World food timeline by (sadly, now deceased) American food historian and librarian Lynne Olver. Not pretty, but comprehensive and well-researched. This site has now been taken over by Virginia Tech University Libraries.
Lion: Our history Timeline of many iconic beer and dairy brands and how they came to be owned by Kirin Holdings of Japan.
McDonald’s Australia Timeline of Macca’s history in Australia
Timeline of Retail Grocery Trends Appendix to Australian Senate Committee report c.2006
USFirehouse: A History of Soda Pop History of American soft drinks including a timeline of packaging innovations.
Wikipedia: Timeline of agriculture and food technology Lots of links to food-related Wikipedia articles
Wikipedia: Timeline of Food Lists the dates that a variety of American brands emerged.
Woolworths: How we were founded Milestones in Woolworths corporate history