California dip....a carton of sour cream and an envelope of Lipton onion soup mix.
Or hou about short wooden skewers with a chunk of Velveeta and a mini wiener...make many of these and ttick them artfully in a hollowed out cabbage into which you have inserted a small glass of custard cup with BBQ sauce.
Devilled eggs, celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese.
But dips were big....it was a fairly new concept to use a potato chip to scoop up some stuff with so every party had some.
Linda C

clam dip
flaming pu-pu platter
classic Chex mix
devilled eggs

What were Americans cooking in the 1950s?

APPETIZERS

Fruit cup
Broiled grapefruit
Melon ball cocktail
Sea food cocktail
Pastry snails
Dried beef rolls
Silver dollar hambugers
Bacon wrap-arounds
Herring-Appleteaser
Dips & chips/crackers: Lobster Newburg spread, Guacamole, Deviled Ham-Cheese Dip, Hollywood dunk
Canapes: Deviled ham, savory mushroom, hot cheese puffs, minature pizzas, hot clam
Cheerios cocktail snacks (something like Chex Mix)
Decorate your appetizer tray with celery trunks, stuffed cucumbers, grape clusters & fruit kabobs.
---Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, revised and enlarged, 2nd edition [McGraw-Hill:New York] 1956 (p. 57-66)
[NOTE: This 1950's classic cookbook was reprinted in facsimile edition in 1998 by the same publisher and is easy to obtain. Ask your librarian for help.]
Stuffed pecans or walnuts
Salted almonds
Filled Celery (with Roquefort and cream cheese)
Tidbits in blankets (surround cooked shrimp, oysters, stuffed olives, pickled onions, watermelon pickle, sauteed chicken livers, skinned grapefruit sections, dates stuffed with pineapple with thin strips of bacon, secure them with toothpicks. Broil them under moderate heat until the bacon is crisp.)
Glazed shrimp
Garlic olives
Sardine and bacon rolls
Marinated mushrooms
Cheese balls
Sausage and potato rolls
Ham and egg balls
Pineapple fingers and bacon
Broiled stuffed mushrooms (stuff with bread crumbs, shad roe, shrimp)
Shrimp puffs
Deviled eggs
Cheese for dipping potato chips
---The Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer [Bobbs-Merrill:Indianapolis] 1953 (p. 28-39)
[NOTE: there is a separate section devoted to canapes and sandwiches]

Barbecued short ribs
Toasted Tuna
Cocktail kabobs (button mushrooms and cocktail franks cut in half marinated in French dressing)
Broiled shrimp
Mix Trix (like Chex Mix)
Pumpernickel squares (crab meat, chili sauce, curry powder, mustard on pump)
Deviled almond rolls
Party pinwheels (dough, leftover meat, moistened with chili sauce, baked)
Cocktail knishes
Filled cream puffs (store-bought puffs filled with hot chicken salad, creamed shrimp, creamed turkey, served in a chafing dish)
Broiled mushroom caps
Baby pizzas (use English muffins!)
Sea-food celery (stuff flaked crab & mayo into cut celery. Garnish with paprika.)
Stuffed eggs (deviled eggs)
Sardine surprise (sardines mashed with hard cooked egg yolks, anchovy paste, dry mustard, butter, & spices. Served on squares on pumpernickel)
Ham rolls (boiled ham & liverwurst)
Dunks (aka dips): sour cream, shrimp, chive, horseradish, guacamole, pimiento, tuna
---Martha Deane's Cooking for Compliments, Martha Young Taylor [M. Barrows:New York] 1954 (p. 13-35)

I grew up in CA during the 1950s-1960s. I remember in the 50s Hawaiian buffets were hugely popular (the infamous "Po Po Platter" was always my favorite). So, I guess egg rolls with a dipping sauce would be appropriate.

Also, Mom made Chex Mix for parties...I can remember Chex Mix from about 1957-1958'ish?

Mom also used to make these little lettuce cups things with crab, celery, mayo & I don't remember what all else was in those things but they were always on party tables (living in CA we had access to fresh seafood & I grew up on Crab Louie's & abalone sandwiches instead of hamburgers).

