Paddleford, Clementine

• Clementine H. Paddleford

Born on September 27, 1898, at Stockdale, Kansas, to Solon and Jennie (Romick) Paddleford, Clementine Paddleford became one of the most widely ready and best-known food editors in the world, charming her readers with her fanciful prose.  By the age of 12, Paddleford had developed a curiosity of food.  At the age of 15, she began her writing career, writing personals for the <emph render='italic'>Daily Chronicle</emph> in Manhattan, Kansas.  She graduated from Manhattan High School in 1916, and from Kansas State Agriculture College in 1921, with a degree in Industrial Journalism.
After graduation, Paddleford enrolled at the Columbia School of Journalism and attended night classes at New York University.  In order to pay for her own expenses in New York, she did some special reviewing of business books for <emph render='italic'>Administration</emph>, a magazine of business, and for the <emph render='italic'>New York Sun</emph>.  She also wrote special short women’s features for the <emph render='italic'>New York Sun</emph> and the <emph render='italic'>New York Telegram</emph>.
In 1923, Paddleford accepted an invitation from a friend to summer in Chicago.  She stayed on in the fall, when she found employment writing advertising copy for Montgomery Ward and an agricultural fair on the banks of the Des Plaines River.  During this time, Paddleford married Lloyd Zimmerman, though they separated within a year and were divorced in 1932.
Paddleford worked as women’s editor of <emph render='italic'>Farm and Fireside</emph> in New York from 1924 to 1929.  In the 1930s, Paddleford wrote articles for <emph render='italic'>Christian Herald</emph> using the name Clementine Paddleford and C. P. Haskin when she wrote about the interior of the church.  Paddleford also wrote articles under the name of Mrs. Clement Haskin, Clemence Haskin, and Clementine Haskin.  In 1932, a malignant growth was removed from her larynx, along with her vocal cords, resulting in her breathing through a tube in her throat and relearning speech with a new set of muscles.  While she avoided public speaking, Paddleford adapted to her handicap, not allowing it to interfer with her life or work.
Paddleford became a food editor for the <emph render='italic'>New York Herald-Tribune</emph> from 1936 to 1966.  From 1940 to her death in 1967, she contributed a weekly column on food to <emph render='italic'>This Week</emph> magazine, a syndicated Sunday supplement available in many newspapers throughout the United States.  From 1941 to 1953, Paddleford contributed a monthly column to <emph render='italic'>Gourmet</emph> Magazine.  Paddleford also wrote freelance features in many national publications such as <emph render='italic'>The American Home</emph>, <emph render='italic'>Design for Living</emph>, and <emph render='italic'>House Beautiful</emph>.
In 1943, Paddleford opened her home to a deceased friend’s daughter, Claire Duffe, whom she raised as her own.  She learned to pilot a plane to speed up her research, zigzagging across the United States and the Atlantic.  Paddleford’s career gave her the opportunity to explore a wide range of experiences, from a mess hall for lumberjacks in the Northwest woods and chili parlors in Texas, to a hobo camp in Kansas and dinners of state with kings.
Paddleford turned her vast experience in food writing to good use, publishing several cook books.  In 1948, <emph render='italic'>Recipes from Anotine’s Kitch</emph>e<emph render='italic'>n</emph> was published.  Her homage to her mother, <emph render='italic'>A Flower for My Mother</emph>, was published in 1958.  Her most important work, <emph render='italic'>How America Eats</emph>, was published in 1960, and was the first book to really study the regional cuisine within the United States.  In 1966, <emph render='italic'>Clementine Paddleford’s Cook Young Cookbook </emph>was published, with recipes culled from over 35,000 letters.
Clementine Haskin Paddleford died November 13, 1967 in New York.  She is buried in the Grandview-Mill Creek-Stockdale Cemetery on Fairview Church Road, Riley, Kansas.

Paddleford papers and Riley County, Kansas, cemetery records.

Creator Source: Library of Congress Name Authority File
Biographical/Historical Note Author: Cynthia Harris