A Cookbook Lover's Guide to |
The Culinary Arts Instituteand Culinary Arts Press1940 to 1952 |
1940-1:
The year 1940 was perhaps the most important one for CAI. During 1940 and the years which followed, the Culinary Arts Institute published numerous pamphlets in two related series. One of these series was extremely popular; the other appears to have been moderately popular.
The former series is called "Series 1" because it started with a pamphlet numbered "1". As far as I can ascertain, the paperback pamphlets cost 15 cents each for most of 1940-1 (although later copies of some books are found with 25c prices on the cover), whereas the (rare) spiral hardback copies cost 25 cents each. Some of the spiral hardbacks indicate "25c" on the covers. The whole series appears to have been produced in spiral hardback, although I know of 11 titles.
Here, I show a spiral hardback of the "Cookie Book" (#17). The 25c price can be seen in the bottom right hand corner. Most of the spiral hardbacks in my possession mention Culinary Arts Press inside. In at least the case of the Dairy Dishes book (#18), the SHB copy and PB are dated 1940.
It appears that TWELVE of the "Series 1" pamphlets were produced in PB in 1940 in various colors. Their color has nothing to do with what printing a pamphlet is. They all seem to exist in three or more colors - all copyrighted 1940 with few additional distinguishing features. Some copies come with heavy lamination, which others lack. All original copies should have an address on the first page on South Dearborn St. Copies made later in 1941 have an address on N. Michigan Ave. Copies made from about early 1942 on have a 25c price on the cover. Some of those later covers are slightly different from the two earlier issues.
The twelve original members of Series 1 were:
Their number in the series can be found in the upper right hand corner of the booklet. All twelve of these books are fairly common and sold quite well. The collector should have no trouble acquiring the whole series.
At least one special printing is known. The special printing has the cover and most contents similar to the common copies. However, the title page lists Frances Troy Norcross, Home Counselor of the Washington Times-Herald, Creator of "Radio Recipes" instead of Ruth Berolzheimer and the usual publishing information. The special printing was obviously intended to be available locally via the Times-Herald.
Copies sold c. 1941-1942 in Nebraska have professionally-made advertising stamped on the back (as though it were part of the cover). That advertisement mentions that the entire set could be had for free from Crete Mills (in Crete, NE) with the purchase of a 50 pound sack of flour. The binder (see below) could also be purchased from Crete Mills for 50c. Theoretically, these copies could sell for more, although no price difference has been established so far.
Printings:
Northcross printing
Dearborn address
N. Michigan address
25c price
spiral hard back
Laminated or unlaminated copies exist.
In 1940 or early 1941, these were collected by means of a binder into one cookbook. The thirteenth must have been produced at about the same time, because from #14 on, there is an additional name listed in the credits. [Note however that #'s 15, 17, and 18 (at least) are reissues of earlier material.]
A set of eight more pamphlets in Series 1 was produced in 1940-41, although some had been published as spiral hardback editions. These second eight are as follows:
These too are reasonably easy to find. Collectors should be able to locate copies in various colors.
Printings:
Northcross printing
Dearborn address
N. Michigan address
25c price
spiral hard back
Laminated and unlaminated copies exist.
Colors noted in Series 1, apparently published for each title in the series, include: blue; orange; yellow/orange; red; and green. I have seen some in what appears to be brown and some in what appears to be pink (but which may be an off-color red).
After the publication of the first 20 in binder form, in 1949 four more books were taken from other series and added into Series 1. The cookbook that had been known as #20, "Menus For Every Day of the Year" was renumbered as #24, so that it would appear last in the series. A new #20, "Sauces, Gravies, and Dressings" replaced it. In 1949 and years following, the first 24 were available together as The Encyclopedia of Cooking, although Col. Allen lists the first date as 1942, a date that he appears to have borrowed from the copyright dates of the original (other series) booklets.
