Favorite Things: Homemade Cookbooks

I love handmade books. For me, they are much more than recordings  of stories, thoughts, or recipes. They are full of the love and dedication that was put into producing them. I came across these two beauties (circa late 1970's) at the Friends of the Galion Public Library's used book sale.

 

 

The darling hand-painted covers drew me right in. On closer inspection, I discovered that the covers were made by Connie Eichhorn, a full-time country woman who lived on a grain farm, had an in-home ceramic studio, and helped her husband run a saw mill business. 

 

*WHEW* That makes me tired just typing it!  

 

Connie had many talents, not only as a visual artist, but also musically. She was the Jr. Choir director at our church, teaching very young children to sing. My children were all in Connie's choir and my daughter, Meghan, went on to become a music teacher.

 

 

Connie was a member of a hospital "Twig", volunteer organizations that worked on fundraisers for the hospital as well as donating their labor in places like manning the hospital's front desk or working in the gift shop and cafeteria. My guess is that Connie and her Twig members made these books as one of their fundraisers. 

What is extra special about these books is that they are extremely low-tech by today's standards.

 

Can you imagine the time that these women put into producing their books? The covers appear to be coated wallpaper. I can picture Connie drawing and painting each one by hand.

 

 

And then, there was the "inside jobs".

 

 

 

 Each page was typed on old-fashioned ribbon typewriters on a special two-part carbon paper. The carbon part fit on a machine called a mimeograph to make copies.

 

mimeograph machine

Then, each page was cut and put in order and stapled to the covers. 

 

 

This post is dedicated to those who volunteer to make our communities better places to live, like Connie. Connie is in ill health these days. By sharing her talents as an artist and musician, her legacy keeps her in the hearts of those she touched.

 

Marcheta *touched by an angel