Vintage Cookbooks: Farm Journal Cookbooks

The Farm Journal magazine has been published for 145 years and is one of the oldest magazines in the United States. In 1959 they published a cookbook from the thousands of recipes submitted to the magazine by farm women over the years (Farm Journal Country Cookbook) and it was an instant success. Over the next couple of decades they published many smaller cookbooks that focused on pies, cakes, entertaining, vegetables, blue ribbon winners, etc. We take a look at those cookbooks on this episode. #cookbook #vintagerecipes #cavalcadeoffood #cookbooks

[elainehildebrand]

I was married in Feb. 1960 was a subscriber to Farm Journal until they quit circulation. I would order these books as they were offered. I still have them and the same husband. I’m still living on the farm and have a man who is still a meat potatoes and gravy fella. The bread book is my favorite.

[russbear]

Small, small world... Only about an hour ago I was scouring the old cookbooks at a nearby thrift store and I saw two old Farm Journal cookbooks. I almost bought them. (I already have 2 or 3 of their cookbooks, including one from the 1950s.) I came home, fired up YouTube, and there's Kevin discussing Farm Journal cookbooks!! 😅

I might go back tomorrow and buy those books. I didn't realize they were somewhat collectible. But I did buy a nice copy of the Betty Crocker Chocolate Cookbook from the early '70s. (Only chocolate recipes.) I also found an old baking book from the 1960s that features recipes that won blue ribbons at state fairs across the country.

[neilschipper]

❤ what a trip down memory lane! I have my great-grandmother's, my grandmother's, and my mother's farm journal cookbooks. I've also got the same pie cookbook that my mother put her blue ribbons in that she won at the 4-H fairs.

[SK-kite]

🤣😂 “They weren’t eating salads” 🤩Love the cookbook vids!

[jonathan_nc]

My grandparents had a small farm and they both worked in jobs outside the home too, so they tended the farm evenings and weekends until they both retired in the late 1960s. Granny was an excellent cook, from scratch mostly, and I don't remember ever seeing a Farm Journal cookbook, so thanks for sharing your vast collection. Our property had been a fruit orchard so we had all kinds of apples and both dark and sour cherries that made the most wonderful pies. Also fresh squash, green beans, lima beans, tomatoes, okra and peas from their small garden, which is now my back yard.

[sunshinesuperman]

I have the 1978 Farm Journal Freezing and Canning book. I purchased it new back when I started canning. Have used it many times and looks like new with book jacket as well. I have hundreds of cookbooks and I love watching you talk about your cookbooks. I collect them and can't let any of them go, they are like my children. I started my collection in the 60's, I am now 75, so you can imagine how many I have accumulated. Do you have a collection of Mr. Food cookbooks? I have about 15 of them, really love his books for day to day cooking. Mr. Food died years ago, but his son has taken over and the books are just as good. I think cooking, recipes, cookware and etc. runs in the family. I cooked with my Mom in Detroit from a very young age to the very end of her life. She lived to 94, and although she didn't get around very well the past few years because she broke her hip, but we cooked together by communication on how things were made and she would also give me hints on how things should look and taste. My fondest memories are making pierogi together, usually 200 at a time. Golumpki 2 roasters at a time, and they do freeze very well. She was the very best cook and use to work for some wealthy families before she got married, then lived on a farm where she not only fed her family, but also made meals for their farmhands. I might be getting old, but I am so happy I was born in 1949 and life was wonderful, not like it is now. Our Grandchildren don't even know what a cookbook is, couldn't read those cursive recipes you mentioned on your show, because they do not learn cursive in school any longer. They can't even read the original Constitution or Bill of Rights, and can't even have a signature to sign a check, or write a letter.

[VickiFromMichigan]

I'm definitely keeping a lookout for these cookbooks when I'm out and about thrifting! As always, thanks so much for sharing Kevin!🥰

[cynthiafisher]

I was excited when I saw this video come up, my Farm Journal Country Fair Cookbook is my absolute favorite cookbook!I have cooked/baked from it for decades, so it is falling apart at this point. I have never had a disappointment with any of the recipes I’ve made. The Mile-High Biscuits are my “secret recipe”.😂, although I now use butter instead of shortening, makes them even better. I won a ribbon at the fair with the Tart Lemon Square recipe and the Danish Apple Bars are incredible. So many more!
I also own the candy cookbook and the pie one. I don’t make candy often so I haven’t used it much. I’ve used the pie one some, because I love pie, although I like a more plain pie usually, not all the variations.
I’m going to look for some of the others you mentioned while I’m out thrifting from now on. Thanks for the reviews!

[terrysuemakesvideosforyou]

Hi Kevin! Great look at these wonderful cookbooks! I was remembering that my dad told me that during the depression, the relatives that lived down in Detroit used to come out to my Great grandparents farm for Sunday dinner. My Great grandma would send them home with fresh eggs and butter and vegetables. I am sure that the families in the city really looked forward to those visits. My Great grandma taught my dad to cook as he spent the summers on the farm as a youngster. Some of the best memories that he shared, and I remember some of the food too. Have a great weekend. (and some of it was Polish food too!)

[HumbleVoyager]

Hi, Kevin! I love cookbooks, especially vintage ones. I have the 1959 Farm Journal Country Cookbook in soft cover format. Any cookbook published in 1959 is a favorite, as I was born that year. Thanks for sharing your vast and varied collection with us. I really enjoy all of your videos. Have a lovely day, Kevin!!

[cyrilhudak]

Fresh from the cow, whole milk. Chilled in the springhouse in an enameled steel pitcher. Only on the farm.

[knightwing]

kevin as a grandson of farmers one thing that comes to my memory was having home baked bread toasted on the wood cook stove. no electric toaster could compare to it. great show.

[terrydonald]

Love Cavalcade of Food. Love my cookbook collection. I read through them like a magazine. I have the Cookie & Best Vegetable editions of Farm Journal cookbooks. Love them both. They were originally my mother's. I couldn't get rid of them when we downsized. Keep creating and sharing!! Thank you!!

[aerocoaster]

I thought that I had never heard of the Farm Journal cookbooks, so I was surprised when you showed the Homemade Breads book and I recognized it as a book that I own. It was gifted to me by the aunt who introduced me to breadmaking and encouraged my interest in baking.

[donnaclinton]

The pie cookbook looks like a winner to me. Pie is a great dessert.

[lauren]

Thankyou Kevin,
I love these vintage series, i had never heard of these ( The farm journal country cookbook) being over here, i guess it didn't reach our shores.
Very interesting 🙂

[juliejj]

Just put a few of these cookbooks in my cart on amazon. I'll still try to find them out in the wild, but have to have them. You got an "A" in penmanship, didn't you? So did I. I enjoy your shows! Julie

[StillBakingbread]

I’m so happy you featured Farm Journal cookbooks! I have quite a few—Informal Entertaining Style, America’s Best Vegetable Recipes, Cooking With Apples, Country Fair Cookbook, Freezing & Canning, Great Home Cooking in America, Homemade Ice Cream and Cake, Choice Chocolate Recipes, Complete Cake Decorating, Complete Pie Book, Country Cookbook (1972), Cream of the Crop, Great Dishes from the Oven, Homemade Breads, Homemade Cookies, Homemade Snacks, and The Thrifty Cook. I love your cookbook features!

[lynntomk]

I have two Farm Journal cookbooks, both are paperbacks. I laughed when you said "they cooked everyday". It was the norm back then. Enjoyed the book review.

[keaghank]

Every time you do a review, I end up searching ebay for more cookbooks. My shelves are getting full!

I do own the freezing and canning farm journal cookbook already :)