Vintage cookbooks are a great way to get a look at the past. Passing them down through families seems to be a lost tradition and we need to bring it back.
My mom went to nursing school when I was young, I believe around two years old. During this time I stayed with my grandma. My grandma is an amazing baker and she shared her love of baking with me.
We baked more batches of peanut butter cookies than I could ever count. They are still my favorite cookies. However, I have to make them with sunflower seed butter now, as I’m allergic to peanuts.
I have such wonderful memories of standing on a red vintage stool, measuring ingredients in Tupperware measuring cups, and using a vintage mixer in my grandma’s kitchen.
This time made a special bond between my grandma and me, she is where I get some of my love of vintage as well. Plus I’m a pretty good baker, and my grandma gets a lot of the credit for that, much to my husband’s happiness.
My grandma had been asking what things of her’s were special to me. I told her that her Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book was the thing that matter to me the most.
I knew I’d someday get it but she surprised me one year and gave it to me for my birthday. It was a wonderful surprise, well kind of a surprise, she told me awhile before my birthday. She isn’t the best at keeping secrets, but who can blame her, it’s hard to keep happy things to yourself.
I will have to see if my grandma remembers around what year she got the cookbook but from looking online it seems to be from the ’50s or ’60s. It’s falling apart, it’s full of recipes from magazines and newspapers as well, handwritten notes, and all kinds of other wonderful things. It’s something I will treasure forever and I will also use it, carefully.
The newer cookbook I use the most is a newer version of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I use it all the time and several recipes are the same and the general feel of the book is the same.
Why You Need Vintage Cookbooks
They Hold Special Memories
If you can get vintage cookbooks from family members they can hold special family members and family favorite recipes. It’s a great way to pass down family history.
My story about my grandma’s cookbook is such a good example of the memories and happiness cookbooks can hold.
They Are a History Lesson
Looking at vintage cookbooks is a great look inside of another decide. I collect vintage cookbooks and I love to read them. It’s a very different look at history than we normally get.
Sometimes You Don’t Want to Look At Your Phone
I love Pinterest and online recipes, I even create them but sometimes it’s nice to not have to look at my phone while cooking. I love to just set a cookbook up in front of me and not have to unlock my phone non-stop.
I’m more likely to focus on cooking, which can be very relaxing if I’m not pulling out my phone. It’s nice to put some music on and just focus on what I’m doing.
We spend so much time on our phones all day making some time to be off your phone is a nice break.
There is nothing quite like wearing a vintage apron and baking a vintage recipe from a cookbook. For me it brings memories of growing up playing with vintage toys, baking from vintage cookbooks, and being surrounded by wonderful antiques.
Start Your Own Collection
Interested in starting your own vintage cookbook collection? There are a lot of places you can look to get great vintage cookbooks.
- Ask Family Members- Getting cookbooks from family members is always great because they are a look into your own family’s history.
- Check Local Stores- Thrift stores, antique stores, and used book stores often have really great cookbooks available.
- Look Online- You can check online for vintage cookbooks as well. I have found some great vintage cookbooks on Etsy. You will also find them on eBay.
Make sure you take care of these cookbooks once you get them. You will want to wipe them down gently occasionally to avoid dust especially if you don’t use them often. Also, be careful not to spill on them. I like to use a cookbook stand when using mine to help keep them off the countertop while I’m cooking to keep them cleaner.
If you take care of your vintage cookbooks they will bring you joy for years to come and then you can hopefully pass them down for even more generations to enjoy.
If you have your own vintage cookbook collection share about it in the comments below. Or share some of your favorite memories of cooking.
Anne
Yes, the falling apart pages and notes….and handrwritten recipes on yellowed notecards…those are always the best. What a sweet memory:)
Lisa Sharp
Isn’t it? I could spend hours going through it and just reading what my grandma wrote and the things she saved.
Brittany
Slightly off topic but your mention of sunflower butter reminded me of thr most amazing brownies! Use any old brownie recipe ot box mix and swirl sun butter on top and bake. Omg!! They’re divine!
Lisa Sharp
That sounds so good! I make cheesecake brownies sometimes but they are so rich I can’t do it too often. That sounds good as well, chocolate and peanut butter (or in my case sunflower seed butter) is such a great combo. I was so happy to find Suncups which are like peanut butter cups but natural and with sunflower seed butter. I think they may be even better than peanut butter cups!
