Party Treats with Nabisco Cookies

What were creative Moms serving up at birthday parties and other child-size celebrations in the 1950's?

Back when Wilton wasn't a household name when it came to decorated cakes, they got a little creative inspiration from the food companies.

The National Biscuit Company published a wonderful little booklet called Children's Party Treats (20 pages) during that decade.

The booklet presented twenty recipes and food decorating ideas, many of them reflecting popular children's interests of that era: Cowboys and Indians, the space program and the circus. Nabisco brand cookies, naturally, and brick ice cream were some of the standard ingredients used to create these little treasures.

For the delight of junior cowboys and cowgirls, there were campfires made of Veri-Thin Pretzel sticks, tepees built of Nabisco Waffle Cones, and scenes populated by Nabisco Cowboys and Indians Cookies.

The space program was addressed in two ideas, the Rocketship Special (with rockets made of bananas and Nabisco Sugar Wafers) and Midget Missiles (individually molded, cone-shaped ice cream accessorized with Oreo Creme Sandwich bases, Sugar Wafer fins and Maraschino cherry satellites perched on top).

Circus and carnival ideas included a Ferris Wheel constructed with Tinker Toys, the buckets holding cookies instead of people; a Merry-Go-Round made with a lazy Susan and a hatbox lid; a shoebox Cicus Wagon that carried ice cream cones; and Barnum's Animal Crackers riding atop large marshmallows.

The Maypole Party Dessert is shown on the front cover. If my scanner weren't broken, I'd love to show a photo of each and every idea.

While these ideas might not captivate the imagination of children today, who are long used to the fast action of video games and computers, they were sure to have been a hit fifty years ago.