Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Four things tucked away inside "Mary Meade's Magic Recipes"

Cookbooks — along with Bibles and dictionaries — are the type of book that most often seem to have things tucked away inside their pages. Personal recipes are written on scraps of paper and added. Pamphlets fit nicely inside. And lots of other goodies.

One of my favorite "stuffed" cookbooks that I've written about is "A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband," which earned a series of posts:


Today's post will focus on the pieces of ephemera in the 1956 edition of "Mary Meade's Magic Recipes for the Electric Blender."1 The book features recipes for everything from Butterscotch Nut Bread to Foamy Orange Lime Cocktail to Yogurt Garlic Salad with Cucumbers. There is a large section on alcoholic drinks.

Here are the items that were left between the pages for decades, awaiting rediscovery...

Valuable Premium

For just fifty cents, Concord customers could receive a "beautiful necklace and earring set designed with detachable center piece that can be used as a pin." Unfortunately, this offer expired on January 31, 1957.


Topper Hangers

The Ferguson Distributing Company of Akron, Ohio, was offering hangers at a price of six for a dollar, which actually seems kind of high to me. Of course, they were certainly higher-quality hangers than the plastic ones that proliferate these days. I like that the advertising copy mentions the "haberdasheries or the notions departments of your local department store."


The Acme Safety Grater

Acme Metal Goods of Newark, New Jersey, was offering the Acme Safety Grater for just one dollar. The grater was touted for its ability to serve as a juicer for raw carrots — in order to receive all the healthful benefits of carrot juice without having to worry about the nasty "indigestible fibrous material" in the carrots. This Etsy page includes a picture of the Acme Safety Grater and its original packaging.


Magic Flavor Recipes

This is a recipe booklet for G. Washington's Instant Broth & Seasoning. This product was created by George Constant Louis Washington (1871-1946) and can still be purchased today.


Here's one of the recipes from the fold-out pamphlet.

Filled Celery
  • 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
  • 2 envelopes G. Washington's Rich Brown
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 medium bunch celery
Allow cheese to reach room temperature. Add powdered broth and tomato paste and blend in well. Remove leaves from celery and cut off root ends. Wash and dry each stalk carefully. Fill each stalk with cheese mixture, chill and serve.

Footnote
1. This is interesting: The title page refers to the cookbook as "Mary Meade's Magic Recipes for the Electric Blender," but the dust jacket states that the book's title is "Mary Meade's Magic Recipes for the Osterizer" — an interesting case of a company, John Oster Manufacturing Company, stepping in to serve as a book's "sponsor" with the aim of promoting its own "beehive" blender. There is even a fold-out advertisement for the Osterizer at the front of the book. Does anyone still have or use an Osterizer?

1 comment:

  1. Hi Chris,

    Thanks for sharing this. Such a different post and one I've really enjoyed.

    I love the 'magic flavour recipes' advert so cool.

    Thanks again.

    Jen Walker
    http://www.uniquekitchenitems.com/

    ReplyDelete