Elderberry wine

Put 3 gallons of water over the fire. Let boil then add 9 lb of white sugar. When this boils, add the white of one egg, well beaten. Let boil about 5 minutes then strain the white of egg off. Take from the fire and add 1 quart of Elder Blossoms picked from the stem and pressed hard in a qt cup when cold, add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and one cake of yeast let stand for 6 days stirring every day then strain. Add 3 pounds of raisins. Let stand until December then it is ready to use. The wine should be made the same day the blossoms are picked. [From the collection of Mrs. W.M. Douglas, Kansas City, MO, c. 1918]

When men were men and homemakers were always happy

Ah, a relic from a by-gone era! Pet Milk created some truly delightful advertising cookbooks in the 1940s and 50s, full of splashy color images, homey recipes and snippets of advice for the eager-to-please wife and mother.

“Husband Tested Recipes” by Mary Lee Taylor is no exception. I love the cover art – a collage of happy hubbies entranced by wifey’s perfect Pork Chop Dinner and Pet Apple Pie! This booklet is chock full of recipes for man-pleaser favorites, from cakes and pies, cookies and desserts to hearty main dishes.

I “heart” vintage advertising cookbooks, don’t you?

Sunday Morning Waffles

Kellogg's "The Plus Foods for Minus Meals" (1930s)

Why I love selling vintage cookbooks (one of many reasons)

I recently sold a cookbook published by a church in San Diego, Ca and was delighted to receive this email from the buyer:

Favorite Foods: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

“I was the organist at Brooklyn Heights Presbyterian Church in the early 1970s, and although I was only there for a year I have many happy vivid memories of that place and its dear people. Many of them had belonged for years and years, so I hope to see some names I know in the cookbook. Looking forward to it!”

Stories like this just make my day – it’s such a thrill to reunite a cookbook with someone who’s got history with it.

Cookbook Look: Mueller’s “Tested and Proven Recipes”

Published on the heels of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, this smart little cookbook focuses on simplicity, economy and “meat stretching.” It opens with a letter to the “Homemakers of America” and contains several pages attesting to the quality, digestibility and health value of Mueller’s macaroni, spaghetti and egg noodles. Mueller’s products are the perfect food “for growing boys and girls” and “high pressure executives.” Even the “sunlit plant in which Mueller Products are made is one of the finest examples of immaculate cleanliness and order to be found in the world.” Wow! There are also cooking directions and serving tips, with some snazzy graphics of Mueller’s red, white and blue packages.

In addition to its beautiful illustrations and Art Deco styling, this wonderful little book contains recipes for some family favorites and perhaps even a few you haven’t heard of: Macaroni with Peas and Bacon, Spaghetti a l’Ohio, Spaghetti Chop Suey, Spaghetti with Eggs, Elbow Macaroni Rarebit and even sweet dishes like Egg Noodle Peach Cobbler, Egg Noodle Pudding and more. Just look at those pictures – who knew frankfurters laid out on a bed of egg noodles could be so darn pretty?

Whole Lotta Man-Pleasing Going On

Baking Made Easy (1920s) Occident Flour
“There is hardly any dessert more popular with the male members of the family (so the women who attend our Baking Schools tell me) than good, old-fashioned pie!”

Man-Pleaser Salads (1938) Knox Gelatine
“Men like a salad that has a fresh, keen flavor.”

 

 

Husband Tested Recipes (1949) Pet Milk
“How wonderful it would be if I could fill a complete book with recipes for food that would be sure to please husbands.”

Hungry for more? Check out The Cookbook Maven shop on Etsy.

Let them eat PINK cake!

This delightfully retro Pet Milk advertising cookbook features GORGEOUS color food lithography, from it’s pink-cake cover to the healthy milk-fed baby on its back cover. In between are recipes for delicious cream and berry desserts – the featured Strawberry Cream Carnival Cake, plus variates with sponge cake, pastry and biscuits. And for dessert, there’s chocolate cake!

1935 H.W. McNess Cook Book – Recipes in 14 Languages!

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This one has great photos and product advertisements along with recipes from Argentina, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland written in their native languages! See this and other great advertising cookbooks at The Cookbook Maven.

Advertising Cookbooks Rock!!!

I love connecting with others who share my enthusiasm for old COOKBOOKS! My personal favorites are the advertising cookbooks from 1920s through the 1950s. It’s fun to watch how cooking techniques and recipe formats change. Sometimes the narration itself is fascinating, full of commentary on the family structure and social norms of the time period. And I just LOVE all those great illustrations of happy housewives and fabulous (and sometimes funky) FOOD!

These 1940s Pet Milk advertising cookbooks are chock full of homey comfort foods, colorful graphics & nifty NBC radio ads.

Cook Until Done: Evolution of the Recipe

In the early days of cookbooks, recipes were more art than science and contained helpful instructions like “cook until done.” By the 1890s, recipes were becoming more standardized due to the influence of cooks like Fanny Farmer and the “domestic sciences” movement. By the 1920s, electric refrigerators and temperature regulated ovens made it possible to develop more precise instructions. The basic format evolved from a chatty, narrative style into an ingredients list with precise measurements, followed by a paragraph of instructions.

By the late 1940s, the fictional Betty Crocker further refined the modern recipe with illustrations and step-by-step instructions. The groundbreaking “Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook” (also known as “Big Red”) was published in 1950 and remains one of the most popular cookbooks of all times. Here’s a peek inside some vintage cookbooks, showing how recipes have changed over the last 100+ years.

“The Vest Pocket Pastry Book” (1905)
Note the short, paragraph-style recipes; instructions were minimal and lacked oven temperatures or precise cooking times.

“Fifty-Two Sunday Dinners” (1928)
Note the reminder “All measurements are level” – such scientific precision in recipes was spearheaded by Fanny Farmer of the Boston Cooking School.

“Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook” (1950)
This groundbreaking cookbook combined a modern recipe format with clear illustrations and step-by-step instructions. In addition to being useful, it’s a sentimental favorite among cooks whose mothers or grandmothers cooked family dinners from it. It’s no wonder it remains one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time!

Hungry for more? Check out the succulent selections at The Cookbook Maven or connect with other enthusiasts on our Vintage Cookbooks fan page on Facebook.