Vintage 1930s Ring Bound Cookbook - PET Milk Recipes circa 1930

Milk has been called by its enthusiastic proponents the modern elixir of life. Samuel Crumbine, M.D. 1929

{HISTORY}

An innovation born in 1885 in Highland, IL led to the widespread popularity of canned milk made by the PET Milk Company. Inspired by a Swiss recipe for sweetened condensed milk, a former Swiss dairy operator named John Meyenberg immigrated to the US and began experimenting with an unsweetened canned milk product that did not require sugar as part of the preservation method. The Helvetia Milk Condensing Company later known as PET Milk was born in 1885, bringing to market the country's first patented canned milk. 

An integral part of the nutrition requirements for troops in the Spanish-American War helped showcase the convenient shelf-stable attributes of fresh milk that had been fully pasteurized and then preserved in sealed containers to extend its shelf-life from a mere five days to an entire year.

Easy to transport, easy to store and always reliable when it came to taste and consistency, PET Milk wove its way into the diet and food pantries of kitchens across America over the course of the 20th century. 

In 1930, when the Great Depression loomed large in every cook's life, ingenuity, creativity and thrift ruled the roost when it came to preparing meals. To dispel myths and educate consumers about the benefits of canned milk vs. fresh milk, PET published a cookbook filled with over 75 pages of recipes that covered all meals of the day using PET-brand milk.

Everything from morning muffins to whipped cream after-dinner desserts could be made with PET Milk with no difference in taste, but plenty of difference in grocery costs. In 1930, three cans of shelf-stable pet milk cost $0.25 cents which could last for a year stocked in a pantry or cupboard.  Fresh milk in that year cost $0.26 cents a gallon but had a shelf-life of less than a week. It took about 5 1/2 cans of PET Milk to make a gallon, but the pressure to finish an entire gallon of fresh milk before it spoiled no longer existed. 

As more people were displaced during the Great Depression, on the move to find work, or adequate housing, and more budgets were tightened due to the economy, canned milk became a nutritional godsend for families trying to stay healthy among difficult circumstances. Continuing on through the WWII years, it was utilized both by troops overseas and families on the homefront. With each passing decade, PET Milk proved itself to be more and more helpful in the cooking process.  

Still being produced today, PET Milk is now a part of the Eagle Family Foods brand and will celebrate its 140th anniversary in 2025. 

Beautifully illustrated throughout, this cookbook offers a fascinating look at how evaporated milk can be incoprtaed into a wealth of recipes. The baking chapters are especially fun and the chocolate fudge recipe comes highly recommended as the best fudge ever tasted from a woman whose mom still makes it to this day.

Newspaper Clipping courtesy of the Medford Mail Tribune April 18, 1930

{SPECIAL FEATURES} 

• 1930 Edition
• 80 pages including index
• Ring-bound style
• Illustrated throughout 
• Interesting recipes include Orange Spanish Cream, Tapioca Cheese Cutlets, Brazilian Sandwich, Corn Meal Griddle Cakes, Nut and Raisin Bread, Graham Cracker Cake, Honey BNut Fudge, Black walnut Taffy, Baked Veal with Sweet Potatoes, shrimp Club Sandwich, Cream of Carrot Soup, Vegetable Croquettes Stuffed Cauliflower, Corn Pudding, Volcano Potatoes and Baked Peas
• In addition to recipes, there are also lists of suggested menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. the cover and all interior pages are clean, bright, and intact. The ring-style clasps are strong and sturdy. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (length) x 6.5" inches (width) x .25" inches (thickness) and weighs 8oz.