Ad: Miller High Life (With Emphasis on the High Part)

Yeah they were High in 1952 all right...

Another Friday, another vintage alcohol ad. I'm not really in the mood for a cocktail today, just too damn hot outside. So instead I'll have a beer. Normally I'd be drinking something European, Chimay, Dortmunder, Czechvar etc but it's not normal today. No, because money is an issue my days of walking into ABC and leaving with an $11 6-pack of Old Speckled Hen are quite over. I've sampled my way around the macro-brews here in the USA and only one really met my demands.

Ad: Best Foods Mayonnaise

1948 Best Foods/Hellman's Mayonnaise

Since the last couple of days we have been building on a theme of mayonnaise (well its in the quiche at least), lets complete that with this 1948 ad.  I grabbed it because of brand recognition mostly, I'm familiar with Hellman's Mayonnaise, and also because it seemed to have recipes on it.

Recipe: Quiche

Building on our Pie Crust Recipe from yesterday today I will give you a rather simple recipe for quiche.  As it stands, quiche came about as a fusion of French and German cook in the Lorraine province.  At the time this recipe was invented, c.1905, Lorraine was split in half between the German Empire and France.

Ad & Recipe: Crisco Pie Crust

1942 Crisco Ad with an overcomplicated pie crust recipe

Homemade apple pie, what can bring out colors in any patriotic American more than that?  "American as Apple Pie" has been a part of the American vernacular for many years now because we have the mistaken impression that apples are an American fruit.  In fact most varieties were imports from Europe that were then hybridized into new varieties by people like Thomas Jefferson.

Sunday Stealing: The MEME That's Going Around

Today we ripped off a blogger named Jess from the blog IROCKSOWHAT. She says everyone is doing it, but doesn't say who she stole it from. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Take the time to comment on other player's posts. It's a great way to make new friends! Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Ad: Gilbey's Gin

1938 Gilbey's Gin, Manila Club

 1938, American was still in the grips of the Great Depression but if you had a little money you could book passage on a ship to Manila, or if you really had some scratch you could fly on one of the new Pan-Am Clippers out of San Fransisco.  In Manila, buoyed by an exchange rate of 2 pesos to the dollar, Americans could live it up, tropical style.

About Myself...

Your Author, BrSpiritus

Today we were supposed to have a recipe featuring cornbread but the idea went down the commode when I opened the bag of cornmeal and found meal worms.  Ugh! Why do I have the worst luck buying cornmeal?  It was this way in the Philippines also but at least there I could halfway understand since cornmeal wasn't in high demand and God only knows how long it was sitting on the shelf.  This is the South though, the Confederacy, and I still get wormy cornmeal?  What gives?

Ad: Underwood Deviled Ham

Underwood Deviled Ham 1906

 Underwood Deviled Ham, ah what memories.  This used to be a treat for lunch when I was a kid, spread on a sandwich it was very tasty stuff.  Over the years and into adulthood I got away from eating it though as it's a rather high fat bit of canned ham paste.  When I found this ad I knew I just had to procure a can and see if it still tasted the way I remembered.  Unfortunately it did not.  Whether by the difference in taste memory that time brings or the slow devolution of old time products into "cost effective" recipes, I found that the taste was just blander than I remember it being.

Ad: Bird of Paradise

1923 Ad for the Bird of Paradise pattern

Cooking vintage recipes ofttimes involves more prep than the modern "stick it in the oven and go" or "just add water" ready made stuff available in stores.  It is indeed a labor of love and if you're going to pour your heart and soul into making something why just serve it the hectic way?  You know what I'm talking about because we are all guilty of it, eating dinner in the living room in front of the TV warranting a rip-roaring case of indigestion as we are assaulted by the opinion-mongering that passes for the news of the day.  We all have a dining room, perhaps you've even seen yours?  That table is not a convenient place for keys, mail and misc junk.  It is a place where families used to sit and be together.

Recipe: Creole Mustard Greens

Makes an interesting presentation

I've been on a "greens" kick lately and after the Collard Green Recipe was a success dad mentioned that he had never had mustard greens before and neither had I.  So I decided to look into it and find something that sounded at least halfway decent.  I'm sorry, I really don't cook my greens with ham hocks, salt pork, fatback or smoked turkey legs because I can't stomach the 2 weeks worth of sodium intake that using such meats adds to the recipe.  I do, however, like using bacon and after digging up the collard greens recipe last week I found out using bacon is Creole Style.

