Community Corner

eBay Tuesday: New London County Republican Cookbook

Offering from 1955 features recipes from local and national GOP personalities

Who wants some cookies made in 1955? All right then, how about some cookies made from that 57-year-old recipe?

This 66-page cookbook sold by the New London County Republicans surfaced in Green Valley, Ariz., where seller Sandy Hill picked it up at a garage sale. She says there are a lot of retirees in the community, including a good deal of people from the northern climes who are happy to move to a more temperate zone after dealing with snow all of their lives. So it's no big surprise that the recipes from members of the New London County GOP found their way to the Southwest.

The New London County Republican Women's Cookbook sold for a dollar back in the Eisenhower days. The cover features an elephant woman in a dress mixing something up in a kitchen, and the book itself includes local recipes and the name and hometown of the woman who thought them up. For good measure, there are also a few dishes from "distinguished Republican women."

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It seemed President Dwight Eisenhower may have had a few more suggestions in this arena. According to Molly Meijer Wertheimer, Ike eventually became proficient in making several meals while First Lady Mamie Eisenhower described herself as a "culinary school dropout," leaving a basic cooking class after learning how to make mayonnaise. She did gain some renown for her "Million Dollar Fudge" recipe, however. It's even included in the Eisenhower archives.

Patricia Nixon, wife of then Vice President Richard Nixon, knew how to make a few more things. Her recipes appeared in a similar pamphlet distributed as part of Nixon's unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign, and included the corn souffle served with her husband's favorite dinner of meat loaf. One reporter noted that Patricia sent her a recipe for apricot nut bread shortly before Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974.

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Hill describes the cookbook as having a soft cover with light wear and little soiling. No one has scribbled any notes in it, and it has a slight odor. The starting bid is $4.25, plus $3.25 for shipping and handling. The auction ends at about 9:27 a.m. on Friday.

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