A Cookbook Lover's Guide to |
The Culinary Arts Instituteand Culinary Arts Press1953 to the Present |
1950's:
Spencer Press, who would later issue the American Peoples CB, released this plastic-coated 10" x 8" softback, called The Hungry Man's Outdoor Grill CB. Illustrated in color, the book cost $1.50 originally. Among 50's CAI items, this one is harder to find than most. This book marks Melanie de Proft's appearance as director of CAI, replacing Ruth Berolzheimer, who had served for fifteen years.
As a further point of interest, there is a printing of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (by Victor Hugo) published by Spencer Press of Chicago which has a foreword/introduction by none other than Leonard S. Davidow. The edition is dated 1937. Additionally, Davidow was the editor of a 20 volume set called "The World's Greatest Literature" (including Plutarch's Lives and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essays); the set was published by Spencer in 1936-7. In fact, one of those volumes indicates that the pictures were copyright by Consolidated Book Publishers. This is also true for a Spencer edition of Gulliver's Travels. So, did CAI begin to use Spencer Press because of Davidow's involvement with the company? Was Spencer Press started (by Davidow?) at the same time as CAP?
The foreword to the 20 volume set indicates that "The avowed purpose of Spencer Press is to publish classics which have survived the test of time." Davidow, writing from Reading, PA, indicated that the company was named after William Augustus Spencer, "a patron of the fine binders of his day," a man who died aboard the Titanic in 1912. Davidow appears to write on behalf of the company, and so it seems as though he is the company's founder. Since Consolidated published similar books during the 40's, it appears that Spencer Press and Consolidated Book Publishers were already linked via the Davidow family's involvement. Around 1950, Spencer Press again began publishing volumes as they had done. A multi-volume set called "Landmarks of American History" was part of this new presence. Interestingly, Consolidated would return as publisher in the late 50's, even issuing non-CAI cookbooks, such as Pillsbury's Best of the Bake-Off (1959) and the Good Housekeeping booklet series (1958) mentioned later in this article. The non-CAI cookbooks mentioned above are also listed on the back of the 1965 edition of the PA Dutch English Dictionary as being available from Culinary Arts Press!
The following year (1954), CAI began a new series of pamphlets, starting again with 101. Curiously, the old 101 series was still in print. I have seen early both early 50's reprints (which look like the Series 1 reprints) and a 1957 issue that looks different (see above). This mid-fifties series, though, appears to be largely new -- not reprinted from former sources. I will call them the 50's Series, in order to distinguish them from the earlier two series of pamphlets. There were twenty-four members of the 50's series, as follows:
As with the earlier Series 1, the 50's Series was released in two sets of twelve books, dating from 1954 to 1956. The first twelve were collected into a binder, then all 24 were sold in a boxed set with two binders as "Cooking Magic."
Unlike previous series, the dates on reissues of the 50's Series are generally reliable. If a copy states that it was made in 1955, then it was.
The entire set was reissued into the 70's with "Cooking Magic Series" prominent on the new covers. The latest issue I have seen is from 1975.
From 1954, we have The Mixer, Hand Mixer, and Blender Cookbook by the Home
Economists of Culinary Arts Institute; published by Spencer Press, Inc. ; 256 pages
Published in hardback and softback (shown).
This is The American Peoples Cookbook from 1956. It was published by Spencer Press. The recipes were gathered from Sears Book Club members, and so it is possible that the book was marketed through Sears. 600 pages. Although the book seems to have been reissued as a whole over the years, material from this cookbook was adapted later (1963 and 1986) into CAI's Family Home CB, published by Lexicon Publications.
My Favorite Recipes was the name of a 1959 CAI book, published under
Melanie de Proft by Spencer Press. 320 pages in size. Not easy to find. This
book appears to be an abridgement of The American Peoples Cookbook.
The book went through a second printing in 1974.
1960's-1970's:
Series 1 and the 50's series continued to be reissued, along with some of the more popular Culinary Arts Press books.
In 1960, the Hungry Man's Outdoor CB was reissued with a different name. Measuring 10 1/4" high by 8 1/8" wide, The Master Chef's Outdoor Grill CB cost $2.00 originally in paperback. 64 pages. Includes color pictures. There was also a hardback version without "Master Chef" in the title, which came out later that year. This spanned 111 pages and was published by Grosset & Dunlap/Castle.
In 1961, de Proft and the Institute released The Woman's World Cookbook (512 pages, hardback). The material comprising this book was taken from The American Woman's CB.
In 1963, The American Peoples CB was reissued as The Family Home CB. 632 pages. Hardback with dust jacket.
Shown as a recompilation of material from 1941 and 1949; however, some of this book is new. This "first edition" was published by the Culinary Arts Press (out of Reading, PA) in 1965. A few recipes (from the Pennsylvania Dutch CB) are included in this 96 page book authored by Howard Snader.
A companion to the English PA Dutch Dictionary was the Pennsylvania Dutch People's CB, which had its first printing in 1968 and its second in 1974. Again, the book was published by Culinary Arts Press, and again the book was 96 pages in length. 250 recipes.
The following year (1966), Low Carbohydrate Diet Menus and Recipes came out. The softback book cost $1.00 originally and contains information about food cholesterol. It is numbered "A1" in the upper right hand corner and was part of a series, each containing 64 pages and costing $1.00.
The second part of the same series, numbered "A2," is The Shrimp Cookbook. The booklet was authored by Dr. Alex D. Hawkes and consists largely of contributions from his recipe columns in two Florida newspapers. The format of the series is identical to the McCall's series from 1965, which was printed by Advance. Although Advance operated out of Orlando, Florida, they had a mailing address in Chicago. The size, number of pages, paper stock, numbering system, and $1.00 sticker are the same on the CAI "A" series as they are on the McCall's "M" series.
In 1968, The President's Own White House Cookbook was first released, with recipes up through President Johnson. It was reissued later (see below).
That same year, CAI published The Jewish Woman's Cookbook, by Sarah Lee Margolis. Contains 275 recipes; 96 pp.; soft cover. Melanie DeProft is listed as Editor-in-Chief, but not as Director of CAI. Claire S. Davidow is listed as Managing Editor. The book is copyrighted to Ann D. Goodman. Although CAI is mentioned as having tested the recipes, the book is shown as by Culinary Arts Press in Reading, PA.
1971 brought us the first edition of The American Family Cookbook. 848 pages.
The revised edition of 1974 is shown above. Is this related to the American Family Home CB?
The American Family Cookbook was issued in paperback by Simon and Shuster
in 1979, with that edition having 832 pages and claiming that over 300,000 copies of
the cookbook had been sold. The paperback shows that while the book had been
compiled originally by de Proft, it was revised by the staff of CAI (after her
departure). A new edition in hardback was released in 1985, which also ran 832
pages.
The New World Encyclopedia of Cooking was first issued in 1972, then reissued in 1973, 1975, and again 1979. The 832 page book was published in New York and included 800 pages of recipes and 32 pages of nutritional information. Most (all?) of this information appears to have been taken from CAI's earlier cookbooks. Hardback with dust jacket. This item has no retail price and was probably a premium available to people who subscribed to the New World Encyclopedia. Interestingly, no one is listed as Director of the Institute at this time, so it may be the case that Melanie de Proft was no longer with the Institute by this time. As a point of note, CAI appears to have published nothing "new" of its own from this point until 1976 (after Helen Geist had taken over as Director).
In 1973 was published The World's 100 Best Recipes, by Roland Goock -- 110 pages in hardback. The book is listed as an English translation of a book published in 1971 in Europe. Large color illustrations. With dust jacket.
There is a 1973 issue of the Encyclopedic CB which looks to me like it belongs with the covers to the Good Housekeeping series. We know that the GH series were ALSO published by Consolidated Book Publishers in 1958. Also, the 1965 issue of the Pa. Dutch Dictionary shows the GH series as available through Culinary Arts Press. So...was there a connection between CAI and GH?
In 1973, there appeared a Nixon edition of The President's Own White House Cookbook (hardback, yellow cover, 255 recipes). A "Bicentennial" edition appeared in 1975, with recipes up through Ford.
The following year, the Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Cooking saw print. The 415 page hardback book contained a foreword by Dr. Philip L. White, who was the American Medical Association's Director of Foods and Nutrition and who consulted with CAI on the book. The Encyclopedia appears to have been a giveaway of some sort. Helen Geist is named among the Institute's staff, but no director is named. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, with dust jacket.
By this time, the American Woman's CB had sold over 8,000,000 copies.
Also in 1974, Culinary Arts Press issued two new books, The Chinese Cookbook of Many Delights and The Hawaiian Cookbook, each costing $1.50 in softback and being 64 pages in length. The Chinese volume was borrowed largely from M. Sing Au's earlier (1936) CAP masterpiece, whereas the Hawaiian volume was authored by Buck Buchwach and Patricia Hunter. The center spread lists the following cookbooks as still available from CAP: PA Dutch CB, Southern CB, Chinese CB, New England CB, PA Dutch People's CB, English PA Dutch Dictionary, and the Presidents' Own White House CB. The earlier volumes were 75c each, while the newer ones sold for $1.50 each. All eighteen of the McCall's series of cookbooks from 1965 are listed as available through Culinary Arts Press (POB 1182 in Reading).
By 1975, Consolidated was listed as being part of Delair Publishing, although Col. Allen places this at 1977.
In 1975-6, the Institute published at least 11 new books. Their Director at
this time was Helen Geist. These are called the Adventures in Cooking series and cost
$1.95 each. They were larger (7 13/16" x 10 1/4") 96 page (later 80 page) paperbacks
and hardbacks called:
At an additional cost ($5.95), the softbacks were available in hardback, although
the cost of the later hardback copies is $7.95.
All of the above were published by Consolidated Book Publishers in Chicago.
The year of the US Bicentennial found CAI releasing The Encyclopedia of Home Cooking, published through Banner Press. This 633 page book contains an update for microwave cooking; otherwise it is similar to CAI's earlier material.
1977's Fifty States Cookbook measures approximately 8" by 9.5" and runs a full 320 pages. Hardback with dust jacket. Is this a recycled version of an earlier cookbook?
The series continued to add members, some of which were new versions of the 50's Series booklets, including the following:
The Adventures in Cooking series proved to be CAI's most recent successful series of books for the home kitchen.
The Canning and Freezing CB was also made available in trade paperback form in 1976. With an original cost of $1.95, the paperback form was sold through Pocket Books (number 80434).
In support of T-Fal non-stick cookware, CAI issued The T-Fal Cookbook in 1976. The 48 page booklet details various ways in which their non-stick pans can be used with ease to create interesting meals. The French company T-Fal (or Tefal) invented non-stick cookware in 1955. More information about the company can be found on their homepage.
Also in connection with another company (and again in 1976), CAI released Toastmaster System III Oven Broiler CB. The "oven broiler" was what we call today a toaster oven. Although the cover shows a $1.95 price tag, the book was probably given away with the purchase of either of two models of Toastmaster. The book comes with a letter insert from the Toastmaster company introducing the book. 64 pages.
In conjunction with Coca Cola, the Culinary Arts Institute (under Helen Geist) released a series of 60 recipe cards in 1978. The sixty cards are grouped into categories of ten recipes each. Measuring 5" tall by 4" wide, every one of the recipes either uses Coca Cola or "goes good with Coke." Some Coke recipe card collections are housed in tins; this one was housed in a red box.
CAI closed out the seventies by continuing to focus on their Adventures in Cooking series. Even so, 1979 saw the publication of a premium item. As a giveaway with Crisco cooking oil, CAI produced the Salad Lover's Cookbook. The 6" by 9" softback had 48 pages and approximately 60 salad recipes.
1980 to the Present
Cooking French the New Way, by Sue Spitler, leads off CAI in the 80's. The book is 96 pages in length and appears in their larger paperback style. Also available in hardback with dust jacket.
The Cake Decorating Book came out in 1981 and featured 80 pages of illustrated ideas. This appears to have accompanied The Baking Book, by Lloyd Moxon, a 255 pg. masterpiece that was released that same year.
Modern Promotions released this book of Alltime Favorites in 1981. The softback book was priced at $8.95 originally and contained "over 1001" recipes. Sixteen pages are in color. 379 pages, Delair.
1001 Kitchen Favorites came out in 1981. The 384 page book appears to connect with Alltime Favorites.
The Canadian Family Cookbook was also released in 1981, weighing in at a whopping 832 pages. Contains recipes from each province.
Delair released The Kitchen Treasury in 1981, containing over 2000 recipes from around the US and the world. 384 pages, probably overlapping their other early 80's publications.
Following up on Alltime Favorites, Modern Promotions released 1001 Great Recipes From Around the World in 1982. The softback book was also priced at $8.95 originally. 379 pages, Delair.
The Culinary Arts Institute Cookbook appears to share a lot with the Encyclopedic Cookbook, although the ECB was still in print in paperback as of 1988. This 799 page book (from 1985) was also reprinted in 1989.
CAI's American Family Home CB, from 1986, contains some material from The American Peoples CB. The remainder of the material may be new. 608 pages in hardback, the volume contains a section on microwave cooking. Published by Lexicon Publications of New York. No Director is mentioned for the Institute, but Donald D. Wolf is "Editorial Director" of the volume.
The Kitchen Treasury Series was released in 1987. This contained several 80 page hardback books, including Old Fashioned Favorites. Published by Lexicon Publications. Apparently rehashed versions of earlier material, most of it from the Kitchen Treasury book (1981).
CAI was still publishing as of 1989, although they appear to have been recycling old material. As the 1990's went on, though, the Culinary Arts material faded out of the public eye completely.
However, 2009 brought new printings of four of Leonard S. Davidow's classic cookbooks. The Pennsylvania Dutch CB, the Southern CB, the Western CB, and the New England CB were brought back into print -- complete with all their recipes in their original forms -- by Asher Creek Publishing. Inflation has boosted the prices to $3.95 and $4.95 each, but the recipes will be the classics that many people remember fondly. Folks, if you want the recipes but don't want to search for the original collectible editions, it would be worth checking out the series of reprints.
Three of the books (all except for Southern) have been reproduced from a 1930's copy, but any poems or art work that had been found on the inside covers is absent. This is no big deal, since people are seeking the recipes, anyway. The Southern Cook Book has been reproduced faithfully from the 1965 edition of the Culinary Arts Press book.
The most recent revision of this page was on 05 Jl 09.