My Dad was an entertainer so we had lots of parties but I guess I was more interested in the music 'cause I can't remember much about the food? lol I would have been under ten during the 50s. The ones above I'm sure about though 'cause I remember being yipped at for ordering the most expensive thing on the memu more than once! That darn "Po Po Platter"! I LOVED those things! I'd snarf down a whole platter by myself...that was way before we knew I had a thyroid 'issue'! I'd also eat an entire large pizza. I was always so darn hungry I didn't much care what I was eating...just grabbed whatever was in sight & down the hatch it went! After my thyroid was removed...I wasn't such a piglet. :)

Jello salads, maybe? I know they were popular in the 60s but I'm not remembering them any earlier...??

Oh, I'm remembering another food...Mexican food. We always had tamales for parties. I loved those also. They were a special treat food 'cause they were so time consuming. Actually, it was my sister that had those at parties...not my Mom. I can remember them as far back as the 50s though. That might have been a southwestern thing though...don't know if Mexican food was popular throughout the US in the 1950s? When I wasn't eating seafood I practically lived on enchilladas & refritos.

Have Fun!

/tricia

No Mexican food in the east. The first time I tasted a taco was when I went to California in 1973.
OTOH, cubes of Velveeta seem a bit much! We had Velveeta, but I can't imagine people serving it to guests.
Shrimp cocktail was big.

I've been immersed in the era for the last few days. As one of my Christmas presents, DH is making me a CD of my favorite oldies. So I'm trying to remember all my favorites. The research is a lot of fun.

I was a teenager in the 50s & it seems every gathering I attended always had the brick of cream cheese ; covered with cocktail sauce with a couple of cans of tiny shrimp dumped over --
& deviled eggs
& tiny, crustless sandwiches made with one slice white, 1 wheat & cut into "finger " or triangles
liver pate
cheese straws
small "cream puffs" stuffed with shrimp or ham salad

I really like this website: Food Timeline

I was 14 in 1950....on the East coast. I am sure what was served in suburban New Jersey and what was served in California was very different. We didn't know Pupu platters but we did know pizza and corned beef and seafood.
Music I remember was Johnny Ray and Cry, Patti Page and the Doggy in the Window, Jo Stafford and Shrimp Boats...mostly ballads and "cute" songs.
Rock as we now think of in the 50's didn't even breathe a breath until Blackboard Jungle and Rock around the Clock and that was in 54 I believe about the same time as Elvis first came onto the scene....but it didn't take off like a rocket...it was several years before everyone was into it.
We wore circle skirts and peasant blouses adn Bermudas and knee sox and cashmeres weaters and pearls and Anne Fogarty dresses and worn out dirty white tennies, and wired strapless dresses and crinolines and the guys wore tweed jackets and khaki pants...with pleats, button down shirts and skinny ties.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: Lost in the Fifties

And you must present your appetizer in a poodle skirt!!! (Or labradoodle/goldendoodle skirt)

You knew pizza in the fifties, Linda? Wow. That didn't get to Pennsylvania.

We had pizza in the mid-50s in CA. Both Pizza Hut & Shakley's were open by then plus Mom/Pop pizzerias. Linda, in New Jersey, probably had them even earlier...like soon after the war ended.

This is from Wiki...

"History
A Shakey's restaurant in the Philippines.Alex and Lenas pizza was founded in Sacramento, California, on April 30, 1954, by Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and Ed Plummer. Johnson's nickname resulted from nerve damage following a bout of malaria suffered during World War II. The first weekend the parlor opened, only beer was served and Shakey took the profits from beer sales and bought ingredients for pizza the following Monday.

Shakey personally played dixieland jazz piano to entertain patrons. Shakey's initially became known outside Sacramento, not for its pizza, but for the jazz program it sponsored on a regional radio network. Shakey Johnson is honored in the Banjo Hall of Fame in Guthrie, Oklahoma, for his longtime use of banjo music at his pizza parlors. Other live music, including piano, was also a staple in the old Shakey's parlors.

The original store at 57th and J in Sacramento remained in business until the late 1990s.

A "Ye Old Notice" sign.The second Shakey's Pizza Parlor opened in Portland, Oregon, in 1956. Shakey's began franchising its restaurant to others in 1957. According to Johnson, Shakey's Pizza engaged in little market research and made most of its decisions on where to locate stores by going where Kinney Shoes opened stores. By the time Johnson sold his interest in 1967, there were 272 Shakey's Pizza Parlors in the United States. The first international store opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1968. By 1975, the company had expanded to the Pacific Rim, including Japan and the Philippines. The chain is now much bigger in the Philippines than in the United States."

