In my mom’s family, everyone wrote a lot. Letters, poems, journal entries.

They would have been appalled to see a ream of paper thrown out, just because it was printed on one side with something no longer needed. So, someone in the family, most likely mom’s sis Marion, who worked for the VA, brought home yellow paper with blanks on the back side for telegrams. Unused by the War Department (now the DoD), dated 1926.

They must have used that paper for at least a decade. I have recipes typed on it from the ’30s and ’40s. Just like the old yellow bond, the recipes were too good to waste. (Or not… depending on how you feel about singed chicken, mock paté, beef tongue, or “chiffonade” salad dressing… ) Some of the recipes show a source, most do not.

If you enjoy re-creating history, you might find the perfect dish to serve in your air raid shelter. 

I have scanned them and made a PDF you can download. Thanks to the Davie girls, in the Dustbowl ’30s and the WWII ’40s, it was waste not, want not.

recipes_30s-to40s