Madame Chiang’s Chinese Cookbook

I found this little gem in an antique shop in Madison,  Wisconsin a couple years ago. The book was published in 1941, and is labeled “Compliments of Capitol Bakers.” At first I thought that a Chinese cookbook was a strange premium to give customers of a bakery, but given the time period, it makes sense. Chinese food was exceptionally exotic to American tongues at this time, and therefore this little book was a pretty unique offering. Definitely more so than a calendar or notepad, which were common business premiums at the time.

And yes, the illustrations are fairly offensive, in that 1940′s sort of way.

Click on the pages for enlargements.