The Budget Cook Book by Ida Bailey Allen (1935)

Butter and other such fats have been integral to countless civilizations throughout history. During tough times, real butter could be hard to find, so substitutes were made. The most common of these substitutes today is margarine. First made from animal fats, later renditions used nearly all vegetable oil. For much of its history, though it wasn't true, margarine was thought to have had adverse health effects when consumed. Most of the lobbying against margarine companies was from dairy farmers with a stake in the butter market. Though it was normally around half the price of traditional butter, many restrictions were put on its production and distribution. Companies were eager to make a profit from this new commodity, but they needed people to know it was safe to use. What better way to do just that than with one of the most popular home cooks on the air, Ida Bailey Allen.

Born in 1885 in Danielson, Connecticut, Ida was always passionate about cooking. By the time she was 18, she had already started her career in cooking, and she also dabbled in being the assistant editor of The Craftsman magazine. Soon after, she started teaching classes at her local domestic science school in Worcester, and a few years later, in 1916, she released her first cookbook, Good Luck Recipes. Her radio career began in 1923 with the broadcast of one of her recipes. The initial signal garnered so much success that she eventually hosted a two-hour daily radio show. To add to her success, in 1924, she became a food editor of the New York American newspaper. From here, her career exploded into fifty plus cookbooks, and she soon became an American icon. She offered many people relief in troubled and uncertain times with her smooth, calm voice, which was perfect for a cooking/homemaking talk show.

The Budget Cook Book was released in 1935, making her recipes very popular, and was one of many collaborations between Allen and the company that manufactured New Nucoa, more flavorful margarine than previous versions. A year prior, she published The Round-the-World Cook Book , which featured international cuisine prepared with this new margarine. Nearly every recipe in both books uses the ingredient as a substitute for any kind of fat. New Nucoa is used for frying, making pastries, bread, soups, salads, sandwiches, and any other use for traditional fats, however, one main problem with New Nucoa was that it was pale white in color. The practical reason for this was that due to legislation at the time, taxes were higher on colored margarine than uncolored varieties. To achieve a more butter-like yellow color, each package included a color wafer to be broken up and mixed.

Ida Bailey Allen's The Budget Cook Book was a way for New Nucoa to advertise their product using a celebrity chef. It would be similar to Gordon Ramsay writing a cookbook using Land O' Lakes butter. This was far from unique at the time. In 1923, Gebhardt Chili Powder was put on full display in the book Mexican Cookery for American Homes. Both books were trying to show consumers that these new products would be wonderful additions to any person's kitchen. This book was more than just marketing; it served to help people eat well while still in the midst of a global depression.

Here is a fun advertisement found for New Nucoa in the 1950s: Nucoa Margarine Commercial (1952)

You can view the catalog record for The Budget Cook Book here. To view this item in person, visit Special Collections in McCain Library and Archives, Monday – Friday from 9am – 4pm.

This item of the month was written by Kaleb Favaloro, a sophomore hydrography major.

**Items of the Month featured in 2024-2026 will be the work of Southern Miss students who took HON 303, a seminar held in Fall 2024 focusing on archives and special collections.