James Beard!
Alan:
You're in the greatest possible luck, because the late James Beard's first book,
Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapes, was the partygiver's Bible back in 1949. The book is still in print and available through Amazon (new and used); a link is below.
Fair warning: The 1940s and 1950s were a hard-drinking era (hard liquor was usually 90 or 100 proof, instead of today's 80 proof), and hors d'oeuvre were designed expressly to protect the stomach from all that booze and to slow down the rate of alcohol absorption. What that means today is that a lot of them are very rich and high in cholesterol, so they're best considered a special-occasion treat, rather than something to have often. Here's an example of what I mean; there was no more chic hors d'oeuvre at the time than the classic Angels on Horseback, which were shucked oysters wrapped in bacon, then baked until the bacon crisped.
Even with that caveat, a lot of Beard's classic recipes are still delicious, and they work, which a lot of old recipes don't, because of poor directions or ingredients that are no longer available. Beard stuck to the basics and wrote well, so you'll be fine.
Another book that was big at the time was
Esquire Magazine's
Handbook for Hosts. It was first published in 1949, and it's available in reprint, again through Amazon. Lots of lounge-lizard goodies in both the food and the drink departments. If you have time, look for an original 1949 edition on eBay; it has
Esquire cartoons that are priceless, if not exactly politically correct by today's standards.
