A commercial recipe book from the 1950s.
At the Mid-Century Menu blog, you can find such vintage classics and Polynesian Fishsticks and Hawaiian Frankobobs, prepared from vintage cookbooks such as that Carnation’s Easy-Does-It Cookbooks. Published as part of “No Pattern Required,” written by a group of mid-century American culture devotees headed up by Retro Ruthie. A little sleuthing reveals that RR is really Ruth Clark of Midland, Michigan (read about her here). The blog features Ruth’s adventures in mid-century cuisine, served up to her “guinea pig” husband Tom. Many of the dishes come from advertising cookbooks like Carnation’s “Easy-Does-It Cookbook” and Kaiser Foil Corporation’s “How to Become a Cookout Champion.” Ruth includes scans of covers and original pages from the cookbooks, as well as plenty of images of the dishes as she makes them. She is, of course, a collector of vintage cookware and glassware, so her photos have a suitably vintage flair to them.
Pickle and Pineapple Salad
Retro Ruth has some standing departments on her blog including “Vintage Cocktail Friday” and “Mid-Century Recipe Tests,” as well as guest tests from contributors. As you would expect, there is a section devoted to Jell-O, which includes retro gelatin dare, “Pickle and Pineapple Salad” and… well, I’ll let you discover the rest for yourselves.
The site uses the curly mid-century typography of advertisers attempting to appeal to homemakers and its artwork consists of illustration work worthy of the period. The site has healthy sponsorship by vintage merchants and other ads for household goods. Mid-Century Menu has over 1,600 likes on Facebook and No Pattern Required has a Pinterest following of around 12,500.
There’s been press coverage on the blog and Ruth was referenced in a Wall Street Journal article a couple of years ago on what the reporter describes as, “a new obsession at the intersection of genealogy and foodie culture—reconstructing beloved, long-lost family recipes.” Indeed, Ruth’s grandmother appears with regularity as an inspiration and also source for both recipes and prized possessions.