HISTORY: Preserved

Happy Halloween Everyone!
The last post in my series is this fantastic Coke ad from the November 1944 issue of the Ladies Home Journal. For wartime Halloween, parties over trick o' treating were really encouraged, and this is a great illustration of that. I really like the action in this picture and seeing all the teens' costumes - especially that weird ghost one with the pumpkin head! haha!
I also found an interesting article about Halloween in wartime that I thought you might enjoy: America in WWII - "A Wartime Halloween". Wartime affected Halloween traditions quite a bit!
And now for the bonus recipe!

My friend, Loris, loaned me her October 1941 issue of Woman's Home Companion, since she knew I was working on this project. The back of the magazine had this huge, amazing looking Pillsbury ad, and it immediately caught my eye. I thought it would be the perfect ending to my series along with the Coke ad.

Cranberry apple is a fantastic combination, but this recipe …

Oh, boy! I've been holding onto this one to save it for near the end. I hunted down this October 1942 issue of Woman's Home Companion because of this very article. I've only found two articles so far specifically written about celebrating Halloween, so having this one is pretty exciting! I hope you enjoy it too!


This photo is so fun! I wonder how they got through that doorway with the gigantic spider web in the way? (Which is totally cool, by the way!) 
Click on the photos to enlarge the photos and read the article.


And as a bonus (yes, I'm cramming them in now!), is the last October Food Calendar I have. This one is from the October 1943 issue of Woman's Home Journal. 

For me, autumn wouldn't be the same without an apple crisp or crumble of some kind. But an Apple-Peanut-Butter-Crumble?! Wow! What an interesting, fun twist! Today's post comes from the November 1942 Ladies Home Journal. Give it a try!


I couldn't fit everything in I wanted to for this series, (just think of all the Thanksgiving stuff I'm neglecting!) so I'm doubling up near the end! 
The great thing about these menu cookbooks is that they have menus for a bunch of holidays, including some you wouldn't think needed its own menu like Washington's Birthday or Armistice Day! The Halloween ones are really fun, so here are a few menus from two different cookbooks. 
It's really neat that they include a "market order", so shopping is at-a-glance easy.  Isn't that Jack O'Lantern Cocktail fun?? What a great idea! This one comes from the Alice Bradley Menu-Cook-Book.   Both of these come from the Lily Wallace New American Cook Book. The numbers n…

Halloween is getting close and today's Spry ad for a Halloween Party Cake is a perfect wartime way to celebrate! This comes from the October 1942 Woman's Home Companion. The recipe for this cake calls for honey, which is always interesting when chocolate is concerned. The marshmallow frosting uses corn syrup. So, no sugar used at all, which would have saved on your sugar ration.

I love the artwork on this one too. Very festive!

They were still spelling Halloween the old-fashioned way. 
Some other holiday party suggestions:

 Here are the recipes for the cake and the marshmallow frosting. And check out the Halloween decorating tips!

Today's post in the series sounds innocent enough, doesn't it? Well, think again!

I grew up on fruit salad that was a mixture of fresh fruit like bananas, apples, and oranges mixed with canned fruit like peaches, pears, and fruit cocktail. No whipped topping or sugar or anything else added. Just naked fruit marinating in their own juices. But then, as an adult, I realized that I'm pretty alone in what I deem "fruit salad!" Most fruit salads I run into at pot lucks have a whipped cream-base dressing of some kind to the point that it's hard to see the fruit. Sometimes there are even marshmallows and other things added. See, that seems strange to me. Sure, they taste good, but the fruit doesn't really shine.

Now, in comes this 1944 version of fruit salad from The Alice Bradley Menu-Cook-Book:


Apples and pears - great combo, but it's the Grape Cream Dressing that comes as a surprise! They liked to make a lot of dressings using mayo during this time period…

In celebration of the coming turkey times, I thought this autumn-themed ad for Durkee's Oleomargarine from the November 1944 Ladies Home Journal was a lot of fun for today's post. It almost makes you feel sorry for that poor turkey! (And I'm rather amused that Durkee rhymes with turkey. heehee!)

I know roasting is the main way to cook a turkey, and has been for a long time. Then there's the popular frying in peanut oil of the turkey, which my uncle does. My step-mom has made TurDucken a few times - a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. I always miss those years, which makes me sad, because how yummy would that be?!

However, what I do, is something I took from my mom's no-fuss way: Crock Pot Turkey. I cook the salted and seasoned turkey in the oven with a baking bag, debone it, and refrigerate the meat juices and the meat separately. Thanksgiving morning, I remove the solidified fat from the juices and put the juices in the crock pot with the meat and…

The season of stuffings and dressings is coming. Hooray! It's one of my favorite holiday foods. So, I was quite fascinated by today's post which is a surprisingly simple one - Sweet Potato Stuffing from The New American Cook Book, ca. 1942! (Stuffing is for stuffing the turkey, dressing is if you put it on the side.)

I grew up on Northern cornbread dressing, while my husband grew up on Stove Top, a classic American flavor of its own. So, when Thanksgiving time rolls around, I put both kinds on the table, because it just wouldn't be the same without each of our family's traditions. (Though, I found a delicious recipe that's similar in taste to Stove Top, but I can make it from scratch.) That makes for a lot of dressing!

