My collection of antique cookbooks.

Ever since I took my first rather clueless steps into homemaking and cooking at the tender age of 19, I've been an avid collecter of cookbooks. I need all the advice they contain! At first I was happy to add just about any cookbook to my collection--but over time I began to get rid of the more modern, faddish ones, and the ones that tended to use a lot of pre-packaged ingredients, and tried to find more books that featured tried-and-true, old-fashioned recipes. The old style of cooking tended to use simple, whole ingredients and be more focused on good taste and presentation than on satisfying a certain diet fad.

For this reason, I  love very old cook books. And I have started a collection of antiques, which sits on top of a cupboard in my kitchen where little hands can't reach them.

(The bright green one, being from 1966, is hardly an antique, but it's old enough I prefer to keep it safe here as well.)

I do use the recipes in these books sometimes, but what I like the most is the charm of another era that spills from the pages. In the past, homemaking, housekeeping, laundry, and cooking were seen as related skills, and so old cookbooks often contain a great deal of advice for the housewife in running her home. This advice is (as you might guess) sometimes quite amusing to us today, but sometimes helpful as well.

I found all of these at my favourite local used and rare bookstore (see previous post). The first one I found was a 1906 copy of the Boston Cooking School Book, by Fanny Farmer. (This book was originally published in 1896 and is considered an American classic.) This is my oldest book, and it's such fun to look at, especially all the ads in the back featuring everything from corsets to pineapple juice.

There is a dash of green marker on the spine of this one, put there by a little person soon after I brought it home. I wasn't very happy about that, but then I noticed that another little person (likely many, many years ago) had written "Danny" in black ink on the bottom of the book...some things never change!

Next I found a 1930s copy of Mrs. Beeton's Everyday Cookery. This is a "modern" edition of British housekeeping manual, first published way back in 1861, which means it contains a lot of information about managing the servants! It's quite a thick book though, with loads of simple recipes and household tips.

The other day I found Good Housekeeping's Book of Menus, Recipes and Household Discoveries, published in 1922. I just love this one--it contains a lot of good recipes, but in the back is a section called "Household Disoveries" which features tidbits of advice sent into the magazine by readers. There are sections on laundry, sewing, cooking, decorating, etc. As a bonus, stashed inside the front cover were a stack of lovely little booklets of Jello recipes--copyright 1924.

Every time I go back to my book store, I find a "new" old cookbook. I look forward to adding to my collection over the years. Do any of my readers have any antiques sitting on their cook book shelf?

Comments

[Lise]

Not an antique (boy, do you have some great ones!), but I've got a 1970s copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook, which I love and have been using a lot. I also refer to my mother's old Better Homes and Gardens and Betty Crocker cookbooks--most recently for my daughter's birthday cake; good, old-fashioned recipes. The more basic my cooking gets as I eat more and more locally, the more I appreciate the older cookbooks. Thanks for sharing yours!

[Julia]

You have some great books in your collection. Where have you found most of your cookbooks? I don't seem to run across antique cookbooks too often in my thrifting and antiquing expeditions. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Laura Jeanne]

I found all of those at a local used bookstore. It's sort of an "upper class" used bookstore that focuses on older and rare books. I've never seen any really old cookbooks at a thrift store or at a "regular" used book store either.

[Leah]

There was a reprint of the early 1900's edition of the Five Roses Cookbook that I picked up a few years ago. That one's been fun to go through. I've also inherited a number of cookbooks and recipe clippings from the 1920's-1950's from an elderly relative. I find the thrify wartime recipes particularly interesting. And I love the scribblings in the margins, and ads too. -Yes, funny how you said some things never change when it comes to markings in books!

[TheEnchantedCupboard]

I have a great love for cookbooks, new and old! Although my family was not so happy about all the boxes of books when we recently moved!

[Farmgirl Susan]

Old cookbooks are the best! I'm always thrilled to find a 'new' one to add to my shelf. They make for such interesting - and often amusing - reading. I love the ads in yours. :)

[lisa]

Thank you for sharing your collection. It's beautiful! I do have a few old cookbooks but I don't think any would count as antiques~ fun to read though~lisa

[sara]

Hi..longtime reader,first time posting...i love old cookery books..they are the most brilliant thing ever..i have some from 1922..and the things they did to spice up bland food is brilliant...love the books you have..
sara

[Leigh]

My Fanny Farmer cookbook looks exactly like yours! Twins maybe? LOL (I got mine from my grandmother.)