Vintage Cooking Booklets and Pamphlets

[MokaPot]

Went to Catholic school (not Catholic, though) and the church put out a recipe book (plastic-bound, long gone) of parishioners' tried-and-true type recipes. When I was about 12 or 13, I made a lasagne from that recipe book. I don't think I've ever made a better lasagne. Those parishioners were not holding back on their recipes!

[David Ross]

1 hour ago, MokaPot said:

Went to Catholic school (not Catholic, though) and the church put out a recipe book (plastic-bound, long gone) of parishioners' tried-and-true type recipes. When I was about 12 or 13, I made a lasagne from that recipe book. I don't think I've ever made a better lasagne. Those parishioners were not holding back on their recipes!

Oh I'm glad you mentioned this.  I have a couple my Mother saved from the church we went to in Salem, Oregon back in the 60s-70s. I'll see if I can find it.  It may have been tied into the annual member directory when we got our photos taken and I think they added a family recipe.  

[weinoo]

Not that vintage. But fun, nonetheless:

 

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[David Ross]

14 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Not that vintage. But fun, nonetheless:

 

\

 

Heck by now that's vintage.  I've got a few of the booklets Beard did when he was making money promoting brands.  I'll pull them out.

[David Ross]

From the 9th Grand National Pillsbury Bake-Off is this booklet, the Grand National Cook  Book.  Held in 1957, in those days this was a major television event.  They note that there were 97 women, one man and two teenage boys competing.  I'm not sure if I found this at an estate sale or vintage shop, or if my Mother had sent for it.  The bake-off was a major event in America and a huge promotional boost for Pillsbury, especially in these years after the war with the growth of suburbs.  I do remember watching it on television when I was a kid.

 

Hosted by Art Linkletter, the national prize was awarded by the actress and singer Jeanette MacDonald and Mrs. Phillip Pillsbury.  Mrs. Gerda Roderer of Berkeley, California won for her "Accoridan Treats" Cookies made to look like the segments of an orange.  The grand prize o $25,000 would be worth approximately $232,766 today.  

 

 

[David Ross]

 

Here is the list of hosts I pulled of Wikipedia.  An interesting group for sure.  

1949–1957	Arthur Godfrey	CBS
1958–68	Art Linkletter
1970–82	Bob Barker		Placed in the same hour as a half-hour episode of The Price is Right (except 1970–1972, when Bob Barker was only hosting Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants for the CBS Network prior to his Price Is Right days)
1984–88	Gary Collins & Mary Ann Mobley
1990–1992	Willard Scott		Willard Scott became the only NBC contracted person to host the Bake-Off for CBS in 1990.
1994–1998	Alex Trebek		This was Alex Trebek's second time on the CBS network, he was last seen on the Network 17 years earlier hosting the Goodson-Todman Game Show Double Dare.
2000	Phylicia Rashad		The first woman to host.
2002	Marie Osmond
2004–2006	Not aired	N/A	Dick Clark hosted the bake-off in 2004, but it wasn't shown on television.
2008	Keegan Gerhard	Food Network	Aired as an episode of Food Network Challenge
2010	Oprah Winfrey	Syndication	Winner was announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show
2012	Martha Stewart	Hallmark Channel	Winner was announced on The Martha Stewart Show
2013	Padma Lakshmi	Syndication	Winner was announced on The Queen Latifah Show
2014	Carla Hall	ABC	Winner was announced on The Chew
2018	Ree Drummond	Food Network	Winners are announced on the Food Network television show The Kitchen
2019	Sunny Anderson/Jeff Mauro

[Kim Shook]

I dug up a bunch, but won't risk boring you all with all of them at once.  Here's one from the Imperial Sugar Company in Sugar Land TX:

 

 

And one from Good Housekeeping - not sure of the date, but the price tag says 39¢:

I feel like James Lileks needs to see this book.  Is that not a perfect match for "The Tingler"?

 

And a couple of other dubious looking items:

 

 

I have a linear yard of more recent little cookbooks that I call "Check out line books".  They don't publish as many as they used to, and I almost never cook out of them, but I can't seem  to resist them!  

 

 

 

 

 

[David Ross]

15 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I dug up a bunch, but won't risk boring you all with all of them at once.  Here's one from the Imperial Sugar Company in Sugar Land TX:

 

 

And one from Good Housekeeping - not sure of the date, but the price tag says 39¢:

I feel like James Lileks needs to see this book.  Is that not a perfect match for "The Tingler"?

 

And a couple of other dubious looking items:

 

 

I have a linear yard of more recent little cookbooks that I call "Check out line books".  They don't publish as many as they used to, and I almost never cook out of them, but I can't seem  to resist them!  

 

 

 

 

 

These are so fabulous.  I also have many of the Good Housekeeping booklets.  Back then those were considered the state of the art photos and color printing.  Oh the casseroles and crazy dishes back then.

[weinoo]

Keep digging - never know what one might find! California gets in on the act:

 

 

Never forget booze...

 

 

Or BBQ...

 

 

They are all delicious!

 

 

In 1940, anyway...

