History and Cooking - Antique Cookbooks

  Here’s another history geek post for my friends into baking: This is the first antique cookbook I ever bought. It’s a promotional recipe book for Ryzon baking powder dated 1916. Hardcover, 82 pages, with about 20 colored drawings, making this a pretty luxurious book for its time. Interesting for two reasons: 1 - baking powder itself was a relatively recent invention - by chemists! - and they had to teach home bakers how to use it instead of traditional leavenings and 2- this comes 10 years after the Food and Drug Act was passed to stop the horrifying hazards that had been unregulated in commercially sold foods (sawdust in bread, for example). This cookbook has a strong emphasis on science and cleanliness in the copy and illustrations.

  This is my other way cool history find from the Walworth County Fair’s used book sale. The publication date on this is 1979 - long before the decision to boycott these games.

  This is kind of a history geek post 😊 ok, it’s completely a history geek post 😄 I have collected old cookbooks most of my life; I love looking at history through them. I found a couple this year at the Walworth County Fair’s used book sale that are too cool to not share. Bakers, check out the subhead on this Pillsbury bread cookbook from 1968 - when instant dry yeast was NEW to the commercial market. I can’t imagine not having it on the pantry shelf.