We know that the kitchen is the hub of family life, and many a woman's center of creative satisfaction.  (From the introduction)

{HISTORY}

As a brand, General Foods was so tied up in home cooking throughout the 20th century, you practically could not have had a product, or a gadget, or a cookbook in your space that did not have some affiliation with the GF brand.

 It all started in 1895 with Postum, a cereal-based beverage made to rival coffee that was invented by Charles William Post for his Post Consumer Brands company. After Charles died in the 1920s, his daughter Majorie Merriweather Post took over the running of her dad's enterprise. She renamed it General Foods and, through a series of acquisitions and mergers, expanded the company into an industry leader known around the globe before it was purchased by Kraft, Inc. in 1990.

During all these twists and turns in the company's history, there were the famous test kitchens. Run by the women of General Foods, they were hard at work day after day, concepting, cooking, trying, and testing recipes, products, and equipment for the G.F. brand. With 53 test kitchens total in 17 states and 12 countries by the 1950s, these women garnered a level of trust, authority, and loyalty within the cooking community that turned General Foods into a beloved and trusted company by cooking enthusiasts around the world.

In 1959, they published The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook, made up of situations that a typical family or home cook might experience throughout the year. Knowing that home cooks were in charge of preparing over 1000 meals a year, instead of creating a traditional cookbook comprised solely of highlighting recipes, the women of the General Foods Test Kitchens came up with a cookbook that spoke of the vibrant events within the calendar year that made cooking fun, enjoyable and inventive. Their biggest challenge and their greatest desire was to fight ambivalence and boredom in the kitchen for both the cook and the eater. With that in mind, they set out to write a collection of recipes surrounded by events in so that it reads more like a storybook than a traditional cookbook. 

Meals after midnight,  a 15 year-olds birthday party, a party on a boat, breakfast with your in-laws, weekend house guest menus, pot-luck dinners, football game dinners, TV dinners, business lunches to serve at home, entertaining guests from other regions of the country,  around the world cuisine, breakfast in bed, holiday cooking, festival cooking, tea parties, bridge club lunches, what to make for your new neighbor, what to make for your friend on a diet, what to make for the garden club, for the going away party, for the party guest with a restrictive diet... these are just some examples of the types of situations you'll find in this book. 

What makes this collection especially interesting is that it gives readers a lot of insight into the mindset of 1950s home cooks - not only what they were eating but also how they were living, what they were celebrating, and what events were important to recognize with good food and good cheer. This is a cookbook but also a tribute to 1950s hospitality at its best!

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- First printing 

- Contains an original clear plastic dust jacket 

- 436 pages

- Includes recipes for all meals of the day including snacks, appetizers, and hors d'oeuvres 

- Illustrated throughout with drawings by Mary Ronin and with color photographs by George Lazarnick

{CONDITION}

Every copy of this cookbook that we have encountered has always been a bit shabby when it comes to the coverboards. That's a good testament to the love and use of a good cookbook. Despite its clear plastic dust jacket, the coverboards of this particular book contain some staining, some chippy areas along the spine creases, and a general overall worn patina. The interior pages are gorgeous - clean, bright, and spot-free with colorful photographs and vibrant illustrations. Two additional vintage recipe clippings are tucked inside... favorites perhaps, of a previous cook. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (width) x 9.25" inches (length) x .75" inches (thickness) and weighs 2 lbs