I guess "Old" is relative and up for intrepretation. My oldest cookbook is 1859. I was born in 1952, so 1953 doesn't seem "old" at all (LOL).

-Grainlady

I'd love to be in the draw but as I'm in Australia I'll understand if you didn't want to post it that far.

Would you believe, I hate to cook, but love cook books?!!! Yes, I cook, and I come here for insperation and help, but the simpler the better, unless I am in the mood to fuss. I used to enjoy cooking, but I guess I am getting lazy in my "old" (49) age!

Grainlady, I'll bet that 1859 cookbood is great reading! What fun! I would enjoy that one.

Tami

Hey, I should be in the running for this since I was BORN in 1953! I'd love to see a cookbook from the year I was born! I have a TIME magazine from the month I was born, and it's a hoot -- full coverage of John and Jackie's marriage (Kennedy, of course). WOW, was she beautiful, or what! And the advertisements! Hysterical! And yes, I do collect cookbooks. My DH keeps saying: "You didn't just buy ANOTHER cookbook, did you?" LOL! But I can't help it as I love to cook, and I love to try new dishes. MacThayer

I do collect books, old books, new books, cook books; I often get cookbooks at thrift shops, and some of the old recipes are a hoot.

One slightly older (1971) cookbook that is really quite useful is The New York Times International Cookbook by Craig Claiborne. I got it at a thrift shop for a dollar, and the recipe for Lapin en Gibelotte in it is excellent.

Some classic old cookbooks have been reprinted. They give an insight into how things were done way back then. I love Cajun and Creole cooking, and the Picayune Cook Book from around 1905 has some fine old recipes although they were definitely of a time when people had someone in the kitchen all day long to watch over stuff.

Another very interesting cookbook is the one I've linked to, La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange. It was a classic bourgeois French cookbook that influenced Julia Child. It's a great read, even if a lot of the content is not terribly applicable to today's kitchens. (Now if someone were to take that book and adapt its recipes to modern kitchen technology, that would be something.)

Here is a link that might be useful: La Bonne Cuisine

I'm into Vintage.....please put me down too. Thanks!!! Diana55

Please enter me also. I will turn 53 on Saturday, and one cookbook that I have which belonged to my grandmother, has a meatlof recipe in it. The first ingredient listed is: a nickel's worth of ground beef; can you believe that!!! Recipe is supposed to be large enought for 6-8 servings. My how things have changed since then.

Oh yes! Please put me in the drawing.

My husband is a Ward/June/Beave and Wally fan (he's 63 this year, I think he harkens back to a simpler time).

Me- I just really like cooking the recipes (not the canning ones though).

I have 2 old favorite cookbooks. One is from 1941-called "America's Cookbook. (It says on the cover- "The cover is washable"), compiled by the New York Herald Tribune Home Institute. It is, quite honestly as good if not better, (and at over 970 pages, as extensive), as both of my "Joy of Cooking"s. There is nothing not covered including wines and cocktails, foreign recipes, table setting and service, the well equiped kitchen and even foreign words every cook should know... (Knackebrod=whole rye, hard, flat bread, or Soubise=flavored with onion.)

But the recipes are just plain wonderful (Rhubarb Butterscotch Pie, Apple Cornflake Pudding, Lentil Curry, Corn & Sausage Fritters, Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant, Martha Washington's Potato Rolls and of course what would any good cookbook be without a recipe for Braised Opposum?)

My other old cookbook that I love and still cook from is "The Modernistic Recipe-Menu Book of The DeBoth Homemakers Cooking Schools of Chicago and New York", published 1920.
(Apricot Cheese Turnovers, Banana Puffs in Custard Cups, Cooked Salad Dressings, Bird's Nest Soup made with Irish Moss-I haven't made that one..., Graham Flour Muffins etc.)

So please put me in the mix. Nice of you to do this.

Rebecca

I enjoy old cookbooks as well. I have one named the White House Cook Book by Hugo Ziemann and Mrs. F.L. Gillette that was originally copy righted in 1887. My copy dates to 1915. It has a lot of interesting recipes but they are written in paragraph form rather than the more modern way of listing ingredients then giving instructions. Measurements are also weird, I haven't looked up how much a "gill of water" is yet. lol

It has recipes for preserving butter in brine, preserving eggs and making homemade yeast for all you people with a handful of hops lying around.

I couldn't live without knowing what a gill is. It's four ounces or 1/2 a cup.

I feel SO much better.

Here is a link that might be useful: Imperial measuring terms.

jjgrandsl your name was selected. Email me your address and I will mail it Monday. Hope you enjoy.

A gill is a quarter of a pint. In the US it's 4 fl oz, in the UK it's 5 fl oz as the UK pint is 20 fl oz.