Sixty-Six-Year-Old Cookbook Finds It’s Home In Rattler Library Archives

Although the mystery was solved regarding the authors of the cookbook, there is no indication in the Rattler 1951 Yearbook that the students sold enough to pay for their senior trip, and if so where they went.A mystery was solved earlier this month with the assistance of Seguin Independent School District personnel and San Marcos High School librarian Jerrilyn Miller—a mystery involving a 1951 cookbook that appeared to be a fundraising project for the Class of 1951. The question was—what school?

The saga began when Yvonne De La Rosa, Seguin ISD Marketing & Media Specialist, received a package in the mail that contained a 1951 cookbook entitled “Highway to Adventure,” and a letter of explanation. The sender said her mother bought the cookbook at a Goodwill Store in Corpus Christi.

The purchaser is now 90 years old, and her family was helping her downsize her collections. Realizing the possible historical value of a 66-year-old book, the daughter sent the book to Seguin ISD, since the cover page said it was printed by the South Texas Printing Company in Seguin and there were no other clues in the book as to what school.

However, when Seguin ISD checked their 1951 yearbooks, none of the names of the 73 seniors listed on the introduction page matched Seguin seniors for that year.

Then De La Rosa noticed that the ads at the back of the book were almost all from San Marcos, Texas businesses. So she contacted Iris Campbell, Public Information Officer for San Marcos CISD, for comparison names to the San Marcos High School Class of 1951.

SMHS librarian Miller checked the Rattler annual for 1951, and although there was no mention of the fundraising project in the yearbook, the list of seniors matched those listed in the cookbook.

So De La Rosa drove over to San Marcos High School last week and presented the cookbook to Miller for the high school’s archives display. The introduction in the book says:

“We, the seniors of 1951, are publishing this book in an attempt to perpetuate a very fine tradition of which we heartily approve. Our immediate aim has been to secure the money necessary to enable us to continue a practice followed by several classes before us of culminating the last year in high school with a class trip. But we also hope that the means we have taken to make the money will simplify the homemaker’s task of preparing tasteful and imaginative meals and that the purchasers of this book will find it a real contribution to good living.”

The page goes on to list 73 members of the graduating class who hoped to take the senior trip. However, nowhere in the book is “San Marcos High School” or “Rattlers” mentioned. The San Marcos business ads are an interesting walk through time, with 2 or 3 digit phone numbers and unfamiliar names by current directories.

Although the mystery was solved regarding the authors of the cookbook, there is no indication in the Rattler 1951 Yearbook that the students sold enough to pay for their senior trip, and if so where they went. We can only hope that it involved a happy “Highway to Adventure.”