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In uploading recipes from the BC to this site, it's easy to see trends. At one point there was a lot of bread baking happening in bread machines, but people are more likely now to use them for kneading. It's fascinating, which brings me to the mystery at hand.
About 30+ years ago, my dad's stepmom gifted me an old cooking booklet. I think that Grandma did use it, as it has the requisite stains and signs of wear. It's called Christmas Cookies, and the only publisher/author information is Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and "The Electric company--Home Service Bureau. (They lived in Milwaukee.) No names are attached to most recipes, although some names appear in recipe titles. Most recipes are not particularly "Christmas." Grandma sent it to me because at the time I was trying to locate a Pfeffernusse recipe. (I've since found a great one.) She sent it along with a Peppernuts recipe that she said was very old (50-60 years) and noted that she had never baked them. The woman who gave it to her said it was her mother-in-law's. That recipe had problems; some day I'll post it and get feedback, but for now, let's focus on the cooking booklet.
It is 28 pages long, with the index printed on the back cover. Recipes are in sections: Fruit Cakes and Breads (includes Stollen); Puddings; Drop Cookies; Rolled Cookies; Refrigerator Cookies; Squares and Strips; Miscellaneous. The cover is red, with cut out gingerbread man and woman, and tree, and rectangular cookie drawn on the front. The gingerbread woman wears a pearl necklace and stands on a round frosted cookie.
Some clues as to its age: Fruit cakes mention only loaf pans. There are no bundt cakes or even tube pans. There are only a few recipes using chocolate chips, although one mentions a package of semi-sweet chocolate bits (no weight), and another mentions a 6-oz package but instructs that they be "chopped." When chocolate is used, it's from bars or cocoa. A lot of cookie recipes feature "Quick Cooking Raw Oats." Some of the cookie recipes use cornflakes. A wide variety of nuts are used (including black walnuts, and in one case Brazil nuts), and raisins, dates, and coconut are often favored ingredients. Flavorings are mostly vanilla, with occasional almond extract or lemon extract. Butter is the usual fat (it is Wisconsin, after all), but there is the occasional shortening or lard. It is usually all-purpose flour, although some cookie recipes call for cake flour. There seems to just be one cookie recipe that calls for some whole wheat flour. Leaveners are baking powder, double-acting baking powder, and baking soda. When yeast is used, it is cake yeast.
So, what do you think is the age of this cooking booklet? I'd rule out WWII, since sugar and eggs and butter were scarce. Perhaps late 1940s or earl 1950s? (I've posted the answer below, so do not look at it before you make your informed guess!)
Once you guess, go here for the answer:
https://www.we-energies.com/home/cookiebook80th/we_energies_cookiebooks.html
And go here for the archives:
https://www.we-energies.com/recipes/
I'd made some of the recipes in the past but do not clearly remember them other than the notes I wrote. I made the Swedish Cookies yesterday--a thin, chewy cookie. I'm planning to try some others.
Actually, they put it out yearly, beginning in 1932, and apparently they still do one every year. Check out the archives in the second link.
Spoiler Alert: The actual year for mine is 1951. There are some recipes that continue to appear, and seem to be from earlier years, so that can be confusing.
I'm going to have a lot of fun with this treasure trove. The "Swedish Cookies" were a big hit after church today,
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