I'm curious about this one though. Sweet potato as the base... which would make it a sweeter version I'm guessing? I like the option of adding ground sausage to the stuffing too. Maybe I try this one for Christmas! :-)

Only 7 days left in my series! Day 24 is this interesting recipe for Vegetable Cookies from The Alice Bradley Menu-Cook-Book, published in 1944. When I first saw the recipe title, I thought it would just have carrots or something. Nope! These are true vegetable cookies with tomato juice, grated carrot and cooked spinach! These would be really interesting to try, and I'm sure you could make other veggie substitutions depending on what your harvest has brought. Be warned if you try it though - this recipe makes 6 dozen cookies!

For today's post, here is another Woman's Home Companion October Food Calendar, this time from 1942! In this issue, we are definitely in the swing of wartime, though only sugar is rationed at this point, with coffee just around the corner in November. 
Don't you just love the photo of the USO girls with the soldiers out for a hayride?

A lot of the food suggestions are interesting, but Day 22/29 is a classic 1940s odd sandwich filling one - pineapple mixed with peanut butter and mayo. I grew up eating peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches (yum!), so peanut butter and mayo isn't too big of a stretch for me. But adding the pineapple? I don't know... haha!

I took some close-ups so you could read the individual days. Sorry if some are still a little blurry.




 Here's a close-up of Halloween. Pretty classic food fun, I'd say! :-)

Oh boy! Today's post is so fun! So, if you remember, Day 15 was this Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce ad. See that recipe book they advertise in the lower right corner? Well, on a whim, I looked it up on ebay, and someone had a copy for sale at a totally decent price! So, I ordered it. Yay!


 Here it is! A recipe book chock full of Cape Cod cranberry recipes straight form 1941. Is it weird that I get excited about stuff like this?? haha! Seriously, though, this book blows my mind. They do stuff with cranberry sauce that no one these days would even think of dreaming up. So, because I'm so stinkin' excited about it, I'm posting five recipes today. Lucky you! :-D
 You open the cover, and are hit with this gorgeous picture of the Ocean Spray line of cranberry products. Look at those incredible reds! This book is in great shape to still have color like this. (The seller said they found it in their parents' closet. No sunlight = no fading!)

There are lots of fun, interesting,…

I've only got 10 days left in the series, and I still have a lot of fun things to share! Today, I'm posting about an interesting Jell-O ad from the November 1942 edition of the Ladies Home Journal. It features Kate Smith, a famous singer from that time, who did a lot of food endorsements. I have a breakfast cookbook that features Ms. Smith and Post products like Shredded Wheat and Grape Nuts.


I got a close-up shot so you can read the text, because these ads are just so entertaining to read!
There are quite a few really cool things about this ad, so let's get going!

First, the name for this recipe, Apple Cider Tang, is just fun. Right away it makes me want to eat it. Second, it calls for lemon or cola flavored Jell-O. Yep, you read that right. Cola! The ad states that "Cola is Jell-O's newest flavor - and it has all the snap and tang you love!" Sadly, though, it's not available on the West Coast. haha!

Man, cola flavor. What have we been missing? Seriously…

Today's post for Day 20 in my series "A Month of Autumn Wartime Recipes & Food" is exciting! I came across this recipe for Cranberry Mince Meat in my Alice Bradley Menu-Cook-Book, ca. 1944.

I really like mincemeat, especially around Christmas time. I've only ever had the version without meat and from a jar. It's so sad! I really need to make my own one of these days. I guess it's just hard finding all the candied fruits without any crazy dyes or high fructose corn syrup and stuff in them.

Anyway, when I saw this recipe, I was intrigued, because I've never seen a variation that used cranberries! This version is also interesting, because it doesn't call for any fat like suet (which is kidney fat and not the same as lard), and none of the fruit is candied. It doesn't look like you cook the whole thing either, just the cranberries. Odd! It reminds me almost of a relish. The seeded raisins would give it an interesting crunch too!

This is definitely…

For Day 19, I'm posting the full Crisco ad from the November 1944 issue of Ladies Home Journal. Back on Day 12, I posted about the Fried Stuffed Eggplant, and now I wanted to feature the Skillet Apple Cake. Doesn't Skillet Apple Cake sound super yummy?

1940s ads like to talk - a lot. They offer full explanations about why their product is the best. It's a very different tack than the advertising used today, but I can tell you that it's still pretty effective. If anything, many of the ads are endearing and humorous, besides just being downright cool with 1940s vintage. I loved the little illustration showing the woman carrying in the apple harvest with autumn leaves blowing in the air. Apples picked in October and November are the best!

And now for the recipe! The cake looks a little like pineapple upside-down cake, which it is essentially, the only difference being the fruit. I'm sure it's a very tasty variation, and one that is perfect to try for autumn! (If y…

Today's post features a Knox Gelatine ad from the November 1942 issue of Ladies Home Journal.

'Tis the season for pumpkin pie, and a Pumpkin Chiffon Pie sounds delicious! I know I've heard of a pumpkin chiffon pie before, but what struck me about this recipe is that you cook the filling like a proper custard. I've never used a recipe that required me to cook my pumpkin pie filling on the stove, but think of the energy it saves - an important factor during the war. And once you cook it over the stove-top, you pour it into your baked pie crust and chill it. Very interesting! I can only imagine what a chiffon-y pumpkin filling would taste like, and I'd be willing to try this one!


Here's a close-up from the ad about how to cut butter bills - by mixing your "good" butter with milk, water, and Knox Gelatine to double your amount of butter. I've tried this recipe before. It really does double your butter, but it also gives it an... interesting texture. B…