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...

  For my friends who like history and cooking, and in honor of the 4th of July, here’s a little gem from 1943. The government had some propaganda work to do to convince citizens to go to war again so soon after WWI, and booklets like this played a role in keeping patriotism and morale up as the war dragged on. Sacrifice then was considered honorable for the greater good. On a personal note, I’ve entered antique shows with my cookbooks only twice. I entered this one in the 1993 McHenry County Fair and it won a Best of Show. (I entered another one in the Walworth County Fair the following year, and the superintendents of that show damaged it with their poor handling practices. Because of that experience, I will not enter any more antiques in any show.)

  For my friends who like history and cooking, I’ve got another antique from my collection to share and I think you’ll have fun with this one. From 1940, it’s the Old Mr. Boston Deluxe Official Bartender’s Guide. A gorgeous little book, 162 pages, with crisply printed recipe pages and glossy color illustrations (unusual for its era). I don’t drink very much because I don’t like the taste. I am, however, a print geek, and this book is a stunner.

  For my friends who like history or baking (or both  😊 ): this is one of the first ones I acquired, from a little shop in Sycamore, IL. From 1959, coming in at a very solid 600+ pages and 1 1/2 inches thick (this book is heavy!!!) The inside covers are photos from the competition, and the recipe pages are a mix of illustrations and photos (b&w and color). The high number of color photos was not typical of its day and would have made it a pricey book to print. This recipes still look pretty tasty, too - let’s make that Eggnog Cream Cake!

  Here’s another history geek post for my friends into cooking: This is one of my favorite old cookbooks. It is from 1917, and tells the story of newlyweds Bettina and Bob and their friends over their first year of marriage. Unusually, the cookbook is made up of more than 100 little chapters that present some housekeeping situation with Bettina’s recipes and tips - everything from an unexpected luncheon for Bob’s boss to a Washington’s Birthday tea to Bob “manfully using his st rong right arm” to stir the breakfast popovers batter. I think Bettina hosted more to-do’s over the course of this book than I have in my entire life. She makes Martha Stewart look like a slacker!

  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...