My MIL (who is the sweetest woman in the world) called me a few weeks ago to tell me that she was cleaning her 'junk' room out and had found some old cake decorating books in there that she would give me. When we got to her house, I was so excited to find 5 old Wilton yearbooks! Wow! I spent the rest of the day reading!! Boy, times have changed! But they still have some great ideas and techniques in there!!

I just wanted to share a little of my happiness..

hahah I have a bunch of old yearbooks from the seventies!

They sure are good for a laugh, what with all the w****borders, tuc-n-ruffle, plastic stairs with 15 bridesmaids, supercheesy 14-inch tall plastic WT cake toppers with tulle etc!

Not to get off topic here, but what are "w****borders"?

Well, it is a word I made up to describe the Wilton Way. Those heavy, ugly borders one sees where they've used like 4 different tips.....

I'll see if I can't scrounge up some links for you.

My mother bought a couple wilton books from the sventies last year that she saw at a yard sale. It is something how times change. Couln't believe that wilton used to have a study at home course kit., just funny

Yeah.. Out of 5 books, I saw 1 (JUST ONE) fondant cake!!! And some of the BC cakes were not smooth at all!! Cake decorating has come sooo far! And might I say, they were all a bout a star tip!! All of those specialty cakes covered in BC stars.. WOOOO! (Rubbing my hand)

I guess I will not be to popular but the old buttercream cakes were my favorite. I love my old books. I have collected alot of old cake decoratign books and magazines. I am not a fondant person, I love buttercream.

I'd love to thumb through those books. I'm all about vintage cake design. Mostly Joseph Lambeth, but Wilton would be fun to see. Did they make the books in the 1940's?

I'm a buttercreamer too. Taste is very important.

They arent THAT old. I have 85, 88, 89, 90, & 92. And I agree, it is fun to look through all of the old books. And I like the old BC cakes too. Alot of them were a bit gaudy for my taste, but most were very pretty!

That would be great, to have those old books! I love looking at them.

I remember being a kid and going into Busken Bakery (Cincinnati) and they had a room with all the cakes with the stairs and the plastic people and fountains....it was GLORIOUS!!

Takes quite a bit of engineering to get all that flotsam into place!

" what with all the w****borders,"
Those "w****borders" take A LOT of TALENT and PATIENCE to learn.... it isn't like slapping a slab of sugar on a cake and calling it decorating.......

Ooohhh... what a good find! I would love to find a bunch of old cake decorating books! Yeah for you!

My mom recently got 2 of the old wilton yearbooks at an auction in a box full of junk for $1.I don't know what year they were from because they were both missing their front covers but other than that they were in really good condition,that is until my 3 year old got a hold of them.Anyway they have raggady ann and andy in one and also snoopy so I'm guessing early eighties and the other one has superman and wonder woman etc.Yeah they are kinda cheesey by todays standards especially with all the plastic googas and such but if we were decorating back then we would have used them.I am amazed at the products they used to sell back then such as stand mixers and complete pan sets for $ 3,I'm talking the 6,8 10and 12 round sets that are now $40 just for three of them 8,10 ,12 and that's not including the 6 pan.Also if I had one of those cheesey multi coupler thingys' you could bet your buns I would use it!

I love those old cakes.
No one can afford to have them made any more, they take so long to pipe. Layer after layer of ruffles and swags and drops and dots.

Simply beautiful.

My Wilton books date back to 1978! I laugh when I look at what was popular then.

You go grama_j. I'm with you.

May the art of buttercream decorating never die.

Great find!! I have all the Wilton Yearbooks dating back to 1976, i bought most of them on ebay, not cheap, but for some reason a few years ago i felt this crazy compulsion to own them all, much like the same feeling that brings me to cakecentral each day! lol

BCJean....until today...I have always read your tagline as "Buttercream PowDERED" and could never figure out how that could be...

I finally realized it says powered.

I love buttercream!

i have tons of old wilton yearbooks that i received from my mil also, including a really thick one that has a combination of many yearbooks. that is considered one of my goldmines.

My Grandmother in law bought some old books and one was from 1974 and the other from the early 80's. I just loved looking at them. One cake I saw in the 1974 book was one my mom bought for me at the bakery. The early 80's ones brought back memories too as there were some wedding cakes that looked like the ones from my friend's weddings. My best friend had her cake with the stairwell re-created for their 25th anniversary and her daughter is having the same cake done for her wedding. Turns out the groom's parents had the same type of cake. Since they're both still married their kids thought it would be "good luck".
It's great to look at those old things and think about how cakes have changed. I would love to see ones from the 40's too. Funny thing though, my parents cake looked a lot like my cake and they were married in 56 and I got married in 2000. Go figure.

You tell 'em grama!!!!

And if one of the books has a fondant cake in it, then it's not what I would call an old book!

My dear Aunt left me all her old cake decorating books dating back to the 50's and I just love them!. It's funny to look at them now and see all the cakes I had when I was a kid and then the ones I made for my kids...Brings back alot of fun memories........

Well... If we're admitting things... I still love those old cut up cakes.

I agree! There was little fondant if any back then. Well at least in the US Love my buttercream and hope they don't make it extinct with all the fondant happening now.

I wish fondant would become extinct. I hate that it has taken over so much.

I wish fondant would become extinct. I hate that it has taken over so much.

lol. Has anyone noticed from the really old wilton wedding cake books how they used latters? I mean steps and latters were all the rage. Some cakes made me laugh till it hurt.