Linda Larned One Hundred Picnic Suggestions is the first picnic cookbook to recognize the value of automobiles for picnicking. Because picnics require transporting food and beverages, automobiles, which she regularly refers to as motor cars, made this practical. The book’s cover shows a picnic basket, sandwiches, a thermos in the foreground, and a motorcar in the background.
Larned prefers foods and drinks requiring preparation anywhere but at a picnic. She divides her food into things for a picnic basket or a “motor hamper.” That implies motorists are more food-savvy and richer. There are many sandwiches and salads, but for motorists, there’s an uptick of suggestions and a switch from cold to hot foods, so instead of tuna or ham sandwiches, choices include lobster creole, beef, calf’s liver, terrapin, or deep-fried cheese cutlets.
Featured Image: Helen E. Turquand’s cover for the first edition of the picnic cookbook places the food in the foreground and the motorcar discreetly behind.
See Linda Hull Larned. One Hundred Picnic Suggestions (1915). Cover design is by Helen Turquand. Larned’s other cookbooks are One Hundred Salads (1914), One Hundred Cold Desserts (1914), and One Hundred Luncheon Dishes (1915).