It is difficult when creating a book that is humorous at the expense of the taste of prior ages to avoid becoming mean-spirited. Generally, Pallai finds the right balance and uses the comments on the photos to focus on the rightly humorous. Most of the pictures are well composed and fit the theme of retro-food now seen as humorous. So why did I withhold one star? Because the author treats foods clearly designed to children and likely requested by children (e.g. teddy bear shaped cakes) in the same category as Ham and Banana Hollandaise. Having lived through 7 decades of food, I know teddy bear birthday cakes are neither retro nor disdainful-humor-worthy. So an otherwise fun book finishes with a bit distastefully.