If we can push it forward a little bit, here, let us do so.
As far as the books go, I’m crippled until I can get the Library set back up in its new location. I suspect the books have been largely overlooked because they are not necessarily a source of interesting recipes—treasure hunters of that sort just flipped through them and moved on. But they clearly factor into what became the popular press for sophisticated living: Gourmet Magazine, etc. I generally hold out Toye & Adair’s Drinks Long and Short as the first foodie cocktail book, both in content and marketing.
For the larger topic, it seems there’s quite a bit to organize: what women were and were not permitted to do, their roles at different economic strata, the nature of entertaining at different economic strata (including the ruinously competitive high society balls in places like New York City), differences with Europe, changes with Prohibition, suffrage, etc. I imagine there’s already some good scholarship to supply the bulk of it?