Who Me?!

I'll close out this April Fools' day with a riddle.

Is this really twelve-year-old Karen Sprengle who won the 1961 Pillsbury Junior Division Bake-Off and was featured on the back of that year's cookbook which I picked up at a sale last week...

Or am I fooling you and it's really '70's child star Johnny Whitaker:

Dora's Diary

This was among the recipe booklets I picked up last weekend.  I thought it deserved a post of its own. There isn't much information on the artist, Lois Fisher.  There was a Lois Fisher that did a children's show in the 1950's who illustrated children's books as she read them.  It seems very possible they were one in the same.  This recipe booklet was published by Monarch-Paramount Ranges and Heaters, probably in the 1940's.  They were manufacturers of high-end kitchen ranges, but were unable to compete with companies such as General Electric and went into bankruptcy in 1985.

The book itself is a gag every other page based on Dora the Maid's inept and literal interpretation of recipe directions.

Dora's dog "Doodle" bears a striking resemblance to Dagwood and Blondie's "Daisy".

April Foolishness

In the spirit of April Fools' Day, I thought I'd post a couple of gag related items I picked up this past year.

First up is "Talking Toilet" from 1971.

Corporate Cooking

One item I commonly find at garage and estate sales are the old recipe booklets that various companies, food industries and occasionally the local utility company would publish.  They were either mailed or included with the product itself at the point of purchase.  I don't know why people hung onto these, but I'm glad they did because I love them.  I came across a cache of these at a sale this weekend.  I'll go into depth with some of these at a later date.

"Good Cooking made Easy", Spry Vegetable Shortening, 1942

In League with the Future

Back in August, I featured some 35mm slides I'd bought at the estate sale of a former Credit Union employee.  Those slides were about the year 2000 and what wonders it would hold for Credit Unions.  I was going through more of that lot of slides last week and found another set with a similar theme.  They're from a series called "In League with the Future".  Unfortunately, I don't have the record or script that goes with it, but it's pretty obvious it's about moving away from cash transactions to credit and how computers will enhance the way we pay our bills and buy goods and services.  If you didn't know that, you might think it was a science fiction story about a totalitarian world ruled by computers.  It's from about 1968 and has a definite 2001: Space Odyssey feel to it.  As a side note, unfortunately these slides have suffered the dreaded "red shift" that afflicts film of this era.  It's actually caused by the cyan dye in the film fading quicker than the yellow and magenta dyes.  If I had some better software (or knew how to use what I have), I think I could correct the color.

Shrimps and Weenies

The 1950's may be the best decade in history for home kitchens.  With new materials, new innovations and high demand, there seemed to be an appliance to fit every need.

Enter, the Shrimpmaster.

24 Tails of Brown

"Pin the Tail on the Donkey" is the quintessential children's party game that I'm not even sure anyone plays anymore. In fact, I don't recall ever playing it when I was a kid.  I knew it from TV shows.  I found this "Donkey Party Game" at a sale this morning.

 

The boy is either really into this, or completely horrified by it.

This donkey has an awfully smug look on his face for someone who's about to get a pin his butt.

  

There was a vintage box of straight pins included.

THE HORROR!!!!