I’ve always had some fascination with vintage cookbooks, especially ones from the 50′s, give or take a decade or two.  I think it was a mix of the cool art, scary food photography, and my interest in cooking.  Somewhere in the 90′s I started my first venture into the web realm with the now defunct and long gone rfez.com, Rotating Fez. It was a retro site that encompassed retro food & vintage cookbooks, drink, music, design and more.

The history of vintage cookbooks goes beyond the recipes.  It also shows us the history of graphic design, illustration and photography styles, and chronicles the history of our various cultures.  Vintage cookbooks are not only for food lovers, but for historians, lovers of art & design, and even anthropologists.

The Retro Cookbook site is a chance to archive a genre of vintage cookbooks, their art, photography, and their recipes.  All items are being documented, “reprinted”, and archived for historical and educational purposes.

Cheers,

Jim Sincock, CCBW (Chief Cook & Bottle Washer)