Green Bean
Best gift ever!!! Those kinds of things mean so much to me. Before she passed away, my grandmother gave us things as gifts from our childhood. Neither of my grandmothers were bakers or cooks, sadly. I have to confess to snapping up books like these at estate sales. It pains me to see them tossed out after so much love was put into them all those years. I love to see the spidery writing, notes of what recipes were good and weren’t – even if I have no connection to the previous owners. Cherish that cookbook! 🙂
Lisa Sharp
It really is special! I like to buy vintage cookbooks as well, they are fun and useful!
Micaela @MindfulMomma
That is absolutely precious Lisa! I love the little notes in the margins – something all good cooks should do! My mother recently passed away and my sisters and I need to divide up her cookbooks and recipe cards. It will be hard – but what awesome memories.
Lisa Sharp
It’s the best! I’m so sorry about your mom, I hope you can find some comfort in her recipes and cookbooks.
Betsy (Eco-novice)
What a treasure! I love objects that connect us to our ancestors. And how wonderful that it is something you will continue to use.
Lisa Sharp
I’m so happy to have it. I will always think of my grandmother and our special time together when I use it.
Lindsay
The thing that is beautiful about this is the memories we create in, on and around something as simple as a cookbook. Thanks for sharing imagery both in pictures and words!
Lisa Sharp
So true! My grandmother has so many beautiful things, including amazing jewelry but her simple, falling apart cookbook means even more because of the memories it holds.
Brenna
I love reading old picture books from when I was really young and looking at old photos, both for the memories. I would love to have something like your cookbook that connects you to your grandmother and that special time you shared, plus it’s useful!
Lisa Sharp
I’m so grateful to have this. And it is amazing that it’s something I can also use. 🙂
Liz
Wonderful post, isn’t it nice to remember memories like this? One my of favorite memories is also with my grandmother when we would get to stay over at her house on the weekends. During the winter months she would let me brother and I bake apples in the fireplace. I thought that was the coolest thing around when I was 7, fire and baking 🙂
Liz
Lisa Sharp
That sounds like so much fun. Spending the night at your grandparent’s house is always so much fun.
Kanelstrand
I love baking. After I started obssessing with bread, my father told me that I must have inherited that from my great-grandfather who used to be a baker, now that was a surprise! I have lovely childhood memories of cake and sweet bread aromas, of a warm kitchen in the cold winter days and of great time spent together with my mom. I’mtrying to give the same experience to my family nowadays hoping not just for a great everyday but for unforgettable memories as well.
Lori Popkewitz Alper
What a precious gift Lisa. My mother-in-law has a cookbook that’s very similar, with writing in the margins and modifications throughout. It’s filled with so much love and thought. It certainly looks well loved and well used. Something that I’m sure you’ll treasure forever.
Deanna
lovely post. I remember that cookbook from my childhood, too, so she must have had it a very long time.
step885
My mom had the vintage cookbooks. The red Betty Crocker book and a green plastic box of recipe cards that was about as big as a lunchbox. We used some of the recipes in there, but when I was little–I would look at the recipe box as if it were a magazine. In retrospect, I guess it was more often than most children or even adults would do!! I inherited my Grandma’s Betty Crocker cookbook. One day I will inherit my mom’s stuff. Baking and cooking isn’t really my thing, unless I am in the mood. That is where I got my love of Pyrex. When my Grandma passed, I got all of her Pyrex. She had quite a bit. I had no idea they were collectibles, but they sure meant a lot to me and i loved the colors of them. About 10 years later, I discovered they were collectible. Some are in my kitchen, and I am hoping some are in storage at my mom’s. The ones that are at home get used daily, and I have purchased some more. They make me happy using them.
Kadie
I absolutely love vintage cookbooks but only have one. My mother-in-law gave me her 1975 6th edition of Joy of Cooking for a wedding present after seeing me admiring it in her kitchen before my husband and I got married. I absolutely love it and want to get more.
Kadie | The Great Canadian Housewife & A Story About A Girl
Jen
Vintage cookbooks are my absolute favorite. Although some of the recipes seem a little questionable in them (I’m thinking of James’ Lileks “The Gallery of Regrettable Food”), I love seeing the well-loved pages splattered and worn. I have been collecting WNAX Neighbor Lady cookbooks for a while now, and I finally undertook the project of scanning them all in so that others can enjoy them.