Vintage cookbooks

Kate Smith Hour CBS

It seems somewhat fitting, as the Memorial Weekend approaches, for my hand to find Kate Smith’s Favorite Recipes, a vintage baking booklet featuring the famous singer & General Foods Corporation’s Swans Down Cake Flour and Calumet Baking Powder — sponsors of Smith’s radio shows.

Why? Because Kate Smith was the one who, on Armistice Day, November 10, 1938, (the twentieth anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I), introduced Americans to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America.

The song quickly became a new, if unofficial, national anthem and if Kate’s introduction of the song, subsequent recording, and continued performances of it on nearly every radio broadcast through December 1940 (during the temporary “ban” of public performances of ASCAP songs) didn’t leave her indelible mark on the song as “hers,” temporary exclusive performance rights to the song sure secured it.

Kate’s rendition of God Bless America also made her a permanent part of hockey history — at least as far as the Philadelphia Flyers are concerned.

Anyway, if Kate doesn’t seem “All American” enough for you, consider the typical qualities of this booklet, copyrighted in 1939. It features the popular singer along with the to-be-expected recipes, baking tips, & true corporate greed — product placements for Swans Down Cake Flour & Calumet Baking Powder in photographs as well as specific recipe ingredients. That’s to be expected, right? But still, there’s something a bit weirder than that…

And I don’t just mean the comedic use of what I call “too many roll-y poll-y Kate heads” to remind the bakers (and now, we collectors) that this booklet was a Kate Smith affair either.

Kate Smith Head

Another Roll-y Poll-y Smith Head

This vintage baking cookbook doesn’t have single pie recipe. That’s weird. At least to me. Until you consider that General Foods Corporation, makers of Swans Down Cake Flour & Calumet Baking Powder, didn’t want folks to think of making pies — and therefore other baking products. Then my Easy Bake oven light goes on.

But still, that’s not as American as things get with this vintage booklet.

Kate was a big catch in this promotional marriage. And I don’t just mean her body size, but her popularity with Americans (millions listened to her radio shows). However, you certainly can’t ignore her physical size either.

“I know I’m fat and I know my hair is straight, but I can sing,” Kate Smith admitted on more than one occasion. That statement was more than acceptance of her non-pinup body-type in a culture which has always placed a premium on looks. Especially with its female pop sensations. Even if radio was the dealio back then. Understandably, Kate didn’t want to be dismissed as the butt of fat jokes — but she didn’t seem to mind making belittling jokes at her own expense once her huge talent was recognized. Even if her big stature was used to milk promotional dollars. …Maybe she just enjoyed the delicious irony of getting paid to hawk what the skinny girls couldn’t?

But you have to wonder how the amply-endowed Smith felt being photographed surrounded by a bevy of baking beauties…

Kate Smith & Baking Beauties

Or how the single Smith felt pandering to “typical female instincts” by posing with her business partner, Ted Collins, with text discussing how to “make men rave” with baked goods…

Kate Smith & Ted Collins In Vintage Baking Booklet

OK, so maybe Kate just had a really good sense of humor. Or a very high tolerance for BS. Maybe she even had both. But you can’t ignore the irony of a woman who would die of diabetes pushing baked goods.

And that, to me, seems to be about as American as it gets. Even Especially in 2009.

Paper or plastic? Butter or margarine? Sugar or corn syrup? What do these questions have to do with collecting?

It’s a new year and that usually means New Year’s resolutions — most of which are based upon those best behaviors for healthy & green living.

I’m no doctor, no scientist either; but I do know that most professionals trained to know or study such things seem to agree that moderation is key and that eating the most natural foods (as opposed to the synthetic, chemical or processed alternatives) is preferable for good health.

One of the best ways to eat healthier is to actually make your own food. No, microwaving a frozen pot pie is not cooking. No, macs & cheese from a box isn’t cooking. No, toasting a frozen pizza on that pizza-cooking-thing isn’t cooking… and making a pizza from scratch doesn’t start with a Boboli crust and a jar of Ragu either. Real cooking means starting with real foods. A shocking concept, hmm?

So how does a person go about making a pizza or anything else from scratch?

Start with a cookbook. Crack it open, and follow the directions.

And if you want to really avoid those over-processed, synthetic or altered food products, get vintage cookbooks. (Those retro cookbooks are, literally, full of bologna!) Vintage cookbooks only list ingredients from the good old days when food was food not a “food product.” In fact, when you take your list of ingredients from your vintage recipe to the store, you may find yourself walking down completely foreign isles. Which is rather the entire point, if you’re trying to have better eating habits, right?

