[Collection of Photographs and Ephemera Showing Exquisite, Award-Winning Cakes]
- New York, NewYork , 1960
New York, NewYork, 1960. Very good. 115 photographs, 25 clippings and 6 letters, most of which were removed from scrapbooks. Most photographs measure around 8” x 10” or larger and 11 are captioned. Generally very good: tiny hole to corner of one loose photo; several pages and images lightly to moderately chipped or soiled; one clipping with heavy insect predation; a few bits of loss.
This is an incredible collection of photographs, clippings from newspapers and culinary journals, and correspondence documenting the skill and success of an award-winning pastry chef, Eugene Griesshaber.
Griesshaber was, per a clipping in this collection, “born and trained in Germany.” He was the first pastry chef at New York's Hotel Governor Clinton in the 1930s and worked at the historic luxury Biltmore Hotel in the 1950s, apparently breaking to serve in the United States Army during World War II. The materials here reveal several of Griesshaber's entries into the Salon of Culinary Art, a competition held in connection with the annual National Hotel Exposition in New York. During his career the skilled chef won top honors at least five times and received the “'Hors Concours,' a distinction awarded only to those winning the Grand Award three times in succession.”
Most of the images reveal the completed, awe-inspiring cakes, though a few show the chef at work or standing proudly beside his creations. Several clippings from newspapers and culinary publications document cakes that took home the Grand Prize, including one dedicated to Grace Moore, the “Tennessee Nightingale,” an Academy Award-nominated soprano and actress whose films helped popularize opera by bringing it to the big screen. The stunning cake held a 36-inch high, intricately detailed “statuette” of the star, “made entirely of spun sugar . . . Using 100 pounds of granulated sugar, Griesshaber completed the figure in about sixty hours.” The collection includes a photograph of the cake, signed by Moore and inscribed “To Eugene Griesshaber / In remembrance and appreciation / 1936.”
Another news-making cake “won the gold medal awarded by the French Government” at the Salon and “consisted of an exterior of the Temple of Buddha with the figure of Buddha done in white pastillage, or gum paste. This was surrounded by chrysanthemums made of drawn sugar set in colored vases of blown sugar and trays of petit fours and bon-bons.” Other photographs reveal a cake with a spun-sugar NRA eagle atop a portrait of President Roosevelt in cocoa, and one with a candy ship, Statue of Liberty and ring of saluting soldiers. We also see exquisite birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas and “Engagement” cakes, as well as a few in honor of important anniversaries. One four-tier stunner was made for the Ford Motor Company's first anniversary, featuring candy cars and a statuette holding the Ford logo.
The clippings also include a recipe for spiced oranges that Griesshaber contributed to a 1933 issue of The Hotel Gazette, complete with an image of the medal he received at the previous year's Exposition, as well as a 1936 recipe in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with handwritten amendments, for a “warm dessert for winter.” Six letters in the collection add a distinctly personal touch and include heartfelt congratulations from managers on hotel letterhead.
A fantastic collection revealing the labor and notoriety of a skilled pastry chef.
This is an incredible collection of photographs, clippings from newspapers and culinary journals, and correspondence documenting the skill and success of an award-winning pastry chef, Eugene Griesshaber.
Griesshaber was, per a clipping in this collection, “born and trained in Germany.” He was the first pastry chef at New York's Hotel Governor Clinton in the 1930s and worked at the historic luxury Biltmore Hotel in the 1950s, apparently breaking to serve in the United States Army during World War II. The materials here reveal several of Griesshaber's entries into the Salon of Culinary Art, a competition held in connection with the annual National Hotel Exposition in New York. During his career the skilled chef won top honors at least five times and received the “'Hors Concours,' a distinction awarded only to those winning the Grand Award three times in succession.”
Most of the images reveal the completed, awe-inspiring cakes, though a few show the chef at work or standing proudly beside his creations. Several clippings from newspapers and culinary publications document cakes that took home the Grand Prize, including one dedicated to Grace Moore, the “Tennessee Nightingale,” an Academy Award-nominated soprano and actress whose films helped popularize opera by bringing it to the big screen. The stunning cake held a 36-inch high, intricately detailed “statuette” of the star, “made entirely of spun sugar . . . Using 100 pounds of granulated sugar, Griesshaber completed the figure in about sixty hours.” The collection includes a photograph of the cake, signed by Moore and inscribed “To Eugene Griesshaber / In remembrance and appreciation / 1936.”
Another news-making cake “won the gold medal awarded by the French Government” at the Salon and “consisted of an exterior of the Temple of Buddha with the figure of Buddha done in white pastillage, or gum paste. This was surrounded by chrysanthemums made of drawn sugar set in colored vases of blown sugar and trays of petit fours and bon-bons.” Other photographs reveal a cake with a spun-sugar NRA eagle atop a portrait of President Roosevelt in cocoa, and one with a candy ship, Statue of Liberty and ring of saluting soldiers. We also see exquisite birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas and “Engagement” cakes, as well as a few in honor of important anniversaries. One four-tier stunner was made for the Ford Motor Company's first anniversary, featuring candy cars and a statuette holding the Ford logo.
The clippings also include a recipe for spiced oranges that Griesshaber contributed to a 1933 issue of The Hotel Gazette, complete with an image of the medal he received at the previous year's Exposition, as well as a 1936 recipe in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with handwritten amendments, for a “warm dessert for winter.” Six letters in the collection add a distinctly personal touch and include heartfelt congratulations from managers on hotel letterhead.
A fantastic collection revealing the labor and notoriety of a skilled pastry chef.
Details
Title
[Collection of Photographs and Ephemera Showing Exquisite, Award-Winning Cakes]
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
New York, NewYork
Date
1960