The Household Searchlight Recipe Book, 1937 Revised Edition, Topeka Kansas, with Handwritten Recipe

The Household Searchlight Recipe Book is a 1937 revised edition hardcover published by The Household Magazine in Topeka, Kansas, with 320 pages and thumb index tabs.

The black and orange cover remains readable, with rubbed edges, stained page edges, and creased tabs shown in the photos.

The sections cover everyday cooking, baking, canning, and preserving, and this copy includes a handwritten recipe on a receipt plus two packets marked “2 Dozen Jelly Labels.” Contents: Photographed recipes include Cherry Butter, Peach Butter, Bread and Butter Pickles, Chicken with Dumplings, Chicken Pie, Cheese Apple Salad, Fudge Icing With Raisins, Mahogany Icing, and Lemon Filling, with thumb tabs for breads, cakes, candies, meats, poultry, vegetables, and other sections.

Details

• Item: Cookbook
• Title: The Household Searchlight Recipe Book
• Author: Compiled and edited by Ida Migliario, Harriet W. Allard, Zorada Z. Titus, and Irene Nunemaker
• Illustrator: Not confirmed from photos
• Publisher: The Household Magazine, Topeka, Kansas
• Publication Year: 1937
• Edition and Printing: Revised Edition; Tenth Printing, revised and enlarged, 1937
• Format and Binding: Hardcover with textured black cloth, orange cover decoration, and thumb index tabs
• Dust Jacket: Not present
• Pages: 320
• Genre: American cooking, baking, canning, and preserving
• Language: English
• ISBN: None.
• Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches

Condition Grade: Good

Positives

• Graded Good: A readable cookbook with clear signs of kitchen use, worn tabs, and named stains.
• The orange house illustration and title remain clear against the textured black front cover.
• The photographed recipe pages remain attached, with readable ingredients and directions.
• The thumb index labels remain readable despite wear and creasing.
• Most recipe pages are clean, with minor spattering found while paging through.
• A handwritten recipe on the back of a receipt remains tucked inside near page 103, and the handwriting is still readable.
• Two jelly label packets are included, each marked “2 Dozen Jelly Labels,” with one blue and cream design and one red and blue design.
• The label packets measure about 3 x 2 inches; their contents have not been fully inspected or counted.

Issues / Wear

• The covers have rubbing, scuffs, scattered pale marks, and stains, including stains on the back cover.
• The corners, board edges, spine ends, and spine folds show wear, with exposed lighter cloth at several points.
• The orange cover decoration and spine lettering show rubbing and fading.
• The page edges are toned and stained, with roughened areas and tattered edges.
• The thumb tabs are darkened, curled, creased, and worn, with small tears and fraying at some edges.
• Minor food spatters and scattered spots appear within the book, including a small spot on the copyright page.
• The tucked-in receipt recipe has left yellow staining on the surrounding pages near page 103; the lima bean preserving recipe remains readable.
• The jelly label packets show creasing and edge wear, with bent corners and a small lifted flap on the red and blue packet.

Find more like this in our Vintage Cookbook Collection.

The 1937 thumb tabs, saved handwritten recipe, and jelly label packets give a Household Searchlight collector a copy with its kitchen use plainly recorded. If it's the right copy for you, it's ready to come home.