Here’s another history geek post for my friends into cooking: This is the first Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1950. It’s a first edition “signed” by Betty aka a General Mills secretary. Betty herself is a fictional character used to promote General Mills products. Beautiful hardcover book with mostly black-and-white photos, although a limited number of full-page color photos were sprinkled in. This cookbook ushers in a new era after World War II. Middle-class homemakers had more time and resources to entertain. Also a notable time because more women were entering and staying in the workforce. Because women were needed so badly to work during the war, it was becoming more socially acceptable for a woman to leave the so-called purity of the home to work away from the hearth. For the first time, cookbooks included recipes that saved time and used modern conveniences (appliances such as electric blenders and mixers, store-bought packaged ingredients and prepared food) to help busy ho...
This is a private blog with pictures and descriptions of antique and older cookbooks from my personal collection - emphasis on the historical aspect of each publication. I have made these posts public because the books are a part of history and shouldn’t be forgotten.