Stag Famous Firsts

Just in the nick of time for your New Years Eve party are these helpful party and snack tips from the folks at Stag Beer.  There's no date on this, but based on the hair and clothes styles, I'd put it late 1950's.

Let's Eat Outdoors

I know it's not officially over until September 22nd and we still have Labor Day in there, but school starts here next week so let's just call it: Summer is all but over.  But before it ends, let's get out one last time and eat amongst nature...with a big pot of beans and a can of Spam.

Recipes

Halloween is nigh and with zero hour approaching, I thought I'd offer some last minute recipe ideas for your Halloween party. You are having one, right?

General Foods Corporation Monthly Dessert Calendar, 1940

Homemaking with a Flair 1970

"Homemaking with a flair" comes to us from the Fall of 1970. Just another booklet filled with expired coupons and dubious recipes. I don't know why people saved these. Maybe for the same reason I buy them.

Right Eating...Keeps You Swingin'

From 1960 comes another pamphlet promoting healthy eating to teenagers, with the promise that swingin' will go hand in hand.

Restraining Halloween

I found this clipped article among the recipe booklets I found a while back. It's from the morning edition of the October 26th, 1938 edition of The St. Louis Globe-Democrat.  With a title that could get you jail time these days, it addresses and attempts to resolve an issue communities were becoming more and more concerned about -- the destructive pranks done by young Halloween revelers.  Prior to the 1940's, Halloween was an excuse to run amuck causing mayhem in your neighborhood with such pranks as soaping windows, stealing gates and porch steps, and even moving outhouses off of their pits. This article suggests planning a Halloween party to restrain those youngsters.

1953 Parade Cook Book

This St. Louis Post-Dispatch Parade cook book boasts an assortment of mouth-puckering...er...watering recipes.

One page is dedicated to Halloween.

But perhaps the most horrifying display is the back cover.

Halloween Cookery

This Betty Crocker Party Book dates from 1960 and dedicates 2 pages to Halloween recipes (kind of light if you ask me).

The Sealtest Food Adviser, Number 71

Another recipe booklet from my last find.  From 1948, the early spring edition of The Sealtest Food Adviser, brought to you from the fine folks at St. Louis Dairy.

Bring a girl roses and she'll reward you with crackers and dairy products.

La Choy Bean Sprouts, 1935

Why post a picture of a La Choy Bean Sprout can label from 1935?  Because someone decided to save it for 80 years and who am I to end that legacy? Besides, I couldn't find another example of it on the internet and therefore must be preserved for future generations.

Garage Sale Finds: saving one vintage can label for posterity at a time.

Do Mutant Chickens Dream of Electric Skillets?

It's titled "Almost All About Chicken" for a reason.  What they don't tell you, you don't wanna know.

Superb Recipes for Velveeta

Velveeta is one of those food products you just eat and try not to worry about what's in it.  And who knew there were so many uses for it beyond Rotel dip?

Dr. Gaymont's Yogourt

I can't resist buying these recipe flyers when I see them...and I see them frequently.  It always amazes me how people hang on to these their whole life.  I came across a fairly sizable cache this weekend, so prepare yourself to be bored stiff entertained with this and upcoming posts.

Quik Recipes

Dora's Diary

This was among the recipe booklets I picked up last weekend.  I thought it deserved a post of its own. There isn't much information on the artist, Lois Fisher.  There was a Lois Fisher that did a children's show in the 1950's who illustrated children's books as she read them.  It seems very possible they were one in the same.  This recipe booklet was published by Monarch-Paramount Ranges and Heaters, probably in the 1940's.  They were manufacturers of high-end kitchen ranges, but were unable to compete with companies such as General Electric and went into bankruptcy in 1985.

The book itself is a gag every other page based on Dora the Maid's inept and literal interpretation of recipe directions.

Dora's dog "Doodle" bears a striking resemblance to Dagwood and Blondie's "Daisy".

Corporate Cooking

One item I commonly find at garage and estate sales are the old recipe booklets that various companies, food industries and occasionally the local utility company would publish.  They were either mailed or included with the product itself at the point of purchase.  I don't know why people hung onto these, but I'm glad they did because I love them.  I came across a cache of these at a sale this weekend.  I'll go into depth with some of these at a later date.

"Good Cooking made Easy", Spry Vegetable Shortening, 1942

The Happy Home Maker

I'm always amazed at estate sales by what homeowners chose to hang onto for years.  These days our junk mail goes straight to the trash, but somebody felt this flyer from Grasso Bros. LP Gas was worth saving.  LP Gas, better known these days as simply propane, was the only option in rural areas before natural gas and possibly even electric was available.

Cool Drink Recipes

Sure, Summer's over, but drinks can be cool anytime of the year!

I found this in the basement bar of a house in Marlborough today.  The cover is what caught my eye.  Would you accept a drink from this woman?

She looks like she thinking in her best Jack Nicholson voice, "Wait'll he gets a load of these..."

I found this tucked inside.

They had me until the Chow Mein Noodles.

Anyway, enjoy these recipes and let me know if anyone tries them!

Foods Men Hurry Home For

Yet another find from the great gumball/electronic games/Der Bingle estate sale. I found a box of miscellaneous papers (or ephemera, as we collectors like to call it). Mostly company-sponsored recipe pamphlets, the kind that would have been given away free when you bought flour, butter, etc. Most date from the 20's to 30's. Some are quite interesting with many pictures that would fit well in James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food. I'm thinking about framing the montage above to hang in the kitchen. I'll profile some of the more interesting pamphlets, including one on how to throw a party and and another on mixing drinks in a later post. Bon appetit!