One of my favorite things to find when I am book hunting are publications released by a small press called Potpourri Press. Mostly published in the 1970’s, the look of their stuff is distinctive and gloriously hippy dippy. My heart always leaps when I see one of their books out in the wild. If I spot one at a sale my arm becomes a bolt of lightning, snatching it in a blink from the shelf tomb it likely had been languishing on for decades. No other picker is getting it before me. I will fight someone for a Potpourri Press book if need be, and win.
It is hard not to feel happy when you look at their publications. The edge to edge cover art is patchwork odd and vivid colors. It smiles from the shelf. The titles are often playful, the content and layout clever and artful. Each one is an artifact of that 70’s era and so much fun to collect. But they are not just charming shelf candy by any means. As vessels of practical information, the books remain useful to this day.
The Potpourri books I most recently found are two 1973 cookbooks from a series called “The Liberated Cook.” They contain simple recipes geared towards the modern 70’s household, which the book feels is longing for delicious complex meals and dinner guests, but has little time or will to spend in the kitchen and cook elaborately. Enter The Liberated Cook series. Thank you Potpourri!
The back covers on the Liberated Cook books are designed to encourage mailing them. There is a designated spot with a funky font broadcasting the space to write an address and place a stamp. I am not sure why this design choice was made, but I love this gimmick. Because you never know. You may not want to purchase the book for yourself, but it is too cool and cute to leave behind! So what do you do? You buy it and send it to someone!
The love, care and thought behind each one of the Potpourri books I have found in the past ten years of bookhunting is undeniable. You can feel it as you turn them around in your hands. The textured covers, the oft quirky way they frame text inside the books, the wholesome hand drawn illustrations. After this last find, I really wanted to see if I could find out more about this press's history. Who was behind Potpourri Press?
The answer I found is David and Joanne Grimes, a husband and wife team who in 1967, opened up a unique gift and stationary store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and named it Potpourri. Based on some descriptions I read of the shop, when one would walk in, you would be met with the scent of patchouli and incense. On the shelves you would find unusual items like melted soda bottles repurposed for vases, and all the kitschy fads of the day, such as love beads, blacklight posters, pet rocks, and mood rings. Their store icon was a yellow sun with bright orange rays and was printed on all the merchandise bags.
During the late 60’s and 70’s, fondue was all the rage, and David and Joann sold a lot of fondue kits. What they realized was, as trendy as fondue cooking had become, there were no fondue cookbooks. Recognizing the need, they commissioned their own cookbook and published “Fondue Cook-In” , the first title to roll off of the Potpourri Press. Over 165 titles would follow.
While researching, I happened upon the obituary for David Grimes, who died in 2020. There are multiple posts by previous employees of both the retail store and Potpourri Press that said it was the best job they ever had. His creativity and kindness, and the family-like atmosphere of the company is mentioned over and over. I was not surprised by what I read, because this creativity and love comes through in their publications.
And I am on a mission to have each and every one of the Potpourri Press love gems pass through my searching, wanting hands.