Old Cookbooks of the Midwest and the Things People Left in Them - 1

Something you should know about me beyond arts and crafts. I love old things, and I like to collect some specific types of items.

Growing up, my mom always had a set of cookbooks, either through church or handed down from her mother. My mom also kept a diligent recipe box that she had started when she was in school. She clipped recipes out of magazines too. It was always fun to go through that little green box. A few of my most favorite dishes are in that box. I’m sure many of you that may be reading this have had similar experiences or even keep or have kept old cookbooks and recipe boxes.

These are a few of my mom’s cookbooks.

My family lived in Redfield for a time and we went to this church.

We didn’t know it at the time, but eventually we would be living in the town this book was published in. Hills, MN.

This page has heavy evidence of being used. I don’t remember what was made, but I have a guess of it being the apple butter bars.

Here you can see a little of my mom’s handwriting. She seems to have been making a note about the chocolate chip cookies.

Orange Julius was always a big hit in our family. I absolutely love it.

Something I love to do is visit thrift stores, secondhand stores, used bookstores, garage sales etc. When we’re out and about traveling, my husband and I make a point to stop at used bookstores. They’re always fun to browse and look at items that just aren’t made anymore, or are not made in the same way. He’s always after old paperback sci-fi novels. I’m often looking either old books with interesting topics or pretty spines, or else I’m looking for those old cookbooks just like the ones my mom used to have. I love that cookbooks are meant to be touched and used. The pages often have marks left behind from bits of oil and flour someone dribbled over the page as people were checking the recipe again. They’re usually very well loved and people will have marked which recipes they’ve tried, which ones need work, and they’ll note what to add to make something better.

I picked this cookbook up at a garage sale in a small town called Groton near Aberdeen South Dakota.

I love that this cookbook has so many inclusions. One of the newspaper clippings has a partial coupon on the back side with an expiration of 1971. I love how there’s a bookmark cut from an old church pamphlet that marks a well loved page. Three recipes on this page have check marks and one of them has a temperature and quantity note. It makes me think that the Bird Nests were a hit around Easter time! Other recipes are marked with good and other notes too!

One of the great finds is a piece of paper with a handwritten recipe on both sides! The handwriting is very neat as well, written with care. My favorite find however is another piece of paper folded in half with a grocery list on one side, a note reminding someone to take care of chickens and gather the eggs on the other, but inside is a typewriter note from 1959 from a young man asking about bringing a friend home for Easter.

Before the internet came with the ability to look up how to cook something on the computer, and later on your phone, these cookbooks were a lifeline and staple in many homes. They were referenced often and over time acquired history from the families that used them. I have many of these cookbooks with all kinds of things inside of them and I will be sharing my finds over time. Save or bookmark this blog if you want to see what else is in store!