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