When clearing my parents house a few years ago I went through the process of sorting things either to be taken to my mother’s new house, kept or sent to a charity shop or the dump. As many of you know this can be quite an emotional task, not always in a sad way, sometimes lost treasures and memories are found.
In my case quite a lot of books came back with me, some old favorites, others that looked interesting. As is often the case most of them stayed in boxes for quite a while, several years in fact. Eventually I got around to opening the boxes and seeing what I had saved and amongst them was a slim book of recipes, “1001 Ways to Popular Parties”, dated 1966 and priced at 2/6.
I do cook a lot and have a fair collection of cookbooks, ranging from Mrs. Beeton to Delia Smith (actually that is not really that far apart now I come to write it), but most of my cooking is more exotic, Indian, European and American. So I wondered why I had saved this book from almost 60 years ago.
Once I opened it, I realised it is a window to a world now lost, a simpler world, yet more complicated than today, more limited in some ways and much more innocent in many ways. Reading it does frequently make me laugh. What one generation thinks is sophisticated is often anything but to later eyes. I will give some examples here and if you enjoy it, I may do some more articles of a more seasonal nature through the year.
The book was published by Collins and there is no author listed. The introduction starts:
“Parties are fun for everyone… or are they?
They can be a nightmare for the hostess who has to do all the preparation beforehand and may not be sure how much, or what, to provide in the way of food and drink, or who simply cannot think of another game to keep clamouring five year olds amused for another half hour. This book is intended to remind you of well-tried favorite party recipes and formulas you may have forgotten, and to offer simple practical time-saving plans and methods that will leave you with plenty of energy to enjoy your own party.”
So, to start let’s look at the suggestions for a “Teenagers Party”.
The problem of not being sure how many people will be there is noted along with the presence of large appetites, so platters of sandwiches are suggested (seems a reasonable idea). Some new sandwich fillings are suggested.
- White bread:
- Sliced liver sausage with minced onion or pickled gherkins.
- Sliced luncheon sausage with hardboiled egg and cucumber.
- Cold ham, cut thin or minced with piccalilli.
- Cold tongue with sweet raisin or tomato chutney.
- Salmon with butter and shredded lettuce.
- Brown bread:
- Scrambled egg with chopped ham.
- Cream cheese with tomato and chopped chives.
- Cold grilled bacon with sweetcorn.
- Vegetable salad: peas, diced carrot, potato and tomato, shredded cabbage etc. in creamy mayonnaise.
- Chopped raisins, dates and nuts, with or without mashed banana.
- Sweet and Savoury Mixtures:
- Cold ham or gammon with pineapple.
- Cold tongue with mandarin oranges.
- Cold ham with thinly sliced peaches.
- Cold pork with apple rings dipped in lemon juice.
- Slices of Cheddar cheese with apple rings dipped in lemon juice.
(I’m not convinced that all of these would work today, although some live on.)
There are also suggestions for drinks including “Peppermint Dainty Shake”, a mix of Peppermint Instant Whip with chocolate vermicelli sprinkled of top. Also, Merry-go-Round Punch, a mix of hot tea, loaf sugar rubbed with lemons and orange, banana, pineapple juice, cloves and Angostura bitters.
Finally, there are some suggestions if a more substantial hot meal is required, including Casserole of Chicken, Mince Tart and also Spaghetti Bolognese. “Spag. Bol.” is of course a staple dish today, but in the mid 1960’s would have been quite adventurous to many people, in fact I think I first had spaghetti around about this time. I remember that it used to be sold in mysterious long bundles wrapped in blue paper. However the recipe as given is a little different to what I would make today and although rationing was over, I think that mindset was still in place.
Spaghetti Bolognese (6 servings)
- 1 onion
- 8 tomatoes
- 1 carrot
- 2 tblsp. Tomato paste
- 1 stick of celery
- 12 oz, spaghetti
- 2 tblsp. Oil
- 4 oz. mince
- 1 oz. butter
Fry chopped onion, carrot and celery in oil and butter for 5 minutes, then add mince, skinned tomatoes, and tomato paste. Season to taste and simmer for 30 minutes. Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water for 20 minutes. Drain and place in serving dish, pour on meat mixture and serve very hot topped with plenty of grated cheese. Serve also chunks of French bread and butter.
The next section in the book is “Cocktails at Six”…
© Notanumber! 2025
