How many great recipes can you find ion these wonderful editions?
Posted by WorthPoint on 09/08/2021
WHAT’S COOKING: VINTAGE COOKBOOKS
About a month ago, we were visiting my in-laws, and my husband and I announced we would cook Sunday dinner for everyone. We decided on a pasta dish but couldn’t quite agree on how to prepare it. My mother-in-law said she had a cookbook we could look through, and when she handed it to me, I was surprised…and delighted…by how old it was.
Our family cookbook, thoroughly loved and thoroughly used.
In fact, she told me the book was a gift she received at her bridal shower, which was over 60 years ago! My mother-in-law said she has used the now vintage cookbook – as well as a few others she received as gifts —quite often through the years, and this was evident by the many smudges and stains on its pages. Yes, it was obviously a well-used and well-loved cookbook.
Cookbooks as Collectibles
When I was back in my own house, I realized we also had quite the collection of cookbooks. Although not as old as my mother-in-law’s, I too have a few I received as wedding gifts, and now those are over 35 years old-yikes! I have one Better Homes and Gardens cookbook my mother gave me, titled, Cooking for Two. I used it quite a lot when we were first married— not so much once our kids came along and we were a family of four. But once we became empty-nesters a few years ago, I found myself using that old cookbook-for-two once again.
Today, vintage cookbooks are very popular collectible items. Some people collect or hold on to them for their recipes and sentimental appeal, while others collect them for their value. First edition cookbooks, like any first edition book, can fetch quite a price, especially popular titles such as The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vols. I & II by Julia Child sold for $125 in 2018.
In the Beginning
While cookbooks have been around for centuries (there are records of books dating as early as fourth century AD Rome), the first American cookbook was published in 1796. Titled American Cookery, it was written by Amelia Simmons. Before this 47-page book was published, most of the cookbooks printed and used by Americans were British. The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph was published in 1824 and is revered as one of the first regional American cookbooks—this one focused on Southern cuisine (apparently, it contained the first printed recipes for such Southern classics as barbecued pork and okra soup).
The Virginia Housewife, published in the 1800’s, focused on cuisine of the South.
Fannie Merritt Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, published in the late 1800s, is credited with introducing standardized measurements for ingredients and giving readers step-by-step instructions. This early cookbook is still in print, although it has been revised over the years and is known today simply as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
Cookbooks through the Decades
The Watkins New Cookbook, from the Watkins company, one of Minnesota’s oldest companies, was first published in 1936. The company went on to produce many other cookbooks that are quite popular today as collectibles. The 1950s and 1960s saw a continued rise in the popularity of cookbooks. One of the most recognized names of those times is Betty Crocker, who was not actually a real person but a made-up name. It seems that the flour-milling company that produced Gold Medal flour ran a contest and received thousands of responses and questions about baking. The name Betty Crocker was created and used to personalize letters back to those customers. (That company, The Washburn Crosby Company, eventually became General Mills, Inc.) The first cookbook produced using the Betty Crocker name was Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, and it was published in 1950. Many editions, revisions, and spin-offs have been published since.
A vintage 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook sold for $59 in 2019.
Better Homes and Good Housekeeping also produced cookbooks during this time, as did different food manufacturers such as Pillsbury. Even companies that made kitchen appliances such as ovens and blenders produced cookbooks. Very popular in the 1960s was the New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne, which was first published in 1961. I own a much later edition of this cookbook that I purchased for my husband in the late 1980s.
Celebrities and their Cookbooks
Speaking of the 1980s, I remember when back in the day, a friend of mine at work told me about a new cookbook she bought. It was called Entertaining, and it was written by Martha Stewart. I had no idea who she was at the time, but boy did she become famous. Although it sometimes seems like she started the cookbook craze, celebrities have been creating cookbooks for quite a while. Liberace Cooks!, Sophia Loren’s Recipes and Memories, and The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook: Barbara, Frank & Friends are just a few examples.
This Sinatra cookbook is signed by the famous singer’s wife.
The Community Cookbook
Another popular cookbook collectible genre is the community cookbook. These are usually soft-covered, often spiral bound, and usually created as a fundraiser and/or marketing tool for churches, local organizations, schools, etc. I have one from a local MADD group I purchased as a fundraiser that holds a few of my favorite summer recipes. And, as most mothers do, I have a few of these types of cookbooks from my kids’ schools and scout groups.
The Koel Cookbook – Koel is a radio station in Waterloo, Iowa.
I think the best thing about collecting cookbooks is that they are still functional. Many of the recipes, although they may have to be tweaked a bit, still hold up. So, for all you cookbook collectors out there, happy collecting and happy cooking!
Lisa Mancuso has an associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University. She has worked as the Associate Director for Creative Marketing at McCall’s Magazine. As a staff writer at the National Association of Professional Women, Lisa wrote feature articles for the bi-monthly online newsletter. She has served as a reporter for the Northshore News Group and ICD Publications.
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