As for which is better, baking with &/or eating butter or margarine, sugar or corn syrup, I think you’ll quickly find that the more natural foods (butter and sugar) are better for you — in moderation, of course. And as they taste better, you may find moderation is more possible, your new diet more pleasurable. But hey, as always, consult with your doctor; I’m just a kooky collector.

As for the paper or plastic question, the best answer is actually option C: a reusable canvas tote. But, if you’re like our family (unwilling to spend some serious cash on canvas totes for bulk buying), get the bags that you’ll reuse rather than just toss. Maybe you need to ask your doctor about that too (they seem to like to approve things).

One thing I do know; collecting is a fabulous way of recycling and keeping things away from landfills, so collecting old cookbooks is a fabulous way to go green. And at thrift store prices, you’ll save plenty of green too. You’ll need it with all those trips to the doctor’s office for advice.

I am often chided for not being a good cook. I have a husband that is very talented in the kitchen so why should I even try? When our daughters were younger, they would ask me to make their favorites for dinner – reservations! When they went off to college, they wrote home saying they missed dad’s cooking. And when we go into antique stores and view kitchen utensils, hubby always patiently takes the time to explain to me just what it’s for – often very loudly to embarrass me.

So, why, do you ask, does a woman known to be a non-domestic goddess have a slew of vintage cook books? Because they are fun to display and are highly collectible – that’s why. There are wonderful pictures and designs, and of course, recipes.

One of my favorites was for proud, new owners of Monarch ranges. For their purchase of a new stove, they were rewarded with a booklet called “Dora’s Diary.” Cute cover with a girl in polka-dot jammies, getting ready for bed and writing in her personal journal. Her pup sleeps nearby. Inside you’ll see another picture of her with utensils ‘a-flying.’

The book has some nice ‘basic’ recipes, even for me, they are not too complex, but the fun part is the cartoons. One features a maid, serving the elite guests. She is wearing only her underwear and the caption is “Yes mam, you told me to be sure to serve the salad without dressing.”

Another favorite booklet is called “Beans – enjoyable the world over – grown in Michigan.”  It shows a gent on the cover, obviously a ‘world traveler’ from the tags on his luggage. Inside the cover you’ll find folks dressed in costumes from their various home-lands and 36 pages of bean recipes. This is a cookbook to toot your horn about, if you get my drift.

And how about this one from Hires Extracts – for Root Beer at Home. The little boy is so charming. There is a recipe for root beer cake and root beer gelatine too. I learned that you can actually make root beer or ginger ale at home, using a combination of Hires Extract and Fleischmann’s Yeast cakes. Yummy.

The unique part of this Hires booklet is that the back has the recipes in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Slovanian, Polish and what appears to be Chinese or Japanese. Pretty progressive for that time.

One of my son-in-laws teases that ‘ketchup is too spicy for me’ so he’d be proud if I used this booklet with ideas for cooking with Tabasco sauce! From appetizers to chicken, to salad dressings, to seafoods, it just takes a drop or two to ‘jazz it up!’

This 1933 booklet called “The Hostess” shows a scene that is rare nowadays. It shows mom in her apron and dress, standing on the porch waving good bye to her daughter. The girl wears a hat, dress and ‘Mary Jane” shoes and is headed off to school, letting mom stay home to her house-wifely chores. Handed out from the “Richelieu Store”, it has prize winning recipes. The first prize was $10, second was $7.50 and on to 12 sixth place winners at $1.00 each. A section in the back talks about the “food ticker going up.” Yikes, prices were going up everywhere back then, glad I live in this day and age. Yeah, right.

Clabber Girl Baking Powder was very popular and this Baking Book was probably a prized possession in 1934, the date it was printed. I remember a can of this on the shelf at grandma’s house! And no advertising tin collection is complete without an example.

Lastly, I would like to thank fellow-bloggers Deanna and Collin for their introductions (somewhat bizarre) of the “mushroom” to our readers. What kitchen would be complete without some Fairy Ring Mushroom recipes? The booklet was from the Mushroom Growers Association of Chicago (all men so they say) and presented by Edith G. Shuck, Director of Home Economics, Chicago Daily News. Inside the cover you’ll find “Mushroom Facts You Should Know”, probably pretty important, especially to your guests who would like to be able to make it to a return invitation!

I guess I can make no more excuses and must wrap up this blog and start dinner – HA!