t h e S o p h i s t i c at e
No collector of Deco memorabilia,
The sparkling Deco Kitchen has become a design icon, with
its cheerful colors and streamlined chrome appliances. But
a kitchen is about more than its design. Put a glass of sunny,
Deconstructing
fresh-squeezed orange juice on a floral-patterned tablecloth,
and imagine the smells of percolated coffee, fragrant fruit
pies and sizzling onions to evoke the aproned person who
made it her domain: the homemaker. In today’s busy world
the Deco Diet
we rarely have time to bake from scratch, but we can gain a
real appreciation for housewives of the past by spending a few
moments (at a sunny table with a cup of percolated coffee, of
course) wandering through a vintage cookbook.
A Pot-Liquor Cocktail
No collector of Deco memorabilia, or for that matter, no
collector of cookbooks, should be without at least one. A
THE VIRTUES OF decade ago, gift books like Cakes Men Like and Helpful Hints
for Housewives poked fun at happy homemakers of the past,
VINTAGE COOKBOOKS piquing pop-culture interest with kitschy recipes like “Pork
Cake,” and clever ideas like “Lemons for Loveliness.” But
delightful reprints of promotional pamphlets are no substitute
by Kristen Caven
for the meat-and-potatoes heft of a well-loved cookbook.
Books shown from the cookbook collections of Even if you never open it up, a vintage cookbook can add a
touch of authenticity and charm to a kitchen vignette, but take
Kristen Caven and ??
a moment to crack those musty, deckle-edged pages and you
will find resources you never knew you needed: “Uses of Stale
Breads;” “How to Care for Fats;” “How to Get Cooperation
from the Family;” “How to Entertain Without a Maid.” Oh, it all
seems funny to us now, but the concerns of Deco Housewives
20
An n ua l 2005
or for that matter, no collector
of cookbooks, should be without
at least one.
were real. They had budgets to work with and mouths to feed.
They had to squeeze every ounce of nutrition out of the food
they served. Furthermore, they had to satisfy their inner
creative urges while stuck in the kitchen all day. They knew
the value of pot-liquor a and weren’t afraid to pour it over ice
and call it a cocktail.
The Darker Side of Dinner at Eight
Flipping through these pages makes one realize what we have
lost with our twentieth-century, saran-wrapped sensibilities.
Even those with an open-minded palate may wince at the idea
of roast squirrel or sweetbreads.b In the wonderful convenience
we enjoy of simple, pre-packaged, international gourmet
cooking from Trader Joe’s, we’ve lost sight of the darker side
of dinner at eight. “Choose rabbits with soft ears and paws…”
says Meta Given in The Modern Family Cookbook (1942), but
she’s not talking about a trip to the pet store; “…stiffness is
a sign of age.” Cooks of the Depression era could not afford
to be squeamish. They took advantage daily of everything
available to them, be it “Meat Sundries” or seasonal produce
you never see at Safeway – like rutabagas, cress, and salsify.
They used every part of a creature or vegetable, and made it
look lovely when it came to the table. Even the ubiquitous
gelatin with which they molded, or in earlier books, “jellied”
everything from the soup to the nuts, comes from the broth of
bones – and brings health to the body.
As the world’s interest in science grew, new materials made
modern life more convenient and stylish. And so grew the field
21
t h e S o p h i s t i c at e An n ua l 2005

