History and Cooking - Antique Cookbooks

  For my friends who like history and cooking, AND for my ag friends, I've got a fun one from 1941. Many of us grew up listening to WLS 89 AM radio in the 60s and 70s when it was a Top 40 pop station. But from 1928 until 1960, it actually was owned by Prairie Farmer - yes, the same Prairie Farmer magazine that our farm families read. WLS then was a very popular rural-oriented station, complete with livestock reports and cooking shows. This cookbook (hard cover, 310 pages) was  published by Prairie Farmer Magazine (aka The Prairie Press) and was a compilation of recipes by its on-air personalities, from its listeners, and from university ag extensions. I believe that the "Centennial Edition" on the cover refers to Prairie Farmer celebrating its 100th anniversary (it dates back to 1841). This cookbook has a little bit of everything. Unusually this cookbook has photos of its staff contributors. It also has some photos of dishes and credit lines for listeners who contributed ...

  For my friends who like history and cooking, I have a nondescript thick gray cookbook from 1943 with a fascinating story behind it. Can you imagine a time when it wasn't socially acceptable for a man to be known as a chef? Other than Escoffier, the only famous male cook during the first half of last century was the Mystery Chef. He was a Scottish immigrant named John MacPherson, who parlayed his enjoyment of cooking into hosting a national radio program for more than 20 year s. He also wrote several cookbooks and had a TV show for a season. It's probably fair to say he helped pave the way for today's celebrity chefs. His alias came about because he claimed his mother was embarrassed that her son liked the unmasculine activity of cooking. In his book, he actually advocates quite a bit for men to "find pleasure and relaxation in the art of excellent cooking." This book is unusual in that it doesn't have a single drawing or photograph. But, the Mystery Chef...