Vintage Betty Crocker Billboard

 

I really love this old billboard and the vague weirdness of the placement of Betty vs. the food. She's not holding up the pancakes but they are at shoulder height. And she doesn't look all that happy nor convincing that the pancakes will be perfect. See a full-res image here.

In case you're  wondering, I'm still hard at work on the new Betty Crocker project. It requires a lot of research, on top of the research I already did for my book and documentary film on Betty Crocker. If you would have asked me back in 2007 if I would still be researching Betty Crocker I would have stared at you blankly. Now today, I might do the same thing, but that's only out of exhaustion. (Happy exhaustion, I swear!)

Keep on being curious.

Betty Crocker Radio Artist January 8, 1936

While researching another project I came across this little gem. The woman playing the part of Betty Crocker "Radio Artist" for this event was Majorie Childe Husted - who really was Betty Crocker more than any one else who worked for General Mills back. I wonder if she revealed her true identity as the directory of the Betty Crocker Kitchens? 

To read more about the amazing Husted, read my book Finding Betty Crocker. 

I do believe this Ladies' Auxiliary of the Talmud Torah event was in Minneapolis but it could have been St. Paul. 

Don't forget to pay your membership dues! 

 

Happy May Day Vintage Betty Crocker Fans!

In honor of May Day 2024, here is a letter from 1950 from the Betty Crocker staff to my grandmother, "My Dear Mrs. Springer" who wrote to Betty about some adorable May Day basket cupcakes she made for her daughter, my mother. 

When my grandmother gave me this letter that she had saved for so many decades, it was the first time in my life I was speechless. It's true; not a lot can shut me up but this sure did. 

You can read more about it in my book, Finding Betty Crocker. 

 

Collection of Vintage Betty Crocker Easter Recipes

Ready for Easter? Let vintage Betty Crocker help! 

Did your mom make an egg tree? 

 

Betty Crocker and Norman Rockwell

I've been looking at old radio scripts from some of Betty Crocker's numerous radios shows. Cooking School of the Air wasn't her only show. Mercy me, no. (as Grandma would say) This one is fantastic, she was interviewing Norman Rockwell. He would go on to paint a portrait of Betty that was not ultimately chosen. I write about it in my book, Finding Betty Crocker.
 

Let them Bake Cake, The Food that Built America on the History Channel, Season 5, episode 5

Production stills from the Let them Bake Cake episode on The Food that Built America on the History Channel. Literally the hottest set I've ever been on. But I survived and also survived being stranded in NJ because no planes could fly in the storms and then all the flights were booked up for 2 days. Met someone really cool on the way home and we became friends. It was quite the adventure. 

Author Susan Marks - behind the scenes of The Food that Built America

Author Susan Marks - behind the scenes of The Food that Built America

A friend of mine sat down to watch TV with her family the other day and was shocked to see me on her favorite show, let alone find out that I wrote a book on Betty Crocker. I think Betty is so much a part of me that I forget to tell people who didn't know me back when the book and the documentary film on Betty came out. 

Also, I think people associate me more with my documentary on The Nutshells Studies of Unexplained Death, John Waters and Frances Glessner Lee rather than Betty. Still, it's nice to work on many interesting projects. If you want to know more please visit my website.

Vintage Betty Crocker Commercial

A perfect cake every time you bake -- cake after cake after cake. The woman who portrayed Betty Crocker on TV and radio (one of the voices behind Betty) was Adelaide Hawley - a woman worthy of her own documentary. Read about her.