Why are old cookbooks suddenly valuable? Who knows. Maybe retro food is going to be the next big thing in dining. Maybe people are curious about what previous generations ate during an area where you couldn't send out for a takeaway. Maybe it's just those pesky hipsters again, demonstrating that they'll overpay dramatically for anything that's old and vastly inflate the market price by doing so. Whatever the cause, old cookbooks are definitely 'in.'
Chances are you may know someone who has a few of these around their home, because they're less likely to be the sort of book you'd throw out when you're doing some home clearing. After all, you'll always need food, so why not keep the recipes? Early works by celebrity authors and chefs are particularly popular, with an original edition of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child from 1961 being valued at anything up to $3,000.