Good Housekeeping’s Hamburger & Hot Dog Book – novel uses for America’s favorite meats. Published in 1958 by Good Housekeeping. Boy, if that subtitle doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what would! This is another classic in this series by Good Housekeeping. It is filled with great illustrations by Suzanne Snider, and has a range of [...]

I’m back from vacation, and what better way to get back into the swing of things, than with Julia Child? The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child, published in 1961, was a companion book to Julia’s TV show, The French Chef, on WGBH-TV in Boston. There is no retro kitsch here, just serious recipes from [...]

Yes, finally a new vintage cookbook has been added! Sorry, things have been busy as gardening season arrives. Anyhow… Dagmar Freuchen’s Cookbook of the Seven Seas is one of those classy hard cover cookbooks, with over 240 pages of recipes. It was published in 1968 by M. Evans and Company. The name of this cookbook [...]

The United States Regional Cook Book, edited by Ruth Berolzheimer, and published in 1939. Wow, what a classic this one is! Ruth was the director of the Culinary Arts Institute, and if you want to learn more about her, check out this article by Mike Sula at the Chicago Reader: Omnivorous: The Cookbook Queen. But [...]

Miss Fluffy’s Rice Cook Book, published by the Rice Council in Houston, Texas. No date noted, but I’m guessing late 50′s or early 60′s. Rice is your most versatile food. The cheesy design pretty much ends on the cover, and inside you’ll find 32 pages of recipes, and some rather nice food photography. The recipes [...]

Betty Crocker’s Good and Easy Cook Book, published in 1954. Betty Crocker’s brand-new idea book—1000 time-saving, taste-tempting recipes and hints for busy modern homemakers. You won’t have an excuse for not cooking if you have this cookbook! It is jam-packed with recipes and ideas for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and even the Fourth Meal. “A good [...]

Let’s Have a Barbecue, by the Marketing Division of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, published in 1960 (I believe.) You may recognize this cheery couple, which seem to have become the mascots for Retro Cookbook. They kind of exemplify that happy, feel good kind of couple you expect to find in vintage cookbooks, especially [...]

Recipes On Toast, published in 1950 by the Marathon Corporation. This was a complimentary cookbook from Snowhite Baking Company, the bakers of Snowhite Bread.  ”Baked in Muskegon by Muskegon Bakers for Greater Muskegon People.” Nice!  Local food long before local food was trendy. This may be the only toast cookbook in my collection, and I [...]