The books from 1949 numbering 20 through 24 are:
1941-5:
Before the change in address (from S. Dearborn to N. Michigan) came The Dairy Cook Book, from 1941. The hardbound book was issued with one of at least four dust jackets, promoting different companies. The original cost was $2.00. The Dairy Cook Book is reasonably easy to locate.
regular copy
special printing
Series 101:
Shortly thereafter, still in 1941, the address change came. The first 20 cookbooks were reissued with the new address. Also, all 20 were reissued into the new "Series 101." At first, Series 101 copies all had similar-looking multicolored covers. Not only did booklets 1-20 stay in circulation, but also booklets with numbers higher than 120 began to be issued. Most of these newer copies came without Series 1 counterparts, although 101-120 do correspond to numbers 1-20. Certain copies numbering higher than 121 mention inside that cookbooks from the two series contain the same recipes, but this was only true for numbers 1/101 through 20/120. Sometimes the titles on Series 1 and Series 101 booklets are different, but the contents of 1-20 and 101-120 are identical. The contents of 121-129 are unique, since these were entirely new booklets.
Here are titles that I am aware of which number 121 through 129:
| 121 | Breakfast and Brunch CB, 1942. Waffle on cover. |
| 122 | Quick Dinners for the Woman in a Hurry, 1942. |
| 123 | How to Feed a Family of 5 on $15 a Week, 1942. |
| 124 | 250 Ways to Save Sugar, 1942. |
| 125 | Body Building Dishes For Children, 1942, reissued in 1949 as #22. |
| 126 | Dishes Mother Used to Make, 1942. |
| 128 | Meals for Two CB, 1942, reissued in 1949 as #21. |
| 129 | Sunday Night Suppers, 1942. |
These books are more difficult to find in general than their lower-numbered counterparts.
Also in 1942-5, but not part of Series 1 or 101, Consolidated Book Publishers issued a long series of what I have termed "patriotic" booklets. The Victory Series is Consolidated's name for this, Series 501. Only certain members of the series had anything to do with cooking. Apparently, some of them were collected into hardback by Consolidated. For example, book 558, The Bedside Book (1943) contains a story by J.D. Salinger that was first published in Collier's in December of 1942 and then acquired by Consolidated and used also in a hardback collection from 1943, The Kit Book for Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines.
Several booklets were issued in the series dealing with cooking during World War Two. These are shown in bold face below. At least three of these have the CAI name inside. If you have any information that contributes to a more complete listing, please provide it.
| 502 | How to Grow a Victory Garden, 1942. |
| 502N | Vegetable Gardener's Handbook, 1942. green cover; contents as above. |
| 505 | First Aid, 1942. patriotic cover |
| 505N | What to Do Until the Doctor Arrives, 1942. yellow cover |
| 506 | Wartime Cook Book, 1942. patriotic cover, also used on other books. |
| 509 | Wartime Entertaining, 1942. Contains menus from the Wartime CB. Red cover or yellow/orange cover. |
| 510 | Victory Canning, 1942. |
| 511 | Practical Home Nursing, 1942. family cover. |
| 511N | Practical Home Nursing, 1942. family cover, with Best Books logo and additional cover description. |
| 512 | How to Live on a Reduced War Budget, 1942. blue cover |
| 514 | War Dictionary, 1942. |
| 515 | How to Get Added Life out of Your Car, 1942. |
| 521 | Is My Face Red?, 1945 |
| 540 | A Bird's Eye-View of the Postwar World, 1945. 13c cover price. |
As the war neared a close, Series 501 (the Victory Series) came to be used for purposes other than supporting the war effort. In fact, from a certain point on, Series 501 was entirely focused on comic reprints. Series 551 had begun in 1942, shortly after the emergence of the Victory Series. In 1944, it too tended toward comedy, although some of that comedy was focused on military life.
| 551 | Cut 20% From Your Food Bill CB, 1942. The first of two reissues of the Wartime Cookbook. |
| 552 | The ABC of Canning, 1942. A reissue of Victory Canning. Green or red cover. |
| 552N | The ABC of Canning, 1942. Same as the above book; full color cover. |
| 558 | The Bedside Book, 1943. Military/wartime cartoons and stories. |
| 559 | With Love and Kisses, 1943. Military/wartime cartoons and stories. |
| 560 | The Sergeant is a Jerk!, 1944. |
| 562 | Photo Crimes, 1944. Mysteries with photos. |
| 564 | Gobs of Love, 1944. Military humor. |
| 565 | Private Life of a Private, 1944. size reduced from 64 to 32 pages. |
| 567 | Nothing Can Stop the Air Corps...Except a Woman, 1944. |
| 578 | 1000 Games and Stunts, 1945. Priced at 13c. |
| 583 | You meet the Nicest People on Vacations, 1945. Subtitled "The Traveler's Fun Book" and priced at 13c. |
| 585 | Let's Neck, 1944. Humorous cartoons and stories. |
| 593 | 11 of the World's Great War & Spy Stories, 1944. Includes one O. Henry story. |
Apparently, the 501 series was used later on for items that were not war related.
