Happy Vintage Betty Crocker Halloween! (With Recipes)

 

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. 

                                                                        

 

Happy Vintage Valentine from Betty Crocker and Friends

Nothing says I love you and only you like baking a cake. (I can't help but wonder what baking a pie says?) Enjoy these vintage ads and don't forget to love yourself this Valentine's Day! 

 

Happy Betty Crocker Vintage Valentine

Love letters to Betty! From the Betty Crocker website and from my book Finding Betty Crocker

Betty Crocker came into homes across the United States on the radio. Debuting in 1924 with “The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air” and the “Betty Crocker Home Service Program,” Betty kept homemakers company where they needed it the most—at home—with friendly, woman-to-woman chats. 

Considering the personal, “girl talk” vibe of Betty’s programming, it’s no surprise that her attention oftentimes turned to matters of the heart. From interviews with “attractive bachelors” on the type of girls they’d consider marrying to a weekly segment featuring “Recipes for Romance,” the food-love connection became a common theme throughout Betty’s radio run. Finding in Betty a wise and sympathetic friend, listeners often wrote into the Home Services Department at Betty’s parent company to express appreciation for her support and products and to seek relationship advice. 

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I combed the archives for some sweet letters to share with you. Here are a few, all from the early 1930s, guaranteed to make you go “awwww.” 

“Please don’t think I am crazy for writing this: but after listening to your program while making eight pumpkin pies, I came to the conclusion that you did not think it was possible for a woman to be happy and jolly married to a garage man coming in at any hour. Well I wish to inform you that it is possible; because I am married to just such a man. I am 34 years of age. We have three boys as healthy as you can find, besides I look after my sister’s two orphaned children and board my father and brother. Am I happy? Why I’m the happiest woman there is, because laughing and joking is ¾ of my life. Of course I don’t have much time to go out much, but I love to have company in. And when my husband comes home it’s to rest; he said when he locks his garage at night he leaves his troubles there and I don’t bother him with any troubles. I am closing saying life is just what we make it: by not expecting what is impossible.” —Mrs. C. E. McComber, Willimantic, Connecticut 

 “I have enjoyed the ideas of the men concerning their wives. I don’t know just what my husband would say about me. However it should be something nice, for I always try to feed him well. You know the old saying about the way to a man’s heart. I have used your recipes on him ever since I married him, and that is now nine years ago. He is a model husband so I guess they have agreed with him.” —Mrs. Rolla E. Duruyu, Clark, South Dakota 

“I look forward to your cooking school as much as my husband looks forward to the hunting season, a man who lives every day in the year ‘til the season comes. Now my husband and son eat almost everything I prepare. In my last sack of Gold Medal Flour there was a recipe for cinnamon coffee cake and I made it for dinner and I’ll tell you it was delicious. When I make something good, my husband says, ‘I bet Betty Crocker told you how to make that.’” —Mrs. Lillean Dennick, Ruffsdale, Pennsylvania 

 “I always listen to your broadcasts whenever I can and I’ve been so very interested to hear about those contended husbands. My husband thinks I am a wonderful cook and every time he gets to raving about it, I tell, ‘Betty Crocker,’ ought to hear him, for he is the most contented husband I ever heard about. We have been married 45 years last September and we are more in love with each other all the time.” —Mrs. J.W. Rich, Houston, Texas

Mill City Museum & Betty Crocker

Here are some of my photos from last week's visit with my old friend Betty Crocker at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. I've had 2 book launches at the museum - one for Finding Betty Crocker and the other for In the Mood for Munsingwear. 

If you haven't had a chance to visit the museum, I highly recommend it. If you are a true Betty Crocker fan you already know that this building is the birthplace of Betty.