recommendations for "early 20th century" cookbooks

Odd request... but I'd like to track down a reprint or find an online source for classic recipes dating from before America's love affair with vegetable oils and Crisco etc... and relies on lard and other "traditional" ingredients. I'm told that mostly means pre-1920.

Any thoughts?

Has to be American?

The obvious answer is Escoffier. Not American but THE foundational cookbook of France.

Escoffier is mainly a certain stratum of French hotel food ... not that it's not an interesting book, but it has little to do with what was going on in the public in general. for the US, the equivalent of Escoffier (actually published earlier and much more interesting) is a book called "The Epicurean" by a guy named Charles Ranhofer (chef at Delmonicos). supposedly, they both stole recipes from the same place, but ranhofer has really fascinating stuff on how kitchens, equipment and menu organization went in those days. The problem with general cookbooks is that there just weren't very many of them pre 1920s. before then, people cooked what their mother's cooked, or they had staff who presumably already knew how to cook. interestingly, the LA Times was running food stories much before most other newspapers, because so many people here were transplants who were living away from family and that support network. The classics tend to be a couple of older books -- the virginia housewife, etc. these are widely available in reprint. this website has some cool stuff.

Originally Posted by foodguy

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interestingly, the LA Times was running food stories much before most other newspapers, because so many people here were transplants who were living away from family and that support network.
The classics tend to be a couple of older books -- the virginia housewife, etc. these are widely available in reprint.
this website has some cool stuff.

And you were probably writing for them when it all started!

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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And you were probably writing for them when it all started!

bastard!
funny: until the 1970s, the food editor at the Times was always bylined Marion Manners. Our competition, the Herald-Examiner (and its antecedents), the food editor was Prudence Penny. Having been food editor for both, I've been both Marion Manners and Prudence Penny. Take that Neo!

actually, if you're really interested in that ... i would look at first editions of Joy of Cooking and Settlement House cookbook (boston cooking school not so much). Those date from the early 1930s. there is another fascinating book from the 1950s called "how america eats" by a woman named clementine paddleford. she was the food editor of, i believe, the new york herald tribune and she was also a private pilot. so she flew all over the united states, dropping in on small towns and cooking with the best local cooks.
btw ... i'm not sure what the problem with vegetable oils are ...

Originally Posted by foodguy

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btw ... i'm not sure what the problem with vegetable oils are ...
I'm a fan of the ones made from olives, Marion Manners.

Wait olives are fruit. Man i'm a ******* idiot sometimes.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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I'm a fan of the ones made from olives, Marion Manners.

Wait olives are fruit. Man i'm a ******* idiot sometimes.

s'ok little buddy. most "vegetable" oils are made from "seeds."

Originally Posted by foodguy

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s'ok little buddy. most "vegetable" oils are made from "seeds."

Yeah but it's at least vegetable seeds.

Originally Posted by foodguy

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actually, if you're really interested in that ... i would look at first editions of Joy of Cooking and Settlement House cookbook (boston cooking school not so much). Those date from the early 1930s. there is another fascinating book from the 1950s called "how america eats" by a woman named clementine paddleford. she was the food editor of, i believe, the new york herald tribune and she was also a private pilot. so she flew all over the united states, dropping in on small towns and cooking with the best local cooks.
btw ... i'm not sure what the problem with vegetable oils are ...

Is the Boston Cooking School cookbook = Fannie Farmer?

Originally Posted by pscolari

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Is the Boston Cooking School cookbook = Fannie Farmer?

yup. it's an interesting book, and the later editions have some good food (particularly teh marion cunningham-edited ones). but mostly it's reflective of how a certain class of "scientific homemakers" believed the poorer folks ought to eat. ironically, those poorer folks were in large part italians, who were eating a diet we now emulate.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Yeah but it's at least vegetable seeds.

well, my young friend, technically, there is no such thing as a "vegetable" seed. anything that contains a seed is a fruit. (botanists beware: i know i'm taking liberties).

Originally Posted by foodguy

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well, my young friend, technically, there is no such thing as a "vegetable" seed. anything that contains a seed is a fruit. (botanists beware: i know i'm taking liberties).

Yeah, and chile peppers are technically berries.

Thanks for the rec's R. Supposedly I have an aunt that thinks she has a copy of Escoffier somewhere in a box but I've been hearing that for years. I'll look for others. My mother in law has a very old copy of joy of cooking I'll get my hands on eventually.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Yeah, and chile peppers are technically berries.

depends on what you mean by "berries." most of what we think of as berries -- raspberries, blackberries -- are conglomerate fruits, collections of individual fruits. the real weirdo is the strawberry, which is basically a fleshy holder for achenes--those little brown specks that we think of as strawberry seeds, but which are actually individual fruits, each containing a seed.
god help me. don't make me tell you about figs.