Promotional cookbook archive
Merry Vintage Christmas!
If you’re a fan of vintage cookbooks, I have a Christmas present for you. Since writing the searchablePDF script that I used on The Baker’s Dozen, I’ve started scanning in more of my old promotional pamphlets that don’t appear to be available online.
The Baker’s Dozen is the reason I wrote the script. Afterward, I went back and recreated Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes and the Directions for Operating [a Dominion] Waffle Iron so that they take advantage of the new capability as well. They are now searchable and they have a table of contents. I’m about to do another sweetened condensed milk pamphlet and have finally delved into the mysteries of evaporated milk.
This page will automatically update whenever I upload a new vintage pamphlet. I have some neat ones ready to go. There are some fascinating recipes in them, as well as strange terminology. Rather than force you to go searching the site, I’m going to archive them here automatically whenever I post a new book. This page will also include any of the missing indexes when I make more—and I have at least one more I want to make. It’s going to be a big one, and very cool, so stay tuned.
I’m looking forward to making more old recipes and writing about them over the next year.
Enjoy, and Merry (Vintage) Christmas! If you enjoy vintage cookbooks, this is a gift that will keep on giving.
I’ve moved the cookbook archive to its own page, and made it searchable as well. The simple list of downloads remains at the bottom of this page.
If I’ve retyped a pamphlet it will be available both as an ePub and as a PDF. You can read an ePub in any ebook reader, and it will format itself automatically to fit your mobile (or desktop) screen.
I generally don’t retype these old books because part of their charm is how they were presented. I made an exception for Franklin Golden Syrup because I specifically wanted to present it in an easier-to-read format. For the rest, they’ll all be PDFs that preserve that original graphics and text, while still making the text searchable in the background. You can read PDFs in any PDF reader, such as Preview on macOS and Adobe Acrobat on most operating systems.
Even when I do retype something, I try to also provide a facsimile of the original. It’s usually a PDF, which is why I wrote the searchablePDF script in the first place.
Most of these documents will have a signature either on the last page or along the margin with the most free space pointing to The Padgett Sunday Supper Club. If you’re interested in vintage recipes, check it out. There’s currently a new recipe every Sunday, and I make an effort to provide recipes appropriate with upcoming holidays.
At the moment I’m writing this, the recipe I’m planning for the lead-up to Christmas is an Ethiopian Honey Bread. It’s a great holiday bread, very easy in a bread machine. It’s perfect for breakfast toast and great for lunch sandwiches or to accompany a holiday dinner. Go take a look!
Christmas Day’s recipe is going to be an amazing popcorn confection (PDF File, 1.8 MB) from the 1972 Southern Living Cookies and Candy book. Enjoy your sneak peak! It’s one of my favorite caramel corns.
It’s nice, occasionally, to be able to use these pamphlets in their original format on a portable device.
- 2023 Old Recipe Calendar (PDF File, 9.4 MB)
- A 1950 recipe calendar repurposed for printing and hanging in 2023. (More information at A 1950 recipe calendar for 2023)
- The Baker’s Dozen (PDF File, 3.3 MB)
- A 1976 baking pamphlet from General Foods and Baker’s Coconut, in McCall’s magazine. Focused on coconut and chocolate. (More information at Baker’s Dozen Coconut Oatmeal Cookies)
- Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book (PDF File, 9.9 MB)
- The 1950 Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book, from United Fruit Company. (More information at Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book)
- Directions for Operating Waffle Iron (PDF File, 80.4 KB)
- “The following instructions apply to automatic, non-automatic, twin or single waffle irons.” From Dominion Electric Corporation. (More information at Dominion Electric Corporation Wafflemaker Manual)
- Directions for Operating Waffle Iron (ePub ebook file, 217.5 KB)
- Instructions for the waffle iron for use in an ebook reader. (More information at Dominion Electric Corporation Wafflemaker Manual)
- Directions for Operating Waffle Iron (facsimile) (PDF File, 1.6 MB)
- Scans of the Dominion waffle iron instructions. (More information at Dominion Electric Corporation Wafflemaker Manual)
- Eddie Doucette’s “Home Cooking” Recipes (PDF File, 2.9 MB)
- Five pages of recipes typed from Eddie Doucette’s long-lost Chicago-area television show, Home Cooking. (More information at A home-cooking handful from Eddie Doucette)
- El Molino Best (PDF File, 22.7 MB)
- A 1953 collection of recipes from El Molino Mills, of Alhambra, California. (More information at El Molino Best: Whole grains in 1953)
- Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes (PDF File, 484.4 KB)
- A retyped PDF of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company’s Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes pamphlet/cookbook. (More information at Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes)
- Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes (ePub ebook file, 582.8 KB)
- A retyped ePub of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company’s Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes pamphlet/cookbook. (More information at Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes)
- Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes (facsimile) (PDF File, 4.1 MB)
