Betty Crocker: Cookbook of the 50s

Author:  Sherril Steele-Carlin 

Betty Crocker, the fictitious homemaker with a legendary cookbook didn't originate in the 50s. The first "Betty Crocker" actually appeared in 1921, when executives of the company that is now General Mills decided that a "real" person should answer customer letters asking for recipes and cooking advice. Writers began signing the letters "Betty," and then "Betty Crocker," and later, this fictional woman appeared on national radio shows. Different actresses around the country provided the voice of "Betty." It wasn't until 1936 that artists actually put a face to the name, and a legend was born.

While Betty wasn't born in the 50s, her cookbook reached new heights of popularity during that time, and truly influenced how a generation of kids ate as they grew up. General Mills published the "Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book" in 1950, and this book became the Bible in most baby boomer kitchens. In fact, it was the bestselling non-fiction book of the 1950s. 

Opening this book can take anyone right back to the 50s kitchen, where fat was our friend. Why else would Betty say butter "promotes growth" and "builds resistance to disease" in this volume? Yes, food was simpler then, and so were our lives. That's why a copy of this cookbook can make you so nostalgic and hungry for some of mom's good old meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Recipes for both are in the book, by the way. Between the pages there are also such taste-tempters as "Chicken Loaf" with a "delicate, custard consistency," "Ham Loaf," "Meat Crust Pie," "Herring-Apple Spread," and the always delightful "Salt Pork Gravy." It's clear that eating has come a long way since 1950.

Mixed in with a variety of recipes we probably wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole today, there are just as many tidbits of excellent cooking information that is still valuable today. Illustrations show how to mix and prepare dough, batters, and quick breads, and there are whimsical illustrations throughout the book that show everything from the many different types of tea and coffee pots to basic measuring tools and kitchen utensils. Some will make you nostalgic again, and some you'll recognize from your modern kitchen. 

Moms cooked with this book during the 50s. My mother updated her copy in the 60s and still used it as her primary cookbook throughout her life. Betty Crocker and her wide variety of cookbooks helped me learn to cook, too. My first cookbook was the "Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook," and it mushroomed from there.

This original "Picture Cook Book" showed homemakers of the 50s how to use packaged foods to create meals for their families, and General Mills never missed a way to push their own foods in Betty's recipes. General Mills "Wheaties," "Gold Medal Flour," and many other Gold Medal products pepper the recipes, reminding housewives just what brand is best. Packaged cake mixes were available in the 1950s, and Betty herself introduced a layer cake mix in 1953 that promised "Just add water and bake!" Moms were getting used to cooking with mixes, canned foods, and prepared foods were becoming more popular, like TV dinners.

Thus, Betty and General Mills helped baby boomer parents cook more efficiently and still put a hot meal on the table for the entire family to enjoy. Granted, the meals weren't all what we would call healthy today. Reading this book, it's hard to figure out how so many of us survived as healthy as we did. And yet, this book and the recipes it contains are so representative of the 50s that every boomers home should have a copy today. If nothing else, it's a nostalgic and fond look back at how we ate, how we lived, and how we enjoyed life in the 1950s. 

Sherril Steele-Carlin is a freelance writer and researcher in Reno, Nevada. Her work has appeared in numerous national publications including American Profile, Highways, Pool & Spa, and many more.