The Lower 40 Meme: Part 2

Sunday Stealing: The Lower 40 Meme, Part Two

Finding New Friends Weekend Blog Hop #24

Ad & Cocktail: Hildick Brandy & Jersey Cocktail (1910)

1941 Hildick's Applejack & Brandy

 I had to take a break today (Thursday) from cleaning out the kitchen.  It's a once every 2 month thing to have to go through and reclaim the counters from the creeping pile of "stuff".  Pull everything off and scrub the counters with Borax and then arrange the stuff that belongs neatly.  It's noon and I've been at it since 9am and I still have the pantry to arrange. 

Recipe: Butterscotch Cake With Butterscotch Icing

As promised the recipe for Butterscotch Cake from the 1934 Spry Cookbook.

Before I start with this recipe I have to give a word of warning.  Do not attempt this without a candy thermometer.  I'm assuming housewives in the 30's knew what hard ball stage was in reguards to candymaking and I knew because of experimentation with candymaking years ago, but I still was very much in want of a candy thermometer.  That being said, here's the recipes:

Ad: Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix

1917 Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix

 I was poking around the internet and I found this 1917 ad for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix.  Honestly I liked it because it is a glimpse into how much social and racial attitudes have changed.  Of course the year is 1917, December to be exact.  We have a picture of absolute domestic bliss over the breakfast table.  Husband remarks to wife, "Dear it's absolutely splendid the Allies are still dukeing it out toe to toe with Hun.  Why father and I have made a fortune off War orders but that damned Wilson had to go muck it all up by throwing in with the Allies.  Now damn it all I've been drafted!  Head out for training tomorrow to Bayonne. But I know my clever little bride will keep things going while I am gone."

Recipe: Southern Style Cheese Grits

Garlic Cheese Grits

Today we have our first recipe hooray!  Dad wanted some steamed shrimp over the weekend so I decided to make some side dishes of Cheese Grits and Collard Greens.  I'll post the Collard Green recipe tomorrow and on Thursday I have a treat for you, a recipe for Butterscotch cake from the 1934 Spry Cookbook "What to Eat For Dinner".

The Lower 40 Meme: Part 1

 

Ad: Miller High Life

1958 Miller High Life

Well it's the first Friday for this blog and here we will start a theme, old ads for alcohol on Fridays.  Anyone who lives in the US will instantly recognize Miller Beer Co, although the favored beverage from that company now is Miller Lite.  Personally I think all lite beer is tasteless swill but de gustibus non est disputandum (to each his own). 

Ad: A&P Stores

1947 A&P Ad... Is that guy in the center smoking?

I have to continue on my theme of A&P from yesterday because in my research I discovered some things about the company I didn't know before and well... it's a sad tale of how the depression gripping our nation right now is bringing companies to their knees.  A&P stands for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company which was founded in 1859.  The first stores opened up in 1912 by 1930 they were at their height with over 16,000 stores nationwide.  By 1947, when this Ad appeared, the company was already in a a slow decline and by 1955 only operated 10,000 stores.

Ad: Enos Fruit Salt

1924 Enos Fruit Salt

This is a 1924 Ad for Enos Fruit Salt Compound.  In other words, Epsom Salts to be used as a laxative.  If you think about the context of the ad, 1924 was right in the middle of the boom years of the 1920's.  Meals were meat heavy and most vegetables were potatoes, corn, carrots and beans which may have a fiber content but are also starchy and liable to cause constipation.

Coming Soon

For those of you who follow my wife's blog Everyday Fish, you will know me as BrSpiritus.  I've been thinking lately about branching off into my own blog but I've been flummuxed about what to write about.  The inspiration came from a combination of my old blog, Jimmybuffettliving.com and my wife's blog.  Why not write about recipes but specifically, old time recipes.  My focus will be on finding, cooking and writing about recipes from the era 1910-1950, kind of a paleo-chef if you will.  Being that I am a paleo-mixologist already, i.e. I look for alcoholic drink recipes in their original incarnations, this is not a leap of faith.  I ask that you give me some time to gather items and do research before I start posting my findings on this blog.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check back in later.