- The original format of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company’s pamphlet, Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes, rearranged from a pamphlet to a book. (More information at Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes)
- Golden Harvest Sunflower Seed Recipes (PDF File, 2.6 MB)
- A 1972 sunflower seed cookbook from Golden Harvest and Natural Sales Company, part of General Nutrition Corporation. (More information at A golden harvest of sunflower seeds)
- Hope Lutheran 1950 calendar of recipes (PDF File, 11.7 MB)
- A calendar of recipes for 1950, courtesy Hope Lutheran Church of Milwaukee. (More information at A 1950 recipe calendar for 2023)
- The Missing Index for the Southern Living Recipe Library (PDF File, 2.5 MB)
- An index by recipe, state, city, and contributor for the seventies-era Southern Living cookbook collection. (More information at The Missing Index for the Southern Living Cookbook Library)
- Missing Index to the Deplorable Gourmet (PDF File, 221.8 KB)
- This is the missing index to the Cookbook of Cookbooks, the Deplorable Gourmet. (More information at The Deplorable Index)
- Plain and Fancy ways of using Hiram Walker Cordials (PDF File, 9.2 MB)
- A seventies-ish pamphlet of recipes for drinks and desserts from Hiram Walker, using Hiram Walker cordials and other liqueurs. (More information at Plain & Fancy in the seventies with Hiram Walker)
- St. Mary’s Missing Index (PDF File, 1.7 MB)
- Index for the St. Mary’s Altar Society cookbooks. (More information at St. Mary’s Altar Society Cookbooks)
- Tempt Them with Tastier Foods (PDF File, 10.5 MB)
- A comprehensive collection of recipes by Eddie Doucette, Chicago-area chef, IGA spokeschef, and American culinary ambassador. (More information at Tempt Them with Tastier Foods: An Eddie Doucette Recipe Collection)
- Tempt Them with Tastier Foods (ePub ebook file, 9.4 MB)
- A selection of pioneer TV chef Eddie Doucette’s 1954 through 1971 recipes, from his television show in 1954-55 through his IGA newspaper ad recipes and his traveling cooking promotions. (More information at Tempt Them with Tastier Foods: An Eddie Doucette Recipe Collection)
In response to Vintage Cookbooks and Recipes: I have a couple of vintage cookbooks queued up to go online.
- Create searchable PDFs in Swift
- This Swift script will take a series of image scans, OCR them, and turn them into a PDF file with a simple table of contents and searchable content—with the original images as the visually readable content.
- Dominion Electric Corporation Wafflemaker Manual
- Dominion Electric Corporation waffle irons are ubiquitous on eBay and in antique shops, but the manuals for them are not. Here’s one that came with the Model 1315A.
- Franklin Golden Syrup Recipes
- Golden syrup has a wonderful caramel flavor. This ca. 1910 promotional cookbook from the Franklin Sugar Refining Company really shows off that flavor.
- The missing indexes
- Whoever decided that cookbooks don’t need indexes was never stuck hungry at one o’clock in the morning with nothing but a pepper, a tomato, and a couple of cloves of garlic, and a craving for brownies.
- Padgett Sunday Supper Club
- Lost recipes from a gone century.
- Promotional Cookbook Archive
- I’ve managed to acquire several old promotional pamphlets and cookbooks that don’t appear to be available elsewhere on the net. I’m making them available here.
- The Southern Living Cookbook Library
- One of the best magazine-related cookbook series is also the one of the hardest to find. The Southern Living Cookbook Library appears to be under the radar of food writers online, but it either had a very low print run or few people want to get rid of their copies.
- Three from the Baker’s Dozen
- Three recipes from a Baker’s Coconut pamphlet once included in McCall’s magazine: coconut squares, chocolate cheesecake, and broiled coconut topping.
More cookbooks
- Finding vintage cookbook downloads
- There are several sites for finding vintage cookbooks, from general-purpose online archives to special collections at universities. Here are a few of my favorites.
- A Bicentennial Meal for the Sestercentennial
- Four community cookbooks celebrating the bicentennial. As we approach our sestercentennial in 2026, what makes a meal from 1976?
- A golden harvest of sunflower seeds
- Golden Harvest Sunflower Seed Recipes is a fascinating bit of ephemera from the seventies and the tail end of the era of regional whole grain mills.
- Hope Lutheran 1950 Lenten fish au gratin
- One of the interesting things about old calendars that are also something else—such as a cookbook—is that they follow seasons that no longer exist.
- Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book
- Let the singing and teaching banana introduce you to the joys of baking and cooking with bananas: green, yellow, and brown!
- 59 more pages with the topic cookbooks, and other related pages
More food history
- Plain & Fancy in the seventies with Hiram Walker
- Enjoy a whole new world of fun, excitement and discovery in Hiram Walker Cordials, adding a personal touch to all your memorable moments and special occasions—plain or fancy!
- Finding vintage cookbook downloads
- There are several sites for finding vintage cookbooks, from general-purpose online archives to special collections at universities. Here are a few of my favorites.
- A golden harvest of sunflower seeds
- Golden Harvest Sunflower Seed Recipes is a fascinating bit of ephemera from the seventies and the tail end of the era of regional whole grain mills.
- El Molino Best: Whole grains in 1953
- El Molino Mills of Alhambra, California, published a fascinating whole grain cookbook in 1953.
- Something fishy in the state of Wisconsin
- Fish soup, fish salad, and fish gelatin. These are very fifties recipes—for better and for worse. Very worse.
- Six more pages with the topic food history, and other related pages