Saturday, November 16, 2013

Enjoy these vintage recipes for the Everhot Electric Roasterette


"Recipes and Instructions for the Everhot Electric Roasterette" is a staplebound booklet that was published — in the mid 1940s, I believe — by The Swartzbaugh Manufacturing Company of Toledo, Ohio.

According to Antique Electric Waffle Irons 1900-1960 by William F. George, the company "was founded in 1884 as the Peerless Cooker Company of Buffalo, New York. The firm's first product, invented by the company founder Charles E. Swartzbaugh, was a low pressure steam cooker for use on wood or coal burning stoves. In the late teens Swartzbaugh designed what he called a 'Fireless Cooker' which might be considered the forerunner of the modern crock-pot or slow cooker."1

Indeed, the Roasterette is described thusly in the booklet:
"Designed to cook and serve casserole meals right on the dining table, the Everhot Roasterette lends itself to a score of uses. Light weight and insulated it is ideal for taking food on picnics or to pot lucks. Busy mothers find its even heating just right for warming baby's formula."
Here are a couple of recipes from the 24-page booklet.

Spanish Frankfurters
  • 6 c. canned tomatoes
  • 1½ cans tomato paste
  • 2 green peppers, minced
  • 2 medium onions, minced
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 dozen frankfurters
  • ½ clove garlic
Preheat on HIGH 2 minutes. Strain tomatoes to remove seeds. Combine with tomato paste, green peppers, onions, seasoning and garlic. Cook 20 minutes on HIGH. Reduce to LOW and cook 35 minutes. Remove garlic. Add frankfurters and cook 20 minutes on LOW.

Baby Porcupines
  • 1 lb. round steak, ground
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 4 T. chopped onion
  • 2 T. chopped green pepper
  • 1 t. salt
  • pepper to taste
  • ¾ c. dry rice
  • 1 can tomato soup
  • 2 c. boiling water
Mix first seven ingredients. Shape into small balls and roll in dry rice. Heat soup and boiling water in casserole on HIGH heat. Place the meat balls in the soup mixture and cook 15 minutes on HIGH, 30 minutes on LOW.

Other recipes include Tuna-Corn Pie, Sausage Surprise, "Johnny Mazette," Cherry Bran Pudding, and Chocolate Bread Pudding.


Footnote
1. The Hur Herald from Sunnycal had a 2003 article about another Swartzbaugh product, The Conservo.

Weekend reads with a little bit of something for everyone

I have manticores, codebreakers, bartitsu, airway beacons, folklore, diners, movies and much more in this latest collection of links presented for your education and enjoyment.


Finally, I don't share many videos, but here is Keith Olbermann's recent sweet tribute to Norman Lloyd on the occasion of his 99th birthday.

Friday, November 15, 2013

J&P Coats Victorian trade card: Cats handling the U.S. mail


First, some good news. The old spools of sewing thread that I mentioned a few days ago have found a good home with an area woman who collects them the way I collect ephemera.

So, speaking of spools of thread, how about a vintage illustration of cats for this Friday evening? (You can never go wrong with cats on the Internet.)

This Victorian trade card served as an advertisement for J&P Coats' six-cord thread. It's not clear what cats writing letters and performing mailman duties have to do with sewing thread. But that was kind of the point of most trade cards; the amusing images usually had nothing to do with the product.

Peering more closely at this card provides a couple of fun details. First, the cat with the red collar is writing a letter dated December 1887, which might well be the year this card was issued.


Meanwhile, the cat with the blue ribbon is holding out an envelope addressed to "Miss Pussy Cat" in "Catacinia." Wherever that is.


Here's what the back of the trade card looks like.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Has your family ever been in the Social Register?

There's been a bit of a focus on the Upper Crust here this week, with yesterday's mention of Burke's Peerage and, today, a look at the Social Register Summer 1944.

(Maybe this will lead to Rolls-Royce, Porsche and Versace signing huge advertising deals with Papergreat. A guy can dream.)

The Social Register is, in a way, the United States' equivalent of Burke's Peerage. The Register dates to the 1880s and has served as a subjective directory of prominent American families within the social elite. Typically, it has been limited to "old money," so you'd see the Tom Buchanans of the world listed there, but not the Jay Gatsbys.

Here are some excerpts from the "About Us" page of the Social Register Association website:

"The origins of the Association are to be found in 19th-century visiting lists. These were the names and addresses of the preferred social contacts of prominent families, alphabetically arranged. In 1886, Louis Keller, described in his obituary as 'known to more persons here and abroad than any other one resident of New York,' had the idea of consolidating the most important of these lists. His compilation was composed primarily of descendants of the early Dutch and English settlers of his city as well as others intrinsic to the Association's definition of Society. ...

"The summer edition of the Social Register is published in May and contains seasonal information as well as 'Dilatory Domiciles' and a list of yachts and their owners.1 ...

"Since its inception, the Social Register has been the only reliable, and the most trusted, arbiter of Society in America."

Social Register Summer 1944 states on the title page that it "contains the summer addresses where they differ from the winter addresses of the residents of" New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati/Dayton, San Francisco, Baltimore and Buffalo.

It also contains this handy typographical feature, so that you can follow the nuptials of the rich and famous:2


Here is a sample page from inside Social Register Summer 1944.


