American Cookery, February 1942.

The cover of American Cookery for February 1942 features a patriotic tablescape with a starry Seafood Pie (page 295), shrimp, crab, fish, and oysters in a white sauce, topped with a flaky crust. I think I'd eat that. For dessert, Lincoln Log Cake, a vanilla cake filled with maple-flavored frosting and rolled into a log jelly-roll style. Lincoln's birthday (February 12) used to be a much bigger deal before it got rolled up (like a jelly roll) with Washington's birthday (February 22) and turned into President's Day (the third Monday of February.) Page 297 also features a four-tiered Washington's birthday cake, much more patrician than the humble log for Lincoln.

I'm sure many of us have wondered about the three basic rules for giving a church supper for men, and on page 302 we are answered: 1) have plenty to eat, 2) give good service, and 3) don't try to make money. Yes, men are cheapskates, so if you need to raise money for church ministry, try a ladies' luncheon where the pocketbooks are presumably open. This begs the question of why one would have a church supper for men, but I suppose making all those weighty decisions and solving pressing Scriptural issues is easier when stuffed with baked ham, mashed squash, hot rolls, and mock Indian pudding (the recommended menu.)

We also get a step-by-step preparation for a "stag party," (page 306) which did not have the 2018 connotation in 1942. Here we see Winifred Hackett doing every bit of preparation for her husband's dinner party (thrown for a friend who is joining the Army) before tiptoeing away and letting her husband take all the credit. The Greatest Generation, indeed. Click on each image to enlarge.