r a n k f u r te rs
creamed f
crab meat in cucumber jelly
gr a p e ta p io ca

eventually vanquished its competitor.) For years I have tried mention a Thanksgiving spread), but for a true Deco dinner,
in vain to convince him not to inscribe each one in pene…but try serving something that’s fallen out of our culinary lexicon
he at least has his heart in the right place in preserving the – like Hash, Rarebit, or Beef Heart.
many stories of the past – including his own.
Sifting flour always seemed As a side dish, creatively disguise leftovers as Timbales (any
Where The American Woman’s Cook Book aims to educate starch or vegetable pre-baked in the shape of a cup to hold
to my feminist mind to be an oppressive time sink, the reader on everything it can about food itself, from Meat creamed or mashed anything), Croquettes (deep-fried creamed
Carving to Canning and Garnishes, and everything surrounding or mashed anything), or Bouchés (pastry shells filled with
food from How to Measure for the Placement of a Monogram creamed or mashed anything). And as for the salad, don’t feel
but I can’t help but admire the handsome cakes to Packing a School Lunch, Meta Givens created a lovely, you must start with lettuce. Any fruit or vegetable will do, and
of domestic science, practiced by career no-nonsense guide to daily menu planning and stretching feel free to mold it in flavored or unflavored gelatin.g Don’t
wives and mothers, who dedicated
and cookies made from scratch, and the multitude the food dollar in The Modern Family Cookbook. This book, be afraid to add a touch of sugar, mayonnaise and pimiento
themselves to understanding what they with its handsome gray cover, streamlined title and attractive (unless, of course, you’re making Stuffed Prune Saladh). You
did. Nearly every cookbook of the era of eye-catching, appetizing, and labor-intensive illustration of vintage dishes on the cover, offers a smart treat can even freeze it if you like. What about Dessert? Get fancy
has a section on diet, vitamins and food for the eyes as well as the stomach, as all of the ingredients are with a Fig Loaf with Plum Sauce or a 1-2-3-4 Cake i. Get
groups, promoting emerging standards ways in which one can cook sugar to make candy. printed in red lettering. Along with menus for a full week of romantic with Snow Pudding or Spanish Cream. Or keep it
c
on balanced dieting. We should not seasonal food for each month of the year, she includes creeds simple with oranges cooked in sugar on a mound of boiled
tease yesterday’s celebrity chefs for for the Meal Planner, the Food Shopper, and the Cook that rice with whipped or plain cream on the top.
calling for lard in their recipes; as we spread our omega-3- themes, and some collectors define their collections by region. pledge to care for to the family’s health and enjoyment of food
If Pork Scrapple j, Panfried Tripe k or Peanut Chops l don’t
enhanced vegetable spread on toast we should appreciate how Pamphlets and leaflets are also delightful to collect (my prize as well as its budget. f
sound appetizing to you, try something ethnic cooking comfort
much they knew about the proper digestion of starches! The is called “Meat and Romance”), but I am a great advocate of
Of course, no vintage cookbook review could be without foods like Chicken á la King, Carrot and Raisin Salad,
science of efficiency was also the homemaker’s top concern. the highly useful general cookbooks, the all-purpose artifacts
an homage to Fanny Farmer and Betty Crocker, but we Popovers and Rice Pudding. And remember, neither Waldorf
Many books provided a floor plan for an efficient kitchen of American appetites that I am lucky enough to have on my
cannot strictly consider them Deco epicures. Fanny Farmer Salad nor Pot Roast have changed a bit since the days of
layout, including a pass-through to the dining room and a kitchen bookshelf.
was already old-fashioned name by the time our modern Deco, so you can’t go wrong. But no matter what you choose
cabinet for deliveries that could be opened both from the porch
Perhaps my most collectible (but alas, my most tattered) is The homemaker set her Deco kitchen up, but surely her mother to serve, make your food cute! After all, Deco is about design.
and from the kitchen – but hopefully not at the same time.
Modern Priscilla Cookbook, which was a gift for subscribers still used her cookbook. First published in 1896, it laid Try to be inspired by the creativity of the happy homemaker,
Just as the roots of our norms for nutrition are recognizable in to Modern Priscilla, a popular magazine from the late 1800s the groundwork for domestic science with specific, not not oppressed by the work it takes to slice a carrot, pop out
these charming books, so too are indications of our nation’s to the 1930s. Society ladies (yes, the Art Deco Society) have approximate, measurements. Miss Farmer died in 1925 and the center, and push a few matchsticks of celery though. And
galloping romance with sweets. Nearly half the recipes in each been known to feud over the 1929 edition of this darling her School of Cookery closed in 1944, but you can still buy when you take in the breadth of possibilities like Crab Meat
book are for dessert, which no meal could be served without. cookbook.d Read this edition, if you can ever get your claws her cookbooks today. Betty Crocker, on the other hand, was in Cucumber Jelly, Grape Tapioca, Creamed Frankfurters or
Sifting flour always seemed to my feminist mind to be an on it, to solve the question once and for all whether Shrimp born in 1921 as a fictional food expert who signed all the Baked Eggs in Tomato Cups, try not to feel too impoverished
oppressive time sink, but I can’t help but admire the handsome Wiggle is a gelatin mold made with shrimp and avocados or a letters written by the General Mills flour company. She was by today’s short list of “normal” foods.
cakes and cookies made from scratch, and the multitude of tomato sauce made with bacon. so popular they created a face for her in 1936, but her first
eye-catching, appetizing, and labor-intensive ways in which
Another popular magazine, Delineator, was surely connected
cookbook was not published until 1950. A Mockery of Good Food
one can cook sugar to make candy.
to the Delineator Institute, which created the Delineator Cook No vintage cookbook is complete without a recipe for
Book, from which The American Woman’s Cook Book was Time Travel with your Tongue Mock something, be it Lobster, Cherry Syrup, Chicken or
Artifacts of American Appetites originally adapted in 1939, and with which the Culinary Arts Underneath our modern multicultural influences (the only Apple Pie. One wonders at the need for faking such things
Cookbooks then, as now, were either written by a single chef Institute of Chicago was established. My father buys every “ethnic” recipe you’ll ever see in these cookbooks is Chop when other foods are perfectly delicious (Would you believe
with good enough credentials to put their names on the covers copy he can find of this three-inch thick book with the dark Suey, a bland mix of overcooked vegetables having little to do Modern Priscilla’s Mock Duck is made of flank steak?), but
(like Amy Vanderbilt or Prudence Penny), or sponsored by green cover, as it makes such a down-to-earth counterpart to with Chinese cooking), the basics of the American Diet have I imagine these must either be recipes rescued from disaster
an organization (such as Piggly Wiggly grocery or the Good any modern version of the gender-neutral Joy of Cooking. not changed much since the 1930s. You can always rely on a by the inspiration for a good name, or the Deco-era drive for
Housekeeping Institute). Many are available on specialized (Originally published in 1931 by Irma Rombauer, this one vintage cookbook for a good biscuit or brisket recipe (not to embellishment expressed through dinner design. Call a cut

22 23
 ART DECO
t h e S o p h i s t i c at e

OTHER

MODERNISM
RESOURCES and
Vintage Cookbooks
and Advertising Leaflets
(Paperback)
by Sandra J. Norman, Karrie
piece of toasted bread a “Mock Almond” and the cook reading “Design for eating...brussels K. Andes

the recipe will get an immediate understanding of its shape. sprouts in chicken ring mold

2 BIG SALES IN 2006

Price Guide to Cookbooks
flanked with whole carrots and Recipe Leaflets

Design for Eating and accents of parsley and by Linda J. Dickinson

pimiento.”

ART DECO WEEKEND HOLIDAY SALE

Collector’s Guide To
And if you have no desire to time-travel with your tongue,
Cookbooks: Identification &
at least enjoy the pictures. Most of them are supplied by But as you sit there in your Values (Identification

By-The-Bay "Deco The Halls"

some official-sounding institute, or a corporation that sounds sunny Deco kitchen with & Values (Collector Books))
vaguely familiar, and all of them have catchy quotes that could your percolated coffee, lost (Paperback)

June 3-4 December 2-3

almost come out of a fortune cookie. like an armchair epicure in by Frank Daniels

reverie about dinners of days www.vintagecookbooks.com

“The skewer is one of your most useful allies when using up
Saturday, 10am-6pm Sunday 11am-5pm
gone by, you might just feel
small pieces of meat,” – Armour and Company. www.OldCookbooks.com
your tummy start to rumble.
“The Cala Lily is only one of the effective designs to be made In that case, remember the Admission $9 • Deco Society Members $7
of edible vegetables.” most important lesson any of
these books have to teach us:

1900 to 1980
“Modern Milk Products add greatly to the success of making
it’s just as easy to cook oat-
creamy thick soups” – Irradiated Evaporated Milk Institute
meal from scratch as from a

Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau,

“The lordly lobster is still the aristocrat of the festive package – and there’s nothing
occasion.” to throw away afterwards. >

Art Deco, Moderne,

Vintage Western, Mid Century
( FOOTNOTES )
f Andshe tactfully doesn’t ever let on whether these

Exceptional Design to 1980

a Pot-liquor is the vitamin-rich water left over after were all the same person or not.
cooking vegetables or grains.
g Creative salad recipes from different books include
b “Sweetbreads” is a lovely euphemism for “brains.” Frozen Cheese Salad, Beet Relish, Jellied Pear Salad,

furniture, accessories, pottery, art,

Sweet Potato Salad and Rockwell Salad, which is a
c The five classes of food were designated as
mixture of tomatoes and bananas served with whipped
1.Carbohydrates and Fats, 2.Protein, 3.Minerals,
jewelry, vintage clothing, books & collectibles
cream, mayo and nuts.
4.Vitamins, and 5.Bulk.
h Prunes stuffed with Cottage Cheese; recipe advises

Vintage Fashion Show, Sat. 2pm

d I hesitate to give details since this is a respectable
saving prune juice to drink after simmering the dried fruit.
article on food, not a gossip column.
– Meta Given (Perhaps in beveled barware over ice?)
e “From A Great Collection Of Cookbooks Thrown In
The Dumpster @ Burke Elementary School – Boulder
i1 cup shortening, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, 4 eggs, etc. Tango & Swing Dancing • Walking Tours
– American Woman’s Cookbook. I made this for Gatsby

THE CONCOURSE EXHIBITION CENTER

Colo 2004 – MRS. K.M. HIBBARD, Waverly, Mo –
this year and it was… well, I still have leftovers.
Who Clerked In A Kansas City Dept Store In The 30’s

8th & Brannan Streets, San Francisco, CA

& 40’s And Probably Ended Up In Frasier Meadows j pork cooked in cornmeal, sliced and fried. – Meta Given
[Psych Ward] @ Boulder – Whose Stuff Was Donated
k“Tripe is the inner lining of the first stomach of the
To The School – Same Book Used By The Taylors At The
beef creature.” – Modern Priscilla
(650) 599-DECO www.artdecosale.com
Lamp-post Restaurant In Boulder, Co Where We Had
Your 5th Bday Party – (Remember The Sparklers On The l A french-toast-like
dish from the Vegetarian Menu of
Cake?) – rescued By JAN F. BAUMGARDNER, Md” the American Woman’s Cookbook

24 25