/tricia

Thanks for the replies. I confess, I groaned when I first opened the invitation - there's so much to do in these next couple weeks - but I admit it's been fun reading these responses and deciding what to bring.

I was born in '55, so I remember 60's food more clearly. While there is some overlap in food trends, some foods really mark a decade.

My kids grew up eating things like pad thai, enchiladas, tofu and couscous, but here in the Northeast, none of those foods were known to me until my teen and college years. It's revealing and interesting to me to see those lists from the old cookbooks.

amck,

Oh, I so know what you're saying. When I moved to New England in the late 80s I thought I'd die within a month due to the lack of Mexican food! There was no choice but to have family send me twice/month care packages from CA so I could make my own. I'd make tamales 200 at a time & freeze. I learned to make a mean mole sauce. All of the Mexican chocolate, Mexican oregano, tomatillos, chilies, masa harina, corn husks, etc. had to be shipped to NH. That lasted a good ten years before there were decent Mexican restaurants within a day's drive.

In CA, I would have to say that the Hawaiian buffet really marked the 50s decade.

My uncle, Mark, was a chef in Fresno at the Hacienda Hotel. On Sunday, they had a huge brunch & an underwater ballet visible from the dining room (those underwater ballets were also big in the 50s). Anyway, Mark cooked for this buffet & one entire section was devoted to egg rolls, egg foo young (sp?), fried shrimp, & beef skewers w/some type of sweet sauce. At the time, I thought these Hawaiian buffets were a national thing...Linda says, "No". We had dozens of Polynesian restaurants where the waitresses wore hula skirts & decorations were lit by tiki lamps...always coconuts hanging from palm trees also. It was a huge craze.

I also think you can't go wrong with making a big bowl of Chex Mix. That was, surely, a national fad.

/tricia

I think I learned about the Gallery of Regrettable Foods on the cooking forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: 10pm Cookery

I found a 1954 Westinghouse Cookbook (from the Penn Shady Appliance dealer in Pittsburgh - wouldn't YOU buy an appliance from a "Shady" dealer?) in my collection - no appetizer section. I had to look for "canapes" in the Sandwich chapter. A quick glance seems to tell me that if you had chipped ham, canned deviled ham, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, pimento-stuffed olives, and Worcestershire sauce, you were the "Queen of Cuisine". LOL!

Seriously, if you want any of these "recipes", I'd be happy to post some.

malna,

And now I know the real reason why I was more interested in the music than the food in the 9150s! Uck!

/t

I remember my Mom taking Rumaki to cocktail parties in the 50's. Fits right in with the Hawaiian craze. . .Water chestnuts and chicken livers wraped in bacon, marinated in ginger/worchestershire sauce and broiled.

I remember my mom making those little crustless sandwiches with alternating brown and white bread, spread with creamy spreads, tuna or egg and then cut so they were fingertip sandwiches of alternating colours. Another one was crustless white bread spread with cream cheese and rolled around an asparagus spear. (Those are actually good, even though the asparagus came from a jar or tin.) Heinz sandwich spread was used a lot then as well. Sort of a mayonnaise with finely chopped pickles in it which I still rather like today.

She also made a dessert called Heavenly Hash, made from marshmallows and fruit and put in the fridge for several hours.
She also made cold tapioca desserts.
I'm sure there were some Jello desserts in there as well.

These items were mainly served at parties at home or for my mom's bridge club when they came to our house.

SharonCb

In New Jersey we had pizza parlors in the very late 40's. It was called Pizza pie.
When I started dating my DH to be ( he was from Iowa and I from NJ and we were dating in Mass.)he had just returned from being stationed in California....and was fascinated with the Trader Vic and other Hawiian restraunts....
In the east we didn't know anything about rum drinks with umbrellas and Pupu platters....we were too busy drinking Martinis and Manhattens (and some drank 7 and 7 blech!) and talking through our teeth, to care about what happened on the west coast.LOL!
And Cheri rumaki was "exotic"....cutting edge in the late 50s'! LOL!
When my parents would have a party, the only "mixer" that friends used was seltzer ( in a syphon!) and ginger ale!
And no wine, no beer...just booze!
When we had parties in the early years...it was BYOB! LOL! When we finally got out of the just married/poor category, we did like out parents....M and M parties and "highballs".
I can't remember when we started to serve wine as a before dinner drink. For a lot of years it was only served with dinner....at least in our crowd....at least until mid 80s'.
Linda C...walking down memory lane...
It's been said they were the "greatest generation"....they had to be!! LOL!

