Due to vacation, our store will not be shipping any books from Friday, July 29th through Wednesday, August 4th. Any cookbooks ordered during this period will be mailed out on Thursday, August 5th. Thank you!

A few years back, cookbooks included quite a bit of original artwork. Sometimes you can still run across a newer cookbook that does, but more often than not it is photographs.

Most cookbooks published before the mid 1960s included some type of original art (not photographs). Some of the artwork was done by the author themselves, other art was by uncredited artists who may or may not have made a name for themselves. But, most of the artwork in cookbooks was unsigned, although some were given illustrator credits.

We have done quite a bit of searching to find out who some of the old cookbook artists actually were and ended up with very little information. It is a little odd because a lot of information is available on vintage advertising artists, but very little on this specific topic.

You never know quite what you will find when you are looking at an old cookbook. A lot of the old pieces of cookbook art are suitable for framing, but please … please … do not cut up an old cookbook for one image unless the cookbook itself is in such bad shape that it would be worthless to anyone.

If anyone out there has researched this topic, please send us more information, we would very much appreciate it.

Note: The image shown is from the cookbook Wee Paws in the Kitchen (1964).

“My mother was the food editor of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, and received publication copies of most cookbooks printed in the 60s and 70s. Most are like new.”

The Food Editor referred to in the above message is Jo Ann Vachule, the former Food Editor of the Ft Worth Star-Telegram during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Much like the woman we received our first large amount of cookbooks from, JoAnn’s family did not want to see these cookbooks end up at a Goodwill or in anyway disregarded. Her family wanted these cookbooks to end up with people that would enjoy them the way their mom did.

And that is our goal as well, we would love to see these cookbooks end up all over the world.

For each cookbook in this collection purchased, a donation will be made to the Presbyterian Night Shelter in Fort Worth, Texas which is an organization with which Jo Ann was active. The shelters mission is as follows:

“Our vision is to end homelessness one individual at a time. In doing so, PNS provides for the needs of the homeless (food, shelter and basic human care) while respecting their dignity. The largest provider of homeless services in the area, PNS also provides counseling and resources (proper identification, permanent housing, employment, financial assistance, etc.) enabling clients to reenter mainstream society.”

The books that come from this collection are identified with this symbol next to the listing on the detail page. There are probably about 1500 books in this collection, so chances are good if you are looking for a book published in the 1960’s or 1970’s, we have it.

With few exceptions, the cookbooks were used basically to write a review. Some may have a little shelving wear to the jacket, but for the most part that is minimal and will be noted. Keep watching as more books from the collection will be added daily until they are all online.

Finally, we would like to thank the daughter’s of Jo Ann Vachule for caring about their mother so much and knowing that she would want her cookbooks to find homes where they will be cherished.

Do you have a recipe written in another language that you would like translated into English?

If so, we are now offering a new service that we are very excited about. For a fee, we can translate recipes written in either Spanish, French or German into English.

For more information on this, please send us an email at inquiry@thecookbookery.com and let us know what you need. Most translation services can be completed the same day.

While listing cookbooks today, we came across an old Baker’s Coconut cookbook from 1926. Inside this cookbook was a letter neatly folded inside from Franklin Baker … it is so fascinating to read that we thought we would share it with all of you.

Dear Lady,

I am hoping you will find our book of Baker’s Coconut Recipes that most inspiring collection of Poems that has ever graced your kitchen library.

What’s Keats or Kipling compared to Ambrosia Southern Style on Page 9? And what’s Eddie Giresh or Bobbie Burns, even, compared to Tropical Gingerbread on Page 5?

I can’t think of any more poetic sight than a girl .. be she sixteen or sixty … stirring up a Delightful Dessert in her own sunny kitchen with, I hope, geraniums at the windows.

Yours for a Coconut treat,
Franklin Baker

We do accept cookbook donations and for the next three months, 50% of all profit on donated books will be sent to the American Red Cross for Haiti Relief and Development.

It is easy to donate. Box the cookbooks up and give us a total weight. We will then send you a prepaid postage label. As the books are sold, 50% of the profit will go directly to the Red Cross.

Ready to donate? Click here to get started and thank you for your help!

The 20% promotion off has ended. Please watch for the next promotional discount coming soon.

We get email daily requesting for us to purchase old cookbooks. We cannot purchase everyone’s cookbooks for a variety of reasons such as the condition, the type of cookbook, etc. And.. most of all, we cannot purchase cookbooks without knowing exactly what the collection is.

We have added a page to give everyone more information on what we are looking for, and different options available for people that want/need to relinquish some cookbooks.

You can review all of the options by visiting our Cookbook Acquisitions page, just click here.

Patricia Lowry of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette wrote an article entitled “Classic, and campy, recipes help revive interest in vintage cookbooks” mentioning our store. Click here to read the full story.

We just came across several vintage Italian cookbooks that we will be listing soon. If you are looking for one specifically, please let us know. If we have it, we will contact you before the book is listed.