I enjoy the fact that the Register includes the names that the wealthy give to their summer residences. Some of these names from throughout the guide include The Outlook, The Elms, The Boulders, Endsleigh, Vegamar, Thistledhu, Casablanca, Wickerpiece Rock, Upson Downs, Tamlaght o'Crilly, Three Knobs, Pennymead Dell, Little Rathmelton, The Forecastle, Wonderwood, Faraway, Runnymeade-by-the-Sea, Hurricane House, Gyldenmorden, Casa Chica, Windygarth, Yamoyden, Brown Door, Justhome, and Lady of the Lake.

Actually, there was a lot of overlap among names of summer residences. Apparently, the rich weren't very good at thinking creatively when it came to their secondary domiciles. Most names are related to trees, fields, meadows, streams, rocks and other geographical features. Faraway was a common name, too.

So, you might be wondering how you become a member of the social elite and get your name into one of these registers? The Straight Dope addressed that very topic in 1995. Good luck!

Footnotes
1. Readers, please share the names of your dilatory domiciles and yachts in the comments section, so that I can keep track of them. Thank you in advance.
2. In medieval times, there were often arranged marriages among the high and mighty that involved the transfer of huge tracts of land.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Early Delivery: Old photo of a child, woman and dog


This old photo is printed on a piece of thin cardboard, which I found earlier this autumn in a box of loose papers.

The cardboard wasn't attached to anything. And there is no other context for the image, beyond the "EARLY DELIVERY" caption and the smaller "MADE IN U.S.A." credit.

So we just have to take this for what it is: A child in overalls handing what appears to be loaf of bread from a basket to a nice-looking lady, while a dog (some kind of spaniel?) scans the area.

Or maybe it's not bread. Perhaps this is an early-morning drug transaction, with the dog serving as lookout.

Thoughts?

1955 advertisement for UK bookmaker William Hill


This full-page, color advertisement for The Hill Organization appears at the front of the hefty 1955 edition of The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who Who, which was published by Burke's Peerage.1

The small type states:
"Here in Piccadilly Circus stands Hill House2, headquarters of the world's greatest bookmaking organization. Paying out millions of pounds every year in winnings on the famous 'No Limit' terms, The Hill Organization provides a confidential weekly credit service without equal for those who back horses, dogs or Fixed Odds Football. Ringe WHItehall 0981 for details."
William Hill was founded in 1934 at a time when gambling was illegal in Britain. It now has more than 15,000 employees and, according to Wikipedia, turned a profit of more than £230 million in 2012. If you're thinking about placing some sports bets or doing some online gambling, you can find William Hill here.3

Footnote
1. Burke's Peerage, which was founded in 1826, now describes itself as "the definitive guide to the genealogy and heraldry of the Peerage and Landed Gentry of the United Kingdom, the historical families of Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations, the Imperial, Royal and mediatised families of Europe, the Presidential and distinguished families of the United States of America, and other prominent families worldwide."
2. No, not that Hill House.
3. Among the events you can place bets on today are: the Croatia vs. Switzerland U21 soccer match, the Washington Wizards vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA game, and the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts, featuring Simon Whitlock against Ted Hankey. Sure.

Monday, November 11, 2013

6 book covers you probably won't see anywhere else this week

Because one of the continuing missions of Papergreat is to explore strange old ephemera, to seek out old books and old paper, to boldly post what no man has posted before. Enjoy!

A Visit to the Hospital
Published in 1958 by Wonder Books. Written by Francine Chase under the supervision of Lester L. Coleman, M.D. Illustrations by Ken Rossi.


Impossible Yet it Happened!
Published in 1947 by Ace Books. Written by R. DeWitt Miller.1


Mom, you gotta be kiddin'
Published in 1968 by Fleming H. Revell Company. Written by Mary D. Bowman and illustrated by Don Sampson.

From the back cover: "Mary D. Bowman, author of the delightful 'Hey, Mom!', now writes of her life with three teen-age children, 'where Bowmanor is the scene of vying for telephone rights, going steady unsteadily, and a music (?) group called the Mystic Souls."


What's A Mommy For?
Published in 1973 by The Standard Publishing Company. Written by Florence W. Kilgore and illustrated by Janeth McManus.


How to Draw Funny Pictures
(A Complete Course in Cartooning)

The tattered dust jacket is from the 1936 edition published by Frederick J. Drake & Co. The book was written by E.C. Matthews and is illustrated by Eugene "Zim" Zimmerman.


Boy dates Girl
This edition was published in 1955 by TAB Book Club (Teen Age Books). It was written by Gay Head and illustrated by Katherine Tracy.2


Footnotes
1. Some of the "impossible" events cited on the back cover include:
2. This is the second Gay Head book featured on Papergreat. The first was Hi There, High School!


Sunday, November 10, 2013

Vintage postcard: Bathing beach at Cleveland's Gordon Park


This unused, split-back postcard was published by Century Post Card Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. It shows a very crowded beach at Gordon Park, which opened in 1893 along the shoreline of Lake Erie in Cleveland. According to Michael Rotman, writing on Cleveland Historical:
"A grand bathhouse catered to the multitudes who crowded onto the park's beach, and the city also provided facilities for boaters, fishermen, and picnickers. Meanwhile, further inland, south of the beach, wooded areas and formal gardens provided quiet retreats for those seeking a more relaxed atmosphere."

This is a good example of a hand-colored postcard. These closeups show the quality of some of the work done by the artist.



Obviously, hand-coloring had it limitations and it was easy for the work to get sloppy and/or look a bit ridiculous at times.

But it would be a bit hypocritical for me to criticize the use of spot color too much. Twenty years ago, when I was a young and sometimes silly sports editor at The Gettysburg Times, I was responsible for orchestrating this absurd use of spot color on a black-and-white photo in the October 15, 1993, edition of the Times: