Vegan Society magazine archives

[Blueberries]

On the Vegan Society website there are archives of their newsletter/magazine going back to the first publication in 1944. I discovered them a while ago and kept meaning to go back and read them. This evening I read (not cover to cover but skimmed amd read the interesting articles) from 1944-47, I think it's facinating! So different and yet so familiar, they really were ahead of their time on so many isues. Has anyone else read them? I'm equally facinated by the recipes and the products they used, especially considering it was a time of post-war rationing. Soya-lac and nut-cream anyone? They also have pictures of very cute 1940s vegan children and descriptions of their diets. Well worth a look!

[Barry]

It's fascinating stuff alright Blueberries, I absolutely love stuff like this. I was quite surprised to see ads for vegan guesthouses I have to say! Indeed, I think that I might write a paper on veganism during the interwar years at some point.

[Blueberries]

It's fascinating stuff alright Blueberries, I absolutely love stuff like this. I was quite surprised to see ads for vegan guesthouses I have to say! Indeed, I think that I might write a paper on veganism during the interwar years at some point.

Yeah I wonder what kind of food you would have gotten! I would love to see more written about veganism pre-1980s, it seems like veganism didn't become obvious to the mainstream until at least the 1970s. Also I'd love to know what happened to the children featured who would now be in their 60s, if they have been life-long vegans. It's just odd to think that veganism is considered odd now, imagine how strange it was back then!

[Barry]

Yeah I wonder what kind of food you would have gotten! I would love to see more written about veganism pre-1980s, it seems like veganism didn't become obvious to the mainstream until at least the 1970s. Also I'd love to know what happened to the children featured who would now be in their 60s, if they have been life-long vegans. It's just odd to think that veganism is considered odd now, imagine how strange it was back then!

It'd be really interesting to track down some of those kids now alright. I wonder are there any vegans in their 60s/70s who have been so since birth? People must have thought vegans were absolute lunatics in the 1950s! Another thought - I wonder were there any vegans in Ireland during that time?

[Blueberries]

Another thought - I wonder were there any vegans in Ireland during that time?

In one of the 1948 issues, can't remember of it was the Spring or Summer, they mention that one of their members, think it was Fay Henderson, did a talk in Ireland. They said that there was intetest even though veganism was a new idea and that they had had applications for membership- so there was probably at least one :p .

[Barry]

In one of the 1948 issues, can't remember of it was the Spring or Summer, they mention that one of their members, think it was Fay Henderson, did a talk in Ireland. They said that there was intetest even though veganism was a new idea and that they had had applications for membership- so there was probably at least one :p .

Well spotted, although the idea that there may have been vegans in Ireland in 1948 is making my head spin!

[Blueberries]

Well spotted, although the idea that there may have been vegans in Ireland in 1948 is making my head spin!

I know! I'm no historian but when I think of Ireland in 1948 I think of rural electrification and couples thought to be too close to each other being seperated by the priest at parish dances :D

[Barry]

;)

I did some research on this today. So far I haven't come across anything related to veganism. I did come across a government file on the Dublin Vegetarian Society from 1952 though, which was pretty interesting. I was surprised that a veggie soc existed back then. It predates the Irish Vegetarian Society by at least 26 years and doesn't seem to have had any connection to it at all. Definitely going to look into this further!