I am looking for the coconut cream pie recipe from the 1950 cook boom. It was a vanila cream pie modified with coconut

Thank you for visiting Ask Betty.  Here is a kitchen tested recipe for traditional Coconut Cream Pie, with Banana Cream and Chocolate Cream variations.  Happy baking!   

Coconut Cream Pie

9-inch Baked Pie Shell

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sweetened whipped cream

Bake pie shell.  Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan.  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks.  Stir into hot mixture in saucepan.  Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat.  Stir in margarine, vanilla and 3/4 cