Vintage Cookbooks: Mary Margaret McBride's Encyclopedia of Cooking

In the continuing series featuring classic vintage cookbooks, one of the biggest volumes of all time is the Mary Margaret McBride's Encyclopedia of Cooking. This series came out in 1958 and was available in two formats: a 12-volume set of hard cover books or larger print magazine-style supplements that could be put together in a binder. The individual volumes were sold mostly at grocery stores and supermarkets and were purchased one at a time over a period of months.

Mary Margaret McBride (1899-1976) was a media personality who hosted a popular talk and interview program on CBS radio in the 1940's. She interviewed prominent figures from politics, art and entertainment. The show's audience was largely women, and many features on the program catered to homemaking and domestic issues. Mary Margaret McBride put her name on this large volume of recipes, but had nothing to do with developing the content. The book was composed by the Homemaker's Research Institute of Evanston, Illinois.

If you love vintage cookbooks and want to see lots of recipes from right off the pages, check out Anna's channel "Cooking The Books" here on YouTube! @cooking_the_books

#cooking #cookbook #cookbooks #vintage #vintagerecipes #vintagecookbooks

[Ladythyme]

OMG my mom had the Mary Margret McBride Encyclopedia the Binder version…it’s enormous… I remember when she was collecting the different volumes at the A&P….I have it now… I have to keep it in a box as it sadly has met its demise in wear over the years….❤❤❤ Great info…thank you!

[bettywachowiak]

I have the Woman’s Day encyclopedia of cooking which I received at my shower 57 years ago and I still love it, even to just pick up and read. Love your shows.

[ElaineMarieHill]

Amazing woman. Library of Congress has many audio items of hers. Can’t wait to jump in . Thanks.

[cscs]

What a FABULOUS collection!! Please do more segments on them and thanks for sharing.
I used to have the McBride books and have regretted losing them as one of my favorite recipes was in one of them, but I didn't know which one. Your video cleared that up for me. I NEED volume 4! Off to Ebay!

[MichaelMackdesign]

Ok, now you got me looking for mid-century cookbooks. Never thought about collecting them but I have read a few people stating that the recipes are slightly different and were actually better than today's version of the same recipe. 😁

[SK-kite]

Always learning about something new from the past ! Thx!

[VickiFromMichigan]

Such an interesting story! I love it.. thanks for sharing Kevin🥰

[veronicah]

Another one to add to my wishlist! Thank you for these great videos! ❤️

[HumbleVoyager]

Hi, Kevin! I love the cookbooks!! Thanks for the video, the website and of course the Cavalcade Radio Hour on WMIC, The Voice of the Thumb. Have a lovely day, Kevin!

[JohnSurf]

I am thoroughly enjoying your series on Vintage cookbooks. You have inspired me to start picking them up when I find them at thrift stores. This episode on Mary Margaret McBrides cookbook series is a very clever idea in that you really need to own the majority of the volumes to have a good resource for general cooking. It’s wonderful that they include good household tips and health and nutrition tips. Her life sounds fascinating for that time period. I’m going to do some YouTube searching to see if I can find some radio episodes. I’m always amazed at how the not so distant past seems so different from the current time period. It’s amazing how much has changed in just the past 15 years. I don’t necessarily love having to interact with a touch screen to do almost everything now.

[suzanneandersen]

Hi Kevin! I always enjoy your vintage cookbook videos as I love cookbooks too and have been collecting for many years. I find them so interesting and so enjoy the photos in them. I had never heard of these cookbooks but such an interesting story behind them. As always thank you for sharing and inviting us in to your vintage world! Can’t wait for the next one!

[bbymks]

Thank you!!! I'm one of the people who asked you about this one! I have and use it quite a bit! It seriously has something for everything you possibly want!

I tried finding out how she was connected to it, but basically came up empty handed. Now I know why.

The stories she could tell if she were still alive...fascinating woman!!

[andreaberryhill]

I still love a properly set table... even if it's just my husband and me. Not fancy, but to promote manners!

[susanaramirez]

❤love your vintage cookbooks presentations 👍🤩 Keep doing this, we ❤ it!

[melodeediehl]

I just recently bought that big cookbook at a thrift store and I have the first little book of appetizers, I am so happy to know more about these!!!

[tamsondarland]

Kevin, very interesting history about Mary Margaret McBride. Thank you again for a wonderful, detailed history about a selection of cookbooks. I love collecting cookbooks and find the history behind them fascinating. I truly enjoy your beautiful channel as a longtime Ky sub.

[Evie-bfum]

Married in 1965. A section was offered weekly or so to buy at IGA grocery. The cover (front &back) was also available. I also have the complete hardback set that I purchased as I found them at yard sales. Special treasure to me.

[jonathan_nc]

I had heard of Mary Margaret McBride from my interest in OTR but never heard of this cooking encyclopedia before, so thanks for the info. Radio's Bob and Ray did a spoof of her called Mary McGoon and their Thanksgiving show featured Mary's "Mock Turkey" which was made of mashed potatoes with hot dogs for legs and wings. 😀

[craftypat]

My mother bought the big yellow cookbook in sections at the grocery store. She used it as a booster seat for children at the table. We wore the front cover off of it. I remember sitting on it as a child. She also used a lot of recipes from it.

[trudybednarek]

Great hand writings on board ( lost art )
I enjoy everything you do 😊 all soo interesting and valuable