This three-piece vintage cooking ephemera bundle brings together advertising cookbooks and recipe pamphlets from the 1920s–1930s—ideal for anyone who loves early American home-cooking history.
Food companies once handed out these small-format cookbooks and door-to-door sales reps, making them wonderfully collectible today. Inside, you'll find classic cakes, early convenience-food recipes, cocoa treats, lemon pie instructions, and plenty of retro kitchen charm.
Each piece is photo-verified and ready for your collection, display, or recipe inspiration.
Quick Specs
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Item Type: Vintage cooking ephemera bundle (3 items)
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Size:
• McNess Cook Book: 9 × 6 in
• Cake Secrets: 8 × 5 in
• Lemon Pie Pamphlet: 7 × 5 in
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Material: Paper, staple-bound
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Color: Multicolor litho covers
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Origin or Maker: McNess Co.; General Foods Corp.; Staley’s
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Year or Era: 1920s–1934
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GENRE: Vintage Cooking Ephemera
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Language / Pages:
• McNess Cook Book: 30 pages
• Cake Secrets: 64 pages
• Lemon Pie Pamphlet: Fold-out
Edition & Features
Condition Grade: Fair to Good
Notes:
• McNess Cook Book: Fair—heavy edge wear, creasing, hole punches at top margin, aging staples; pages intact.
• Cake Secrets (1934): Good—light rubbing, mild spine stress, clean interior pages.
• Staley’s Lemon Pie Pamphlet: Good to Very Good—bright color, light edge wear, fold has a tear but is intact.
See all photos for detail—sold as pictured.
Condition Grade Key
Near Fine: minimal wear; tight; clean.
Very Good: light wear; clean text; minor flaws.
Good: noticeable wear; sound reading copy; some marks.
Fair: heavy wear; complete but worn; priced accordingly.
Provenance & Notes
From a Midwestern estate collection of early 20th-century corporate recipe booklets.
About the Makers
McNess, General Foods, and Staley’s were major names in early 20th-century pantry staples, each producing branded recipe pamphlets that doubled as both instruction and advertisement—now prized by culinary historians and ephemera collectors alike.
A great trio if you love early American cooking or vintage advertising art.
Disclaimer
The vintage items I share with you have been previously owned and loved and may show some wear. Please use the pictures as a guide.
While I do my best to capture colors accurately, your monitor or device screen may display colors slightly differently from the actual item.
Care & Handling: Handle with clean, dry hands. Store flat or upright, away from direct sunlight, at about 68°F and 40–50% relative humidity. Avoid damp areas and temperature swings.
Please note: If you have any questions or need more photos, ask.
About Reading Vintage
At Reading Vintage, I curate one-of-a-kind treasures for book lovers, decorators, and collectors—including vintage books, retro bookends, and collectible paper ephemera.