I was going to suggest the same thing as cherigw --rumaki. I think it's good without the chicken liver, too, if you think people won't go for that. You can just wrap the bacon around the water chestnuts.

Rumaki

12 slices bacon, halved crosswise
12 ounces chicken livers, halved
12 whole water chestnuts, halved

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar

To make the marinade, combine soy sauce, ginger, sherry and sugar in a small bowl. Add the chicken livers and water chestnut pieces and marinate them in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

Place 1 chicken liver piece and 1 chestnut piece in the center of each bacon-half, wrap, and secure with a toothpick.

Place the Rumaki on a broiler pan or shallow baking pan and broil, about 5 or 6 inches from the heat, until the bacon is crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Or, you can bake the appetizers in a 375° oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve hot. Makes 24 appetizers.

Chip dip and see if you can believe this one

cottage cheese (big curds)
ketchup
garlic salt

Mix it by spoon (not the blender) and we thought we had died and gone to heaven. That was the first we knew of chip dip!!

Of course, homemade pizza was the little biscuits in the tube that you spread out and put pizza sauce and hot dogs and green olives on it and some sprinkled parmesan cheese!!!

If you don't know any better you thought that was a real party. Bubble up for pop also. Deanna

There were good cooks and lazy cooks in the 50's, just like in every other generation. I can imagine our grandchildren 50 years from now going to a 2000-themed party and bringing green bean casserole and hamburger helper. LOL

Jane and Michael Stern's book Square Meals has a chapter titled The Cuisine of Suburbia, and focuses on 50's food. It's broken into these sections:

TV Snacks, Dips and Dunks
The Miracle of Dry Onion Soup
Casseroles - Glamour With a Can Opener
Luau in Your Living Room
Patio Parties
Teen Food
Corn Flake Cookery
Look What You Can Do With Dr. Pepper
Dessert ex Machina
Jell-O - the Chef's Magic Powder

The Tiki/Luau theme was popular when I was growing up in PA in the 50's. I loved it when my parents would take me to the Kona Kai restaurant near Philadelphia. Swim clubs were popular in those days and they always seemed to have a Luau night and a clambake night during the summer.

Dates stuffed with almonds was one of my faves from that era. I can remember snatching them as they were being 'made'.

Wow, am I ever glad that appetizers have evolved over the years. I wouldn't have done well in the 50's at a cocktail party! About the only appetizers mentioned above that I actually like are
Rumaki, shrimp, and Stuffed Mushrooms. Oh and chicken liver pate. Love that.

Ann

I went to my 1950 ed. Betty Crocker's Cook Book and here is a list. The key ingredients seem to be cream cheese, anchovies and of course - toast.

PB and Bacon on toast.
Chutney and Bacon on toast.
Minced Clam and Cream Cheese on toast.
Deviled Ham on toast.
Anchovy or Sardine on toast.
Smoked Oysters on toast.
Cucumber and Anchovy on toast.
Savory Muchroom Canapes on toast. (cook in butter, add garlic salt, cream)
Chili and Sardine on toast.
Hot Cheese Puffs
Hot Crabmeat Puffs
Miniature Pigs in Blankets
Cheese Bacon Rolls
Herring Apple Spread
Cream Cheese Olive Anchovy spread
Sweet Pickles wrapped in fillets smoked salmon or anchovy
Bacon wrapped Green Olives
Dried Beef and Cream Cheese spread
Bologna spread with Cream Cheese seasoned with onions or chives and mustard.
Gooseliver Bonbons
Pecans with Anchovy
Savory Dill Franks
Green Balls -grated Swiss cheese, minced cooked ham, mustard, egg yolk, S&P roll in minced chives or parsley.
Flaming Cabbage - too weird!

Clare

I'd bring pigs in a blanket with hot mustard! In fact I want some now.

Alton Brown's meatball show included his Mothers "Swedish meatballs" that he did this whole enactment segment on where he was a little kid at one of his Mom's party scarfing them down. If I remember right it was probably more like early 60s but really - are the 50's food police going to check your appetizer at the door? "Whooops, no, can't bring that food in, wrong decade by a year".
He seemed pretty enamored of those swedish meatballs, I almost jumped up off the couch to make them.

Mary,
I love Alton Brown. Here is the website for his Swedish Meatballs which are rated 5 stars. I plan on making them.