The 1943-5 "Wartime" issues have different-style covers than #'s 125-129 and were probably not considered for collection in a hardbound edition until 1949's Encyclopedic Cookbook. These books are numbered 30/130 and higher; all of them are scarce. The booklets of which I am personally aware are:
| 30 | Military Meals at Home, 1943. |
| 31 | Meals Without Meat Cook Book, 1943. |
| 131N | Cooling Dishes For Hot Weather, 1943. Apparently reissued into the 50's series as #118. Same contents as #31. |
| 34 | American Woman's Food Stretcher CB, 1943. |
| 134N | Family CB, 1943. Same contents as #34. |
| 35 | American Woman's 3-Way Meat Stretcher CB, 1943. |
| 36 | 500 Food-Extender Wartime Recipes, 1943. This book is shown inside as "1942" because it is a reissue of the Wartime CB, which was issued in 1942. |
At least some of this information, along with book 123, was added to the Victory bindings of the American Woman's CB.
My estimate of scarcity is as follows:
#'s 1 - 20 glossy covers: somewhat common
#'s 1 - 20 flat covers: all common
#'s 21 - 24 do not exist before 1949
#'s 101 - 120 (glossy or flat covers) less common
#'s 121 - 129: all uncommon; #127 is rare
#'s 30/130 or higher: all uncommon
#'s 506, 510, 551: scarce
#'s 552, 552N: uncommon
The Series 1 pamphlets were reprinted in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1964 (smaller), 1965, and 1969 (smaller) - at least! Copies from the mid 70's, containing be the same material reworked into "new" pamphlets, were called the Kitchen Companion series. Some were reprinted also in other years additionally. A binder, still called Encyclopedia of Cooking was issued in 1949 with the reissued series of 24 books. 1948-9:
All of the Series 1 books were reprinted with new covers and with a four page color centerfold insert. In addition, new books were produced:
The Encyclopedic Cookbook, published by "Book Production Industries". The earliest copy I currently own is a "yellow" copy from 1949. The original (shown above) is the 1948 edition. Apparently, none of the pamphlets from the 30's were reprinted in the CB: my 1949 edition of the CB indicates that the material inside was © 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. Therefore, little if any of the CAP material was used in compiling the encyclopedic edition.
The cover to the '49 edition is yellow with black dots. The '49 edition appears uncommon, although the 1950 (orange) edition is much easier to find. I conclude that sales of the book had begun to escalate by 1950. Although this was not the first thumb-indexed cookbook, the indexing certainly made the book easy to peruse, and the distribution obtained through various CAI outlets was wide. This book was reprinted many times under various names (e.g., Cooking For Young Homemakers, 1958) and with different "bindings" (Norge, 1950). A revised edition was issued in 1964 and again in 1976 (as The Encyclopedia of Home Cooking). It was issued in paperback in 1980 and later in 1986; the paperback is still in print. The total number of copies sold must be quite large.
Note: Col. Allen mentions a 1936 CAP book with the same name which probably reprinted some of the Delineator material. His list indicates that Kay Morrow was the editor, assisted by Pauline Dubin, Hazel Hemminger, and S. Claire Sondheim. 799 pages, CAP, 1936. In the past several years, no copies have surfaced on the Internet. No such book is listed inside the dust jacket of any CAP publication from 1936-7. If the book exists, it should be considered rare.
A 1973 printing
A lesser known book, published in 1949, was Ruth Berolzheimer's What Will We Eat Today?, subtitled "Pressure Cookery for Every Meal". Containing a foreword by Kate Smith, the book was written to promote the Ecko Pressure Cooker and was available in hardback and softback editions. 207 recipes.
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The most recent revision of this page was on 07 Nv 04.