 

 

Yes, Good Housekeeping was on top of its game:

 

 

A few Italians snuck in:

 

 

A few really old ones:

 

 

[liuzhou]

 

Possibly/probably history's biggest selling cookbook with over 40 million copies distributed. From the promoters of the newly invented self raising/rising flour. Now in its 41st edition, this one is from the 1950s and my mother still has and uses it.

 

 

[heidih]

I can't find my Southern California Edison booklets. They gave classes - mom and friends attended.  Part of the "All Electric Home"promotion. Personaly - Give me gas or gas me!  They had some good recipes. Somewhere my Dr. Oetker pamphlets are hiding. Those are gold standard baking recipes. 

[David Ross]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

Keep digging - never know what one might find! California gets in on the act:

 

 

Never forget booze...

 

 

Or BBQ...

 

 

They are all delicious!

 

 

In 1940, anyway...

 

 

Yes, Good Housekeeping was on top of its game:

 

 

A few Italians snuck in:

 

 

A few really old ones:

 

 

Just so fantastic. I could spend days reading all of these.

[David Ross]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

Keep digging - never know what one might find! California gets in on the act:

 

 

Never forget booze...

 

 

Or BBQ...

 

 

They are all delicious!

 

 

In 1940, anyway...

 

 

Yes, Good Housekeeping was on top of its game:

 

 

A few Italians snuck in:

 

 

A few really old ones:

 

 

Just imagine "How We Eat," 103 years ago...

[Kim Shook]

5 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

I’m always a bit creeped out by illustrations showing sentient animals participating in the butchering or cooking of themselves. 

 

I’ve got the French match to @weinoo's Italian book.  Both from the Culinary Arts Institute:

 

Pretty legit recipes, I thought:

 

I’ve got another one from them for Cookies:

 

With some weird looking gingerbread men with their own little verse:

 

 

And some other cookies that I thought looked very timely:

 

BH & G Herbs and Spices book:

 

I love the titles they came up with in the old cookbooks - "Bell-ringer Breads".  So jaunty:

 

[weinoo]

On 11/7/2020 at 1:44 PM, Kim Shook said:

I’m always a bit creeped out by illustrations showing sentient animals participating in the butchering or cooking of themselves.   

 

The pig probably wasn't that happy either.

[weinoo]

On 11/7/2020 at 1:13 PM, David Ross said:

Just imagine "How We Eat," 103 years ago...

 

"Imagine there's no heaven..."  It's easy if you try...

 

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

@weinoo I have trouble even reading that "happy homemaker" stuff though it is our imagined history.  Perhaps a factor in the proliferation of Valium and Prozac.. and other "Mother's little helper" meds. 

[Katie Meadow]

5 minutes ago, heidih said:

@weinoo I have trouble even reading that "happy homemaker" stuff though it is our imagined history.  Perhaps a factor in the proliferation of Valium and Prozac.. and other "Mother's little helper" meds. 

Lost me at doilies.

[David Ross]

53 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

"Imagine there's no heaven..."  It's easy if you try...

 

 

 

 

 

When I read cooking history like this, I put it in the context of the times. That's what I find incredibly intriguing and interesting, along with a sense of how creative and even adventurous home cooking was back then.  I know with my family back in Idaho many folks thought they ate boiled mutton and potatoes every day, but the booklets and pamphlets collected by my Great Grandmother and Great Aunt show they were always trying new flavors.

[heidih]

I kept as many old Sunset magazines as I could fetch from the bin as they present a very family style of cooking and entertaining with an expanded world palate. Amusing at times, but overall a joyful magazine; not rule focused. 

[David Ross]

9 minutes ago, heidih said:

I kept as many old Sunset magazines as I could fetch from the bin as they present a very family style of cooking and entertaining with an expanded world palate. Amusing at times, but overall a joyful magazine; not rule focused. 

I remember it was my Grandmother's favorite magazine.  She lived on a ranch in Central Oregon and always waited each month for it to arrive.  Clipped out many favorite recipes over the years, and also sent away for some small books they published.  I'll find them and post. 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

@weinoo I have trouble even reading that "happy homemaker" stuff though it is our imagined history.  Perhaps a factor in the proliferation of Valium and Prozac.. and other "Mother's little helper" meds. 

 

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

Lost me at doilies.

 

Don't read the newspaper, ladies.

[David Ross]

More recent, the 1989 Crisco "Butter Flavor" pamphlet.  This was around the time magazines were starting to include inserts that were glued along the inside spine that you could pull out.  I think I've made every recipe in this one, and admit that back then I probably used Crisco "Butter Flavor."  Today I'd revise the recipes and use a blend of real butter and shortening.  

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, David Ross said:

More recent, the 1989 Crisco "Butter Flavor" pamphlet.  This was around the time magazines were starting to include inserts that were glued along the inside spine that you could pull out. 

 

Who else rips all these out upon receiving the magazine?  Along with all the fold-over cologne and perfume ads, which basically stink?

[liuzhou]

Here is a short, but interesting article on the historic importance of 'amateur' cookbooks of the past.