Saturday, May 18, 2013
Barbeque Book '56 (PART ONE)
We're in BBQ mode once again here at AEET, and today it's Better Homes and Garden's awe-inspiring Barbeque Book, first published in 1956... a treasure trove of recipe info for planning complete outdoor meals. It's actually a lot more than just a BBQ book too --there's fried chicken, pizza, veggies and fruit, cheese and even donuts too! --and aside from the countless ways to prepare all your favorite delicacies it's a wonderful, photograph-loaded, time-capsuled glimpse into how people did it up right with their food fun in the 50's! And as typical with most cook books from this era, it contains some super illustrations as well (I think the signature says Roy Mathews.) Take some time and look over each image below carefully, there are some really great touches of detail in each mouth-watering frame. I'll have more from the second half of this book in PART TWO coming up later next week. Enjoy!
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8 comments:
i really love everything here - i could stare at these pictures for hours. but i really love the cover with the mix of the cartoon people and the real pictures of food.
other than that the super highlights for me are the little pizza being grilled and the groovy 50s plates in the pic with the giant steak and casserole dish of french fries and tomatoes on the grill. and all the pies. and the donuts. and everything hot dog related. should i go on? this'll be a page long if i do. :)
and all the pickle/relish plates!!! i love those.
> the groovy 50s plates in the pic with the giant steak and casserole dish of french fries
Oh yes, those are AMAZING! I'm a fan of the circular drum coolers too, they hold anything hot or cold! And the hillbilly whiskey jug shaped containers for mustard and sauces and also the wooden section plates in the one pic are great too. What about Dad's suitcase arsenal of BBQ equipment in the back of the station wagon with the water melons???!!!
I think my favorite image, even more than sizzlin' beef, is the fried chicken shot and those hard boiled eggs-- that's my dish! Also, I just noticed the pretzel sticks in the donut shot! *drool!
Okay, very last family pic at the bottom-- DEVO hair dad is loveably creepy...
Forgot to mention the crazy peeled oranges in the donut shot too-- that's just inspired awesomeness.
yeah - i totally love that whole back of the station wagon setup! it's freaking genius. and i was totally gonna comment on the DEVO dad - but i was thinking he looked more like Dracula's long lost half cousin. who eats steak and goes out during the day.
i didn't even notice the oranges. cool! i also love the steaks that are sitting right on the charcoal. i've never even heard of that being done.
They sure knew how to do outdoor grilling back in the day.
I just want to point out that all of the photos here are awesome collages (well, all of the important ones). That is how they get to have all those nebulous elements in sharp focus--much like the fabled twin diopter shots in classic cinema. PS, I love this shit. Every picture here is like a magic catalog page while also being a contiguous illustration.
The drafted illustrations are great too. I like 'em all (and especially love junior's cowboy getup and the fifties sunburn blush across everybody's noses). But nothing beats the cover. I really like that color shift indicating the back-lighting on the illustrated family in the bottom corner. That's excellent coloring technique right there.
>sunburn blush across everybody's noses
I plan to get a sunburn blush across my nose here in another hour or so as I'm about to fire up the grill myself (and it's already a typical STL scorcher outside at 10:45 am!)
More goodies on the way-- thanks again for the comments!
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