When I think of cook books, I think of pages full of recipes and pictures of delicious meals that make my mouth water. These photos of food look so appetizing, I just have to make them so I can give them a taste. Of course, photographs of food in modern cook books are gussied up to look like 3-michelin star perfection but the messaging in the text is “its so simple even you can do it!” And in my experience, rarely do my attempts come out looking (or tasting) as good as advertised, but still I try. While my perusing through cook books often leaves my stomach growling, they usually don’t send me subliminal messages about expected gender roles, or leave me questioning my hosting skills… but my 1950’s Better Home and Gardens New Cook Book sure does.
I think at this point it is widely known that the 1950’s were rife with misogyny, there is nothing like a cook book of the era to really drive that reality home. Each chapter of the cook book includes a title page with prints by the artists Lorraine Fox, each of which are related to the content with in. I have sixteen intact title pages within my book, fifteen of which show highly stylized women doing various tasks in and around the kitchen. The only title page that depicts a man cooking shows him outside, manning (sigh) a grill, with his son by his side – while his wife cheers him on. The husband serves as an example of what a man can do, and what a woman should do.
It is clear that the women in these picture are idealized, meant to show women what they must be striving for. The women are all white, stick-thin, dolled up, cooking and serving their white, middle class, nuclear families and always smiling. And while their hair styles and dresses are different, little else about them changes. I believe she is meant to represent “every woman”, or at least every woman the book is targeted to- white, married or wanting to be, and a homemaker. Amazingly, this every woman is capable of cooking incredible meals that satisfy her kids, husband, and friends all while keeping both her apron and her kitchen entirely spotless – in high heels to boot! If she can do it, so can you! One illustration shows the woman taking a pie out of the oven with her daughter looking on and trying to help. The mother is demonstrating the role of a woman, and the daughter is learning from her example.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t walk about the photographs of the food from this cook book. I’ve spoken before about how the colors of these photos are so hyper pigmented that they almost look like paintings- my suspicion is that this is because the photo was originally taken in black and white, and then color was added when the book was printed. This has created an almost sickly, completely unappetizing effect to the pictures. The reds, yellows and browns are absolutely grotesque, and while I’m sure the photos were impressive for the time… I cannot think of anything less appealing.
But of course, the arrangement and display of the food in these photographs are flawlessly staged. They are placed on dishes, garnished and plated to perfection… and even to inconvenience. But the standard is high for a house wife, and so the the meals must be as well. There is a huge emphasis made in this book about the importance of table settings and tablescapes. As written on the Table Settings and Entertainment title page, “Your table decorations are an invitation to pleasant eating”. I have heard that you eat with your eyes first, but truthfully some of the yummiest things I’ve eaten were certainly not the prettiest.
I think this cook book just continues to draw attention to the pressures put on women to aim for perfection and nothing less. And I would love to say that things are better than they were in the 50’s, and in some ways they are…. but in some ways they aren’t. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the Barbie Movie yet, and if not you should, but American Ferreras monologue really says it all-
It is amazing that something as simple as a cook book can contain so many hidden messages about expectations and idealizations of what a woman should be. A book meant to contain recipes for meals because so much more when you look closely at the images and text. Images have power, and clearly can be used to influence how we feel about ourselves. I leave you with this:
