Wednesday, January 26, 2011

VTT - A Rare-Bit & Peter Pauper ABC Cookbooks



My Rare-Bit postcard and my ABC cookbooks are from different eras, but they share a whimsical approach to cooking illustrations. The postcard with the chef magically creating a pretty lady out of rarebit ingredients is early twentieth century, © 1909 by the Colonial Art Pub. Co. The cookbooks are mid-century publications by Peter Pauper Press.

These Peter Pauper Press books are 4-3/8" X 7-3/8". Peter Pauper Press published many small cookbooks, including other ABCs. The ABC of Casseroles is © 1954 and the ABC of Gourmet Cookery is © 1956. Both books have decorations by Ruth McCrea.



The pages below are from the ABC of Casseroles. The books have ABC decorations matched up with recipe names in alphabetical order. However, the decorations do not relate to the recipes shown on the same pages.



The Pleasures of the Used Text: Revealing Traces of Consumption is an interesting article (though written in academese) that makes the point that the traces left by previous owners of used books add to the interest and value for some collectors. The article focuses on Peter Pauper Press books as "A Case Study of Collectibility." An excerpt:
Our favorite examples are from the delightful ‘ABC’ series, which includes drink and dining recipes for all occasions. These colorful cookbooks, each in the same tidy size, and featuring similar, pleasing designs, focus on specialized culinary themes, for example, ‘chafing dish cookery’, ‘herb and spice cookery’, ‘ wine cookery’, ‘and ‘microwave cookery’. We are not alone in valuing these minor manuscripts: several recent exhibitions reveal the growing estimation and cultural cachet of Peter Pauper Press -– demonstrating how marginal publications often transform into culturally notable artifacts, due to their provenance, their publication history, or their popularity. We invite the reader to join us as we dust off an expanding archive of little literature, a unique retro window into an aesthetic economy of books.

I'm participating in Vintage Thingie Thursday

15 comments:

  1. These older cookbooks jut seem to have more class about them. I enjoyed seeing and hearing about yours today.

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  2. That postcard is great. The recipe for the frankfurter casserole is really scary.

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  3. I still love using my vintage cookbooks...some great recipes!

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  4. Your ABC cookbooks look familiar to me. Wonder if I have seen them (and neglected to buy them) while I was out thrifting. Good to know they are collectible.

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  5. I adore vintage cookbooks! :-) Happy VTT!

    http://serendipityhandmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/vintage-thingies-thursday-singer-sewing.html

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  6. love the illustrations and that one of the chef cooking up a pretty woman is a hoot! You have an amazing collection!
    Mary

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  7. Some of those older recipes sound like a heart attack on a plate,LOL, but the books & previous owner's comments are keepers

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  8. Great post. I love the old cookbooks. Your comment on my post about the teapot cozy reminds me I thought they were put on from the top too, but this is the pattern I found. The handle does not get hot. The teapot is hot where I hold the handle my fingers rest against the pot. I almost hate to put anything on a really pretty teapot.
    QMM

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  9. What a cool postcard-love the lady on the inside of the man!

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  10. That is a unusual recipe....frankfurter casserole!

    I had to laugh when you said to start collecting Dachshund postcards, I have been thinking about it! I LOVE the cards with the dachshunds! Happy VTT!

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  11. I made Welsh Rarebit in high school home ec in the 70's. Had never heard of it before then. In my old Better Homes cookbook, it is called Welsh Rabbit...

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  12. I don't have these two cookbooks, but have some of the same period. Those humorous little line drawings with one or two colors added are so typical of that era. Cookbooks today seem to take take themselves much more seriously!

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  13. I love the colors and illustrations - that's the fashion mama in me! One of my favorite cookbooks (that I actually cook with!) is also from the 50's - I may just have to feature it on a VTT day! Hope you're having a great week! -diane

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  14. Those are so cute. I love the vintage graphics on the covers. I inherited some vintage cook booklets with this house and just love the pictures.

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  15. Great collectors items!

    Poor maligned Kansas City-that recipe is so typically awful 1950s.To me part of the pleasure of collecting old cookbooks is how awful some of the recipes were! :)

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