Florence P. Hanford (née Peirce) (June 23, 1909 – July 1, 2008) was a

home economist Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

who was best known for her television cooking show ''Television Kitchen'', which aired 1006 episodes between 1949 and 1969. The show was aired live at 2:30 PM Wednesdays on Channel 3 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

,WRCV=TV WPTZ-TV, which was the only airwave available in Philadelphia at that time, and later on Channel 6. It was sponsored by the

Philadelphia Electric Company Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and was one of the earliest televised cooking shows, closely following that of

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...

. She published books of television recipes in 1964 and 1969. She grew up in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and studied home economics at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, where she earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in education in June 1931. She married Harry B. Hanford the same month. She worked as a substitute teacher and also taught cooking to nursing students at Temple University prior to her employment with Philadelphia Electric (now PECO). In 1947 she auditioned for a cooking show position after it was learned that the model previously selected couldn't cook. The show was called ''Television Matinee'', which evolved into ''Television Kitchen''. She and her husband built a farmhouse in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, in 1947, where she lived until shortly before her death. They raised

race horses Race Horses were a Welsh band based in Cardiff, Wales and originally from Aberystwyth. Formed in 2005 as Radio Luxembourg, they changed their name in 2009 due to possible legal problems with the radio station of the same name. Initially the m ...

there. She also produced prize-winning needlepoint. Her husband died in 1978; they had no children. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphi

posthumously inducted Hanford into their Hall of Fame in 2009.

References

Obituary
from the July 12, 2008

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

Obituary
from the July 6, 2008

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanford, Florence 1909 births American television chefs 2008 deaths Temple University alumni American women chefs 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women