Category Archives: Vintage Cookbooks

1961 A Fresh Herb Platter ~ Vintage Cookbook

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I’ve always thought it would be a great thing to have an herb garden on my kitchen windowsill or just outside my back door.  The problem with that dream, is my black thumb. I’m terribly unfortunate when it comes to raising plants. I have a reputation among my family. I’m known as the “Plant Killer”. This is not a compliment. Even worse, it’s a well earned name. I’ve caused the demise of many, many plants. In my defense, I have good intentions. I just don’t do well with living plants. But that fact doesn’t stop me from dreaming about a wonderful herb garden. It sure doesn’t stop me from picking up books about gardening. I’ve read more than my share of gardening books. I just can’t apply the knowledge in practice. When I saw this great little book on the shelf at my local vintage goods shop, I couldn’t resist bringing it home. I read it. I looked at the drawings. I loved it. But I know I will never use this as a reference book. 1961 A Fresh Herb Platter Vintage CookBook Copyright: 1961 Publisher: Double Day & Company Hardcover, 237 pages Condition: very good, Book Club Edition, dust … Continue reading →

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1961 Cutco Cook Book Worlds Best Cutlery ~ Vintage Cookbook

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Many vintage cookbooks were developed as a marketing tactic. Before we had hour long infomercials and  internet advertising, marketers took many different approaches to getting their product in front of buyers. Think about the door to door salesman. He walked many miles, knocked on many doors, all in an attempt to convince the housewife that his product deserved a place in her home. Sometimes he was successful. Sometimes he was not. Businesses began to offer complimentary products as a way to entice purchase of their primary product. Remember your grandma or mom purchasing a specific brand of laundry soap in order to get the dish of the month? Who would consider dinnerware a complimentary product to laundry soap? Perhaps that’s why we don’t see offers like that anymore. It makes much more sense to develop a cookbook of recipes that can be used along with your new appliance or kitchen tool. I still see new cookbooks for sale that feature a specific brand of food or kitchen utensil. Cutco was one company who printed a cookbook to encourage cooks to purchase their cutlery. 1961 Cutco Cook Book Worlds Best Cutlery Vintage CookBook Copyright: 1961 Publisher: Cutco Division Hardcover, 128 pages … Continue reading →

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1959 The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook ~ Vintage Cookbook

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Vintage cookbooks are a fascinating trip through history. You don’t believe me? Pick up a cookbook from the 1950′s or 1970′s, page through it and get back to me. I’m constantly amazed at the changes we’ve made in our tastes, spice selections, cooking methods and even main ingredients. (I remember finding recipes for wild game in one book that included ground hog and squirrel meats!) Cookbooks from the 1970′s relied on MSG as a main spice. Today, we avoid it like a bad case of chicken pox. 1950′s cooks often used cooking methods that we wouldn’t dream of today, unless we were dealing with a power outage … think wood or coal burning stoves. 1959 The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook Hardcover, 436 pages Condition: shelf wear on cover edges, stain and watermark on cover, pages in very good condition, missing dust jacket First Edition, First Printing Price: 17.00 This book was intended to be a daily reference book for newly married women and cooks of all sorts. The book has everything you would need to plan nutritious and balanced meals for your family.  The beginning includes a paragraph that holds as much truth today as it did in 1959. “Nowadays, … Continue reading →

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