Cecily Brownstone
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Oral History with Cecily Brownstone
I was so excited to receive a package from the Fales Library at New York University yesterday. In it was an oral history that food writer Laura Shapiro conducted with longtime A.P. food editor Cecily Brownstone. (The photo above is in her papers – this was taken at a 1951 party for the author of The Joy of Cooking.) Some highlights from the oral history:* Unlike the charges of food editors taking advertising money: “I stayed away from manufacturers in my A.P. days.” She would not mention brand names in stories or recipes. She said: “A.P. would not have allowed that. And I was smart enough not to want to…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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New Research Finds
I have completed two orders for new material about women’s page journalism and food journalism. From the Fales Library at NYU, I ordered a transcript of an interview between Associated Press food editor Cecily Brownstone and the great food writer Laura Shapiro. I am presenting a paper about Cecily at the National Communication Association Convention this fall. From the National Women and Media Collection, I placed a large order of copies from the papers of women’s page editor and later publisher Marjorie Paxson. It includes references to Paul Myhre, Edee Green and Jim Bellows. There was also a folder devoted to a food editors meeting.
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Cecily Brownstone’s Papers
I just came across this 1951 photo taken at the home of Associated Press food writer Cecily Brownstone. It is a party for a new release of The Joy of Cooking. It is in Brownstone’s paper in the Fales Library at NYU. Here is a story about her papers and the mass cookbook collection that she donated. From 1947 to 1986, she wrote two columns and five recipes a week for the Associated Press which ran in newspapers across the country. She was a member of the New York food establishment. I am presenting a paper about her at the National Communication Association convention this fall in Orlando.
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Thanksgiving & the Queen’s Beans
For Thanksgiving, we made the traditional green bean casserole. I recently learned that Associated Press food editor Cecily Brownstone was part of the history of the dish. According to the magazine Saveur: “It wasn’t until 1955, however, that the dish’s most steadfast incarnation entered the scene. This enduring formula, one that many home cooks still use, called for a trinity of convenience products: canned Durkee or French’s fried onions, Green Giant canned green beans, and Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup, usually accompanied by milk, soy sauce, and a dash of pepper. It was invented by the Campbell’s Soup Company, which, as it still does, emblazoned its soup can labels…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Ruth Ellen Church Letters
I was happy to learn that there is a folder of Chicago Tribune food editor Ruth Ellen Church’s letters (either to and/or from Church) in the papers of Cecily Brownstone – the longtime food editor of the Associated Press. They are in the Fales Library at NYU. I found some great letters regarding food editors Jeanne Voltz and Jane Nickerson in this collection in the past. Here is a link to the guide to the papers. I placed my order for the Church letters yesterday. I am working on a conference paper on the careers of Nickerson and Church. My later book proposal on food editors will also include Brownstone.…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
