The Old-Time Brand-Name Cookbook: Recipes, Illustrations, and Advice from the Early Kitchens of America's Most Trusted Food Makers

I am surprised at how much I love this book! I would call it a compendium of social, industrial, culinary, agricultural, USAmerican women's history. And yet there's nothing pretentious about it-- it's homey, in fact, and quite usable for a cookbook with such a theme. Crumpacker pulls off quite a feat: updating old-fashioned American recipes without making kitsch of them, which other similar books do. I recommend this book to everyone interested in cooking and the many contexts in which recipes are invented, reproduced, and prepared, and I plan to give a copy to all my foody friends!