Coping with April by way of Rawleigh

It's April! And to try to take my mind off how all those April showers might flood my goddamn basement once again, I'll check out this month's installment of Rawleigh's Good Health Guide Almanac Cook Book (1953).

April offers both a seasonally appropriate Rhubarb Cream Pie and a Peppermint Stick Refrigerator Cake-- an angel food cake covered in an odd peppermint candy/ marshmallow/ Maraschino cherry whipped cream mixture that seems better suited for Christmas in Australia (both because Christmas is hot there-- hence greater enjoyment of a refrigerator cake-- and because it's thousands of miles from me, so I won't be expected to partake of the clashing and overly sweet flavors). 

There's also a round steak stuffed with a Thanksgiving-esque bread stuffing, some green rice to match the greens just returning to the yard, and some Creole Green Beans that seem to suggest that "Creole" is code for "coated in chili sauce."

The horoscope for Aries suggests that those born in the sign "have leadership, ambition, courage, and enthusiasm" and are "very aggressive." It also suggests that "Women of this sign are very romantic," which I would imagine to someone in the 1950s would seem entirely contrary to the first half of the description. I wonder if this was Rawleigh's way of suggesting that Aries women deserved to be romantically frustrated? Americans do love a nice round of victim blaming, so I'm going with that interpretation....

As for Rawleigh's attempt to sell more of their non-food products, April is apparently the month of the upset stomach.

I love the way the guy about to bite into a sandwich is staring at the viewer, eyebrows arched, lips pulled back. It looks like he's ready to try to eat a shoe insole on a dare and is hoping that at the last second we'll tell him we were just joking and he doesn't have to do it. He obviously doesn't know us to well. 

It also warms my heart to know that "Uncle Henry has the fun of smoking again-- all because Anti-Acid Tablets relieved the heartburn..." Rawleigh loved helping people achieve lung cancer just that much sooner! 

Anyway, happy April! Thank you for following along as your most unpleasant "friend" vented their frustration at this very rainy month by imagining peppermint-cherry cakes melting in Australia and a guy eating a sandwich made of shoe parts. We've all got our own coping strategies.