America’s cooking culture really gained momentum in the 1950s as homemakers were preparing economic meals for their families at home. Entire families took advantage of the dinner meal to gather around the table and discuss the events of the day. Cookbooks and the recipes they contained played an important role in this social interaction. The 1950s was also a decade that saw servicemen returning from WWII and with them, came knowledge of different kinds of foods from different countries. These were gradually introduced into the mainstream of American culture, filtered through cookbooks.
The early history
The first American cookbooks started playing a role in family life back in the 1700s. The Compleat Housewife (William Parks, 1742) was based on a British book. American Cookery by Amelia Simmons (1796) is still in print today and one of its most special features is that its recipes contain only American produce.


Cookbooks en masse in the 1950s
Cookbooks from the 1950s era were plentiful and this fact makes them very collectible as they are relatively inexpensive. Recipes in these culinary treasuries are often reminiscent of foods prepared by your grandmother. If you want to bring the same gastronomic pleasures to your children and grandchildren, cookbooks from the 1950s can help you recreate those meals.
During the 1950s, there were many popular television cooking shows. Julia Child is one example who became very famous and well-known, not only for her recipes but for her personality as well. When Julia Child published a cookbook, it sold like the proverbial “hotcakes.” Hollywood movie stars and other celebrities recognized the popularity of cookbooks in the 1950s and many published their own cookbooks, such as Vincent Price and his wife, Mary, with their cookbook entitled, A Treasury of Great Recipes.

Pillsbury and other food manufacturers published cookbooks, mainly to advertise recipes with their ingredients. The decade of the 1950s saw the manufacture and production of modern, time-saving, easy to use, and convenient appliances to make the homemaker’s life easier. Appliance manufacturers sold cookbooks as well to show the usefulness of their products
Betty Crocker
Of course, the Betty Crocker cookbook is one of the most renowned cookbooks of all time. Many a young bride received that cookbook as a wedding gift in hopes of helping grow a happy marriage. Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook helped showcase what the finished food should look like. This cookbook was first published in 1950 and many daughters and granddaughters have a sentimental attachment to it because they saw their mothers and grandmothers cooking in the kitchen from them when they were young. Ah, the memories and the glorious smells that came from the oven thanks to those recipes!
Another cookbook from the 1950s was Mom ‘N’ Pop’s Apple Pie Cookbook. This cookbook is filled not only with nostalgic recipes from that decade but also with stories of sock hops, drive-ins, outdoor movies, and chronicles of life in suburbia that are sure to bring back memories.
Monetarily valuable
Some of these cookbooks are not only sentimentally valuable, but monetarily valuable as well. For instance, Irma Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking can bring $4,000 for a 1931 first edition. For collectors, things of note to look for when purchasing a valuable cookbook are: Did the author sign it? Obviously, a signature greatly enhances the appeal. What is the condition of the cookbook – does it appear unused or are there gravy stains and chocolate smudges on the pages? Monetary value is increased the more pristine condition the cookbook is in. Is it still in print? When a book is out of print, if you find a copy, it becomes much more valuable. Is it a first edition? Does the cookbook have a dust jacket and what condition is it in? The answers to these questions are what you can look at to determine a cookbook’s monetary worth.
Helen Corbitt, Neiman-Marcus
The director of Neiman-Marcus, an expensive store by today’s standards and much more so in the 1950s, Helen Corbitt had a cookbook published, Helen Corbitt’s Cookbook. This cookbook included not only recipes but several personal anecdotes from the author. Many cookbooks published during the 1950s included amusing short notes and stories that personalized the cookbooks all the more.
Searching for valuable and interesting cookbooks online can turn up many unique prizes. The decade of the 1950s saw a huge number of cookbooks published and you can still find some of them today.

Alana Morgaine

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