When I saw the above image on Flickr, I immediately took notice. Something about the title and the cover artwork grabbed me. This is the cover of a 1949 cookbook written by James Beard, and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen. There was a whole set of the interior illustrations on Flickr, and they're amazingly charming--some examples below. (You can look at the whole set, belonging to Shelf Life Taste Test, on Flickr.)
Alice and Martin Provensen were a husband and wife team, mainly known for their children's book illustrations. (Martin designed the Kellogg's cereal mascot, Tony the Tiger.) Martin died in 1987. According to Wikipedia, Alice Provensen was still working as an illustrator as of 2006.
The illustrations are just so whimsical and humorous, colorful, and evocative of the mid century.
I'd do happy jig if I happened upon an original copy of this cookbook. I'd also love to get my hands on a copy of A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, the 1982 children's book that the Provensens illustrated, and for which they won a Caldecott. You can see some of the amazing illustrations for that book on this blog.
xo
k
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