Ford In the 1960s Had Very Ambitious Ideas About What You Could Cook On A Campout

Imagine a picnic table at a roadside park, the sun sinking behind picturesque Interstate Highway 75, and a menu like the one given below, ready in 15 minutes: Country Captain, Rice and Green Peas, Hot Rolls, Salad, and Surprise Lemon Cake.

That’s how a section of the “Traveler’s Cookbook” by Ford’s former magazine The Ford Times opens. Can you even imagine?

If you’re not familiar, The Ford Times was a monthly publication produced by the Ford Motor Company for a decade before WWII and then for about 50 years from 1943 to 1993. These are sort of travel-focused general interest magazines in the style of a Reader’s Digest, just with articles about having a light Thanksgiving mixed in with stories about driving a Ford Aerostar through the Texas Hill Country.

I will probably go back through this magazine a few times because there’s just an insane wealth of content here, but for the moment I’m a little preoccupied with what Ford promised to be “impromptu meals the whole family will enjoy” and “you can prepare on-the-spot.” This guide was posted to the Ford Heritage Vault in its glorious entirety, thus saving you the $0.50 you’d have paid for a copy in 1965.

I’m particularly interested in the 1965 version of “The Traveler’s Cookbook” as it’s chock full of advice for how to make the most of a road trip. Why settle for a roadside hamburger when you can have “Freshly-caught brook trout” or a Chef Salad made with sliced tongue “cut into strips” as the magazine offers?

In fairness to Nancy Kennedy, the Women’s Editor of Ford Times, a lot of this stuff is quite standard road trip fare or, at least, the 1960’s version of it. There are chapters on travel kits, grilling meats, and all sorts of fun sandwiches one can make.

Who doesn’t love a little cream cheese and chutney on white bread? Need something a little heartier? Just try mixing some pimento cheese with mayonnaise, chopped dill pickle, and a “scant teaspoon” of horseradish on French bread. At one point the guide implores readers to “remember about peanut butter and mayonnaise” without going into detail. It doesn’t sound appealing to me and I like mayo, but I certainly will never forget it.

Soups are a big recommendation, which makes a lot of sense, though some tend to veer into gastronomical absurdity. I think a can of cream of celery soup combined with a can of deviled ham might be tasty, but this one truly gets me:

1 can of consommé. 1 can of consommé Madrilène, and juice of 1 large orange, serve hot or cold

Excuse me… serve cold?

For all the optimistic ’60s canned-food meals, there’s a sense this magazine gives that S’mores (they call them Some-mores) are a bit too wild for adults:

A dessert sandwich. Toast a marshmallow, place 1 square of chocolate bar on top, then squash down between graham crackers. The warmth of the marshmallow partially melts the chocolate, making the whole thing good and gooey. This is the famous Scout campfire dessert; adults often sneer at the suggestion, but have been known to consume shocking amounts of Some-mores when unobserved.)

In this universe, it’s assumed that anchovies spread on buttered toast and topped with eggs is fine, but S’mores are a bridge too far.

I love to grill hot dogs and use my little Coleman dual burner propane stove to make breakfast sandwiches when we camp and so far nothing mentioned is beyond my capabilities or usual experience. The tastes are not my taste, always, even if the general construction makes sense to me.

It’s the section on one-dish meals that are the “easiest of all” that really get me.

The concept here is a sound one: Make meals ahead and just heat them up when you get somewhere. I just think these are a little ambitious for the average person. Beef Goulash, maybe, but Coq au Vin seems like a lot to prepare while sitting in a national park campsite. While some of these meals are skillet-based, it’s also assumed that you can just bring a pressure cooker with you everywhere you go.

Would I feel confident about being able to prepare stuffed peppers made with canned corned beef hash? Not entirely. I’d probably eat them, though:

I also really don’t see myself making a full bouillabaisse on the beach even if I had a staff with me. I am impressed by anyone who can pull that off, however.

Just in case you’re starting to feel a bit peckish after reading about all this food, I have a simple recipe you’ll likely want to enjoy immediately:

SHRIMP SURPRISE 

1 can cream of celery soup

1/4 cup milk

Shrimp (either canned or fresh cooked)

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

2 tablespoons green peppers, sliced

2 tablespoons celery, minced

Combine soup with milk, and mix until smooth. Add shrimp, eggs, celery, green pepper, and curry powder; cover and cook slowly for 25 minutes.

I love pulling up to a roaring campfire and eating some hot milk with shrimp. Yum. I think I’m going to go make some right now, albeit with the addition of three cups of mayo. Never forget mayo.

All photos: The Ford Times/Ford Heritage Vault