Two Vintage Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

TWO VINTAGE BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS NEW COOK BOOKS. MEREDITH PRESS FIVE-RING BINDER EDITIONS WITH RED CHECKED COVERS Two copies of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, both in the classic red-and-white checked hardcover with the navy spine panel and the Meredith Press imprint, and both in the five-ring loose-leaf binder format that made these books famous - the rings let the book lie flat on the counter and let pages be replaced. The two copies are different editions and are easy to tell apart in the photographs: one has the older square-grid orange-red check cover with the navy silhouette saucepan, gravy boat, and skillet graphics reading "new Cook Book," while the other has the brighter diagonal diamond-set check cover with bold block lettering reading "NEW COOK BOOK." The older copy is identified in its own front matter as the Revised Edition, Third Printing. Interiors are the familiar Test Kitchen layout: yellow chapter divider tabs, hundreds of tested recipes in the two-column format, full-color food photography plates, and the navy printed endpaper reference charts covering weights and measures, emergency substitutions, "How Much and How Many," can sizes, oven and roasting charts, meat thermometer readings, white sauce, and plain pastry. The later copy still has its clear plastic-sleeved title leaf and the "Dear Homemaker" letter from the editors. Bidders should note that the older copy is heavily used, with a faded and soiled cover, split and frayed cloth at the spine ends, and exposed board at the joint. These are the workhorse mid-century American kitchen references, wanted by collectors of vintage cookbooks, by cooks who still use the ring-binder format, and for kitchen and farmhouse display. This lot pairs with the other estate cookbook, kitchen, and holiday book lots offered in this sale. Sold as a lot of 2 books. Description Copy one, the earlier book - five-ring binder hardcover in a faded orange-red and cream square-grid check with navy silhouette cookware graphics on the front reading Better Homes and Gardens / new Cook Book. Spine panel reads Better Homes and Gardens / New Cook Book / Meredith Press with the small Meredith device. A page photographed inside carries the line Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, Revised Edition, Third Printing, along with the publisher's own description of the book's features - washable cover, loose-leaf binding with a patented page booster, and tab-index pages. Yellow chapter tabs photographed include 1 Meal-planning and nutrition, 2 Special helps, 3 Appetizers and beverages, 4 Breads. A bound-in Better Homes & Gardens magazine subscription order card is still present in the back. Index pages, a "Pancakes and waffles" spread, dessert sauces, an "Eggs and cheese" chapter opener, and the yellow-ground reference chart page are all photographed. Copy two, the later book - five-ring binder hardcover in a brighter red and white diagonal diamond-set check with bold navy block lettering reading Better Homes and Gardens / NEW COOK BOOK. Spine panel reads Better Homes and Gardens / NEW COOK BOOK / MEREDITH PRESS with the Meredith device. The title leaf is enclosed in a clear plastic sleeve and reads Better Homes and Gardens NEW COOK BOOK / Every recipe perfected for you in our Test Kitchen over a full-page roast photograph. A Dear Homemaker letter signed by The Editors faces the first chapter. Yellow chapter tabs photographed include 1 Appetizers and beverages, 2 Barbecues, 3 Breads, 4 Cakes, frostings and fillings, with later tabs for sauces, meats, cookies, and plain pastry visible along the fore edge. Navy printed endpaper charts front and back. Dimensions: each volume measures approximately 10-1/4 to 10-1/2 inches tall and approximately 8 inches wide per the tape-measure photographs. On every measuring shot the tape hook rests on top of the cover rather than hooked over the book edge, and the camera looks down at an angle, so all of these figures are close estimates. Binder thickness was not measured with the tape, but the spine photographs suggest roughly 2 inches each. Page counts were not established. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Attribution note The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book was published by Meredith Press, the book division of the Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa, publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The title descends from the 1930 ring-binder Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and has been revised repeatedly across the twentieth century; the red-and-white checked five-ring binder editions carrying the Meredith Press imprint are the mid-century versions most collectors look for, with the square-grid check cover generally preceding the diagonal diamond-set check cover. Every recipe carried the Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen seal, a selling point repeated in the front matter photographed here. Publisher, imprint, edition, and printing statements above are quoted from the covers,