A hundred years ago, American Cookery magazine encouraged readers to get their friends to subscribe to the magazine. The magazine offered premiums for securing new subscribers.
A premium offered in the May, 1925 issue for getting four new subscribers was a cake ornamenting syringe.
Maybe cooks a hundred years ago considered this a wonderful gift; but, in my opinion, the premium doesn’t seem like a very large reward for all the effort that would be involved in getting four people to subscribe to the magazine.
When I saw the cake decorating syringe, I immediately thought of a very similar one that I have – though I’ve always called it a “cake decorator.”
My cake ornamenting syringe once was my mother’s, and she had it for as long as I can remember. I’m now wondering if it is older than I thought, and if my mother got it from her mother.
The decorating tips for my syringe are a little beat up, but it still works great. I used it frequently to decorate cakes when my children lived at home, and I still occasionally use it to pipe frosting, whipped cream, or other similar foods. It brings back wonderful memories of the various themed birthday cakes we made over the years. There was a spaceman cake, a teddy bear cake, and a clown cake, as well as the lamb cake we made every Easter.
Amazing! My mom had the same one, so all my cake decorating memories include this. When I switched to the pastry bag method, I remember I had a hard time learning because the ‘syringe’ was what I learned on. Mom loved making cream puffs, and the contraption had a tip for that too.
I think you are right that they were probably older than we think.
My mother had one, too, and used it to fill cream puffs! I hadn’t thought about those in years. Thanks for jogging my memory.
You’re welcome. It’s nice to hear that this post brought back some warm memories.
I also learned to decorate cakes using this tool, and struggled to learn the pastry bag method. I eventually just went back to using this method to decorate cakes.
I still have my cake decorating syringe, though like you, that’s not what I called it. I think I last used it 10 years ago. Still know where it is!
It’s always a good sign when you know where something is. I’ve misplaced more things than I want to admit over the years.
Well, free is free. I can’t resist something free or a bargain.
True, there’s something to be said for free items and bargains. 🙂
I always enjoy your advertisement features, Sheryl! It is so fun to try to learn more about them. The earliest advertisement I found using the term cake decorating syringe was 1925. The earliest for cake decorating tubes was described in 1912, and cake decorating sets in 1914. The year 1927 featured an illustration for cake decorating tubes as a give-a-way for purchasing a new stove. Mirro and Ateco were the two companies most commonly advertised by name; most advertisements did not identify a maker. The advertisements were more common in the 1930s, and 1940s. By the 1950s, they were more frequent, possibly influenced by the post-WWII changes.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoy posts about old advertisements. I’m always amazed how much you are able to learn about the various products. Cooks must have found cake decorating syringes to be very useful since they were a popular give away years ago. It’s interesting that advertisements for them peaked in the 1950’s. Maybe mothers and grandmothers (it probably was women back in that era) were making lots of birthday cakes for all the little baby boomers.
I own one of these, and it is in a box somewhere from our moving to a new home. Oops.
I’ve used it, and like it. I also haven’t been decorating cakes I bake for a while. Another Oops.
Life too short not to have fun with our food. Indeed, as adults, no one can tell us not to play with our food. Woo Hoo!
Great post.
Hopefully you can find your cake decorating syringe and decorate a cake before too long. I seldom decorate cakes now that my children are no longer at home, but I agree! It is fun to decorate cakes.
I own a metal version and a plastic one that I use in my ceramic work!!
Until I read your comment, I hadn’t known that decorating syringes might be used when making ceramics.
Yep, Lots of kitchen implements are commonly used… I have 2 different garlic presses, a cookie press (for those lovely spritz cookies), a butter paddle, a couple rolling pins, a lime juicer, a wooden lemon juicer, an egg slicer, a wooden spoon, wooden fork, several straws, popsicle sticks, a rubber scraper, several pieces of silver service with fancy patterns, a small strainer, some fondant molds, and some plasticware! There are probably a bunch more but I don’t have a complete inventory handy!!
Wow, I never would have guessed. I clearly don’t know much about making ceramics.