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Prairie Farmer - WLS Cook Book (1941)







 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 recipes, neither of which were common features in that era.

Without looking, who remembers what "WLS" stood for?

http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS30/

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