Daylight time savers: Quick summer recipes that saved dinner in 1969

Categories: 1960s, Retro dinner recipes, Vintage advertisements, Vintage casserole recipes, Vintage food & drink

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Quick summer recipe ideas straight from a 1969 kitchen shortcut guide

In the summer of 1969, the Daylight Time-Savers recipe booklet offered up a full lineup of quick summer recipes for busy families looking to get dinner on the table without heating up the kitchen. The meals were made to be fast, filling, and practical — think salads with a twist, shortcut casseroles, and skillet dinners that leaned on pantry staples and convenience foods.

Today, the ingredients might raise some eyebrows (like browning hot dogs in butter or stirring condensed soup into just about everything), but the creativity behind these retro meals still makes them fun to flip through. They give a snapshot of what weeknight dinners looked like at the time, with a mix of charm and a few ideas you could even adapt for your own summer menu.

The Daylight Time-Savers are here!

Open here for 28 ways to make short work of cooking during the long summer days >>

Daylight Time-Savers #1

V-8 Cocktail Vegetable Juice… from dawn… ’til dusk

Eye opener / V-8 perfection salad / Pizza punch / Sunset cocktail

Daylight Time-Savers #2

Take a minute – make a meal: O so good, O so easy… with Franco-American

Chicken Oriental O Salad / Ring O Salad / FrankettiOs / Meatballs BravO

Daylight Time-Savers #3

Short-notice suppers made with soup

Hamburger stacks / Lamb chop skillet/ Luncheon meat kabobs / Shrimp sauce for fish

MORE: 20 recipes from Campbell’s emergency dinner cookbook (1968)

Daylight Time-Savers #3

Short-notice suppers made with soup (part II)

Deviled egg skillet / Quick party chicken / Ham and potato salad / Springtime meatballs

Daylight time savers #4: Easy shortcuts to the heart of a meal

Keep cool and cook up a hearty main dish — quick and easy with Bounty

Chili Pizza / Peppy Hash / Chicken Stew a la Roma / Wayfarer’s Inn Beef Stew

Daylight time savers #5: Soups are a breeze

Hot soups, cold soups, main dish soups — keep your cool when you make them in minutes with Campbell’s

Lamb curry soup / Seafood soup bowl / Chicken cucumber soup / Stroganoff soup

Daylight time savers #6: Short & sweet

Lickety-Thick Milk Shake / Lemon Tree Salad Dressing / Rice Ambrosia / Tiger Twist

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