Women's Weekly Retrospective

Borrow a favourite book- perhaps someone you know has a favourite to lend you or you're a member of the local library.

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow THE ORIGINAL (well a reprint of the original) Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book. My upstairs neighbour Michelle is a great source for things like ginger bread cutters, wizard capes and as it turns out she did not let me down on this sought after beauty. Like many 70's babes, I salivated over the contents each year as my birthday drew near. It is impossible now to get your hands on a copy of the original, but I have recently bought the current edition and enjoyed comparing the influence of political correctness and more relaxed gender depictions over the 30 odd years between the two editions.

For all time sake the jelly pool will always be my favourite. And although my husband claims to have never seen the book (impossible for an aussie I would have thought) I am pretty sure he would have dog eared the cricket pitch as his fav. N.b. the versatility of coloured desiccated coconut - where has that gone over the years.

But it is the gender depictions that really amaze me. Even though it was first published in 1980 (I could have sworn it was earlier) the bra burners had yet to infiltrate the ideas factory of The Women's Weekly. The G is for Girls chapter is devoted to cakes such as Sewing Machines, Kitchens, and Dressing Tables. Whilst the B is for Boys section is devoted to sports of all kinds, and an Alien cake.

I wonder if the emerging enigmatic writer nowadays gets as much inspiration from a Laptop Cake as the old Typewriter Cake could evoke!

And for the record I believe the standard between the original and the later edition has surged. So even though we had the feminist revolution in that time we are expected to be career women, yummy mummies, and now it would seem professional cake decorators.

Here are a few comparisons between the editions - gone is butter cream and in with the stretchy smooth stuff. And after what Greer endured making my wedding cake with the stretchy smooth stuff, I am way too scared to broach it.

And who can forget this one. Clearly before the era of PC birthday parties. I am not sure this would appear in any North American Birthday Party Cake books.

In the era of mass merchandising and brand power, I crumbled and gave my newly 3 year old exactly what he asked for. After all, who can forget the joy of looking at that birthday cake you truly wanted.