Here’s a Vintage 1962 PTA Cookbook from Thruston Elementary School

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Patty was helping my friend Robyn with her garage sale. According to Patty, when there was downtime at the sale, she spent her time looking through a huge collection of cookbooks. In that collection, she stumbled across this amazing, vintage find. She found a copy of the PTA Cook Book from Thruston Elementary School. It's the Revised Edition from 1962 and she just knew that I had to have it.

Thruston Elementary School sat on Kentucky Hwy 144 in east Daviess County, Kentucky.

I started kindergarten there when I was four-years-old. Here's a pic of my very first day of school.

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That was like 48 years ago, but I still have exceptionally fond memories of that place- Mr. Pendley (the principal), Ms. Nation (our incredibly kind librarian), Mrs. Jones (the kindergarten teacher who literally had to coax me out of the car on the first day of school, Glenn Pierce (our exceptionally artistic custodian), fluoride treatments in the hallway, our ridiculously fun Thruston Fall Festivals, singing Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life," and so many more.  Of course, I adored my classmates and teachers and many of us are still friends today- over 40 years later!

When Patty brought me the book, I was eager to thumb through the pages. The first page features a rather poetic and impactful quote from T.S. Eliot. It reads, "One symptom of the decline of culture . . . is indifference to the art of preparing food."

So, the Thruston PTA put together a 246-page book full of recipes to celebrate the art of preparing food. The book is broken into various table-of-content categories: Beverages, Breads, Cakes, Candies, Eggs, Hor d'oeuvres, Ice Cream Desserts, Meats, Miscellaneous (pickles, relish, jams, preserves), Pastries/Pies/Puddings, Salads, Sauces/Salad Dressings, Soups, and Vegetables/Casseroles.

But I think my favorite part of the PTA Cook Book is this. The sections of the book contain illustrated intros from various Thruston students. Here are a few samples!

While Thruston Elementary School hasn't been with us for decades now, its legacy endures with all of us who attended. It's spirit is preserved within artifacts from the school that remain today. This PTA Cook Book is the perfect example of the tradition and heart of Thruston. It was more than a school. It was a family. And this cookbook simply and delightfully invites all of us to get back together for dinner.