Do you know her?

May 7, 2012 7:09 PM

I am trying to identify a woman from a cookbook. "The only thing I know about her is two pictures from a cookbook printed by the Maryland Seafood Marketing Authority (Department of Economic and Community Management) in the mid-1970s."

"There's a picture of her on the second page, where she's standing ankle deep in the ocean, holding a big net and looking for fish or oysters or some goddamn thing. Before the recipe "Basic baked fish - tender and moist" there's a picture of her holding a spear, looking out at the ocean on a rock. I think she's wearing high heels for some reason? And at the intro to the chapter on Oysters and Clams, there's a night-time picture of her sitting next to a bonfire. And actually I just realized that on the back cover, she's sitting on the shore with the spear. So I guess its four pictures? Anyway, I found the sequel to this cookbook, and there are no pictures of her. Only pictures of cooked shellfish. So someone must have complained about her stealing the show?"

posted by furiousxgeorge to food & drink (9 answers total)

Do the publishers still exist? If so, get in contact with them.
posted by violetk at 7:20 PM on May 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Maryland Seafood Marketing Authority: contact info for the board's director is on that page. The Maryland Historical Society might also be a place to start.
posted by catlet at 7:28 PM on May 7, 2012 [2 favorites]

You could ask this guy, Kerry Muse. He was involved with the MSMA in 1974 according to a Ladies' Home Journal article that Google Books won't let me link to, which he mentions in his bio there. BTW this seems to be the Google Books entry for your cookbook though unfortunately it's not viewable.
posted by XMLicious at 7:31 PM on May 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

The other people to ask would be the folks at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe. They have one of the best cookbook collections in the world.
posted by jessamyn at 7:34 PM on May 7, 2012 [2 favorites]

Here is a scan.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:40 PM on May 7, 2012

Another scan.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:27 PM on May 7, 2012

One more.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:30 PM on May 7, 2012

Does the book list who the photographer is?
posted by caclwmr4 at 9:07 PM on May 7, 2012

"Anyway, I found the sequel to this cookbook, and there are no pictures of her. Only pictures of cooked shellfish. So someone must have complained about her stealing the show?"

I doubt that's why; they probably worked with a different photographer. As caclwmr4 says, seeing if you can locate the photographer from the first edition is probably the best way to go in terms of finding who the model was.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:07 AM on May 8, 2012