Saturday, June 5, 2010

Merry Makings

I can't remember how old I was when I first found this tiny 6'' x 3'' Betty Crocker recipe pamphlet folded-up and mixed in with my mother's cookbooks. Needless to say, she possibly never even baked anything from this 24-page explosion of great 60's design because once in my hands she was doomed to never get it back. This kind of thing is just as appealing to me as any comicbook or trip to the carnival, and for some reason I'm an insatiable sucker for fantastically illustrated characters from this era interacting with photos of delicious real foods. And as you can see, the recipes themselves take a backseat as each page here is expertly layed out, bursting with warm stylized imagery, and gorgeously clever color and typography choices... though speaking of clever, how can you not want to eat something with names like Funny-Side-Up Pie, Crazy-Quilt Bread, Chucklet Cake, Whirly Giggles, Tickled Pinks, Slap Sticks, or Zany Babas?) I've posted the entire pamphet here and apologize for the scan quality as it is very old and brittle, and as mentioned lived a few years in a state of folded torture. If anyone is adventurous enough to make any of these tasty treats, please let us know about it in the comments.

Happy Entertaining!
























22 comments:

Mykal Banta said...

Karswell: If this is a taste (yuk yuk) of what is to come, I can see we will be very well served (yuk again)!!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I see why you love it. That's full of amazing goodies, and for once, I'm not talking about the baked goods. That "Java Jive" page especially.

Mr. Karswell said...

It'll be a big mish mash of all kinds of fun stuff, I worried about kicking things off with a recipe pamphet for fear of people thinking it'll be just a food blog... the focus will primarily be on retro design and other weird bits of old school kitschy randomness. Thanks M-- you're #1!

Mr. Karswell said...

Thanks Dania!

Kitty LeClaw said...

I hope this blog will also serve as a forum to showcase more of your writing; you are quite good at it.

Bring on the carnettes!

Mr. Karswell said...

>Bring on the carnettes!

Haha, I knew you were gonna say "carnettes!" xxx

Kitty LeClaw said...

Yew know me tew well!

Mike H said...

That's a very cool piece of ephemera! I like the illustrations!

Runs.with.Ferals said...

You just can't go wrong mixing hand-colored photography with cartoony illustrations in cookbooks or advertising. The final recipe should be entitled: 'Rotten Tooth Delight'

Mr. Cavin said...

Plus, honestly, the Hawaiian coffee looks like a pretty good idea. I'm still reading, but this pamphlet seems to be filled with much better ideas than our usually aspic-filled native fare circa the fifties through seventies (based on cursory research of those old-fangled Rolodex cards my grandmother used to get in the mail).

I'm looking forward to the next thing.

Anonymous said...

Great stuff Karswell, totally on par with THOIA and I am looking forward to more posts, good luck with AEET (am I the first to say that?)

Mr. Karswell said...

>AEET (am I the first to say that?)

Haha, I guess you are ANON... thanks! And thanks to all the comments, please don't forget to add yourselves to my followers list, and tell your friends too! More fun on the way!

Prof. Grewbeard said...

i maded you a comment, but i guess the interweb ated it- anyway, looking forward to whatever you come up with here!

Cindy M said...

I have died and gone to...um...I'm ELATED to see this, Karswell. I absolutely love old recipe/entertaining booklets (or pamphlets) like these. The bold colors, art, layout; all fabulous.

You'd love a booklet my mother had of various cake designs made from simple round or square cakes. Cut them up into the shape of a sailboat, giraffe, teddy bear, butterfly. Decorate with colorful frostings, licorice whips, candy buttons, toasted coconut. They were so clever and looked fantastic.

If I can find it (mom might have given it to me years ago), will let you know. Maybe you'd be interested in scanning and posting it for your blog? Provided you return it to me of course (I've already read your "warning" in the paragraph, lol).

Crafty C said...

The recipes only take a back seat if you believe that they do. I, personally, do not.

Ok maybe some of them do. They use Bisquick!

Mr. Karswell said...

I don't really believe that either, Carol. I doubt I believed it when I wrote this intro... I still wish someone would bake a few of these and tell me how they are!

Crafty C said...

Well, I don't have an oven right now - but I could make the Carousalad with Curry-o-dressing and let you know about that, although that may just be the least appealing recipe in that cookbook. What is a Carousalad anyway? I feel like I missed out on something...

Mr. Karswell said...

Ha, I guess it was just some fun play on words... although Carousel Cole Slaw might have a better ring to it!

KL from NYC said...

Wow. Back then those booklets were almost books (or, at least, novellas). And they were either free, or you sent in 50 cents with a couple of box tops.
...And you didn't have to log on to the Internet.

I'm really glad you take the time to post these, both for the art and the info (I enjoy them on both levels).

Thank you.

Mr. Karswell said...

You're very welcome, Kurt!

Slayla said...

Saved the Flap Happies recipe to make for my pancake junkie girl. I'll message you a photo of the results. Beautiful art in the book.

Mr. Karswell said...

Can’t wait to see some flap happy faces!