Vintage Floral Ohio Art Recipe Box

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This vintage metal floral Ohio Art recipe box came in the mail the other day, along with a sister metal recipe box, and I couldn’t be more excited to go through it and start scanning all the recipes.

Ohio Art Company has manufactured all kinds of awesome collectible things, and these metal recipe boxes are no exception!

It was packed pretty full! There are over 70 recipes in this box!

I am going to start adding most of the recipes to our vintage recipe archive this week. This recipe box actually came with a sister box…I am not sure yet whether they came from the same source or not, but I’m sure as I get into the sister box I will find a few more clues.

These metal lithographic boxes were produced by the Ohio Art company in Bryan, Ohio. I will have to double check with the company one of these days, but after reading up on their history on their website, I believe the majority of their recipe boxes were manufactured in the 1980’s.

Bottom of the recipe box identifying the maker.

Another thing that might suggest the box was probably from the 1980’s is because many of magazine clipping recipes are dated 1983. It’s pretty crazy to think these recipes are considered “vintage” and I’m older than some of them!

I know the scan above is probably very hard to read because it is so small, but at the very bottom in fine print it says © 1983.

We can also take a guess that the person who curated all of the recipes in this collection most likely lived in Indiana. Some of the recipes are written on stationery for Reid-Holcomb Company, so either it was a nearby business or they or a family member may have even been an employee of the company.

The box is filled with all sorts of handwritten recipes and recipes clipped from magazines and cookbooks.

Let’s look at the first recipe in the box! Cocoanut Fruit Cake!

The very first recipe in the box was a folded piece of paper for “cocoanut fruit cake”.

I’m kind of excited by that one, I’ve never made a fruit cake!

Here are all of the recipes in this Vintage Floral Ohio Art Recipe Box:

I’ve been working to get all of these recipes documented on our site – here is a collection of the recipes we’ve been able to share so far.

Sweet and Tangy French Dressing Recipe

This sweet and tangy homemade french dressing recipe is a perfect compliment to a wide variety of salads.

Chef’s Salad Bowl Recipe

This chef’s salad bowl combines lettuce, radish, cucumber, green pepper, onion, and tomato, lightly tossed in a tangy French dressing.

Snazzy Zucchini Skillet Dinner

This snazzy zucchini recipe is made on the stove top in one pan, making it a great choice for easy weeknight dinners!

Creamy Zucchini Casserole Recipe

This creamy zucchini recipe is a grown-up twist on the classic mac and cheese and makes a delicious casserole dish.

Cornbread Pizza Zucchini Recipe

This deep dish casserole style zucchini pizza recipe is a great way to use up summer vegetables!

Cooked Lemon Dressing Recipe With Nutmeg

This cooked lemon dressing is versatile for salads, pasta or as a sauce for chicken or fish.

Tuna Salad with French Dressing and Mango

This unique tuna salad recipe is made with french dressing, mango, olives, and sweet relish. Serve on lettuce, croissants or with crackers.

No-Bake Lemon Ball / Snow Ball Cake Recipe

This vintage no-bake lemon ball cake recipe combines pineapple, lemon, and dream whip with angel food cake.

Pat’s Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

This simple 6 ingredient oatmeal cookie recipe comes from a 1980’s vintage recipe box from Indiana.

Applesauce Loaf Cake – Indiana State Fair Prize Winner Recipe

This Applesauce Loaf Cake is an Indiana State Fair Prize Winner Recipe according to a clipping we found in a vintage recipe box.

Cocoanut Fruit Cake Recipe

This coconut fruit cake recipe features pecans, dates, gum drops, candied pineapple, candied cherries, candied oranges and coconut.

There are a few recipes we haven’t added yet – so I definitely need to get to work on that!

In addition to the collection of handwritten recipes, there were also several clippings from various brands with recipes.

Ephemera Found In This Recipe Box

  • Old Folks Sausage Advertisement With Recipes – This was a pretty neat find that contained several common recipes using the Old Folks brand of sausage.
  • Baker’s Chocolate Advertisement with 3 coconut recipes
  • 1983 Bisquick Advertisement – Impossible French Apple Pie
  • Wesson Oil Advertisement Stir + Drop Cookies
  • Hershey’s Advertisement Easy Does it Recipe #7 – The Deep Dish Brownie

All in all, there were a total of 70+ recipes in this box. It took some time to scan all of them, but it went by pretty quickly. It’s a fun thing to do to keep your hands busy while you watch a movie or talk to friends.

It was also pretty cold and snowy today, so it was a nice indoor activity.

Of course, now that I’ve finished going through all these recipes and scanning them, and writing this blog post – I’m hungry! We had chili over baked potatoes for dinner today, so it might just be time for what I call “second supper”. 🙂

What recipes do you like from this box? Any of the recipes seem familiar to you? Which recipes are you most excited by? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

2 Comments

  1. I found this exact recipe box with stuff inside from Stanley Home products that has been in business since 1931. Don’t judge the box by the content, it could have been handed down to a daughter from her mother

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