Full-color automatic heat regulation!

It's time to get in the Wayback Machine!

Okay, maybe we're not going back as far as Peabody and Sherman, but this is still older than my usual books. It's Lorain Cooking (by Dorothy E. Shank for American Stove Company, 1930). As you may have guessed by Shank's employer, this book is mostly an advertisement for ovens with the Lorain heat regulator (that little red knob you see on the cover). The preface promises this miraculous regulator "eliminates burning of food which may happen when one has to regulate the oven by hand." That seems like a pretty tall order considering I still manage to burn things on the regular even though my oven probably has better heat control than 1930s ovens.

This booklet has a few actual color pictures, a rarity in books this old.

I love the effort to make this picture colorful with the multicolored flowers, pink ham, green beans, patterned china, etc. If you're going to include a color plate, go all out! I also love that this "baked ham makes a real meal either for company or just 'family folks'"! Yes, I guess if you can afford a fancy stove and a color cookbook, you can afford to treat your family as if you think they're important.

At times, the captions for the photos feel a bit like brainwashing.

Yes, "lemon pie is the acme of deliciousness" (even if it's not as colorful as a ham dinner). Just keep repeating "lemon pie is the acme of deliciousness" until it becomes true.

The recipes (as the pictures may suggest) are not always particularly distinctive, but they are mostly centered around using the oven efficiently. I'll admit to gasping a little at the idea of taking a tender spring vegetable like asparagus...

... and baking it for THREE HOURS. I know people used to like their vegetables more "done" than we like them now, but three-hour asparagus?

There's a reason for three-hour asparagus, though: Efficiency! The book points out that home cooks can throw it in with Casserole of Liver once the searing is done.

Or throw it in the oven to serve as an accompaniment to Spaghetti and Tomatoes.

And in case you assumed this is one of the early Italian-style spaghetti recipes with garlic and maybe a hint of oregano, nope! This one is spaghetti and tomatoes with curry powder (still under a nice layer of cheese). Anything can be baked at 275 for three hours. It just makes life easier.

The recipes do sound pretty hands-off and less labor-intensive than a lot of recipes from the time. The line drawing in the front makes me wonder if the homemaker is skeptical anyway.

Look at the lovely 1930s family sitting down to a beautiful table full of... a plant centerpiece! And empty plates and glasses! Mom leans ahead with a blank expression, while little Dorothy and Frank stare off into the middle distance. Everybody is wondering who will finally admit that they're all assembled for an invisible dinner. Maybe mom figures if she leaves the asparagus in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, it will dry out and combust, setting the oven and then the house on fire, and then she won't have to make overcooked asparagus ever again. They can go out to dinner, or maybe die of smoke inhalation and haunt the house built in place of this one, wanly staring off into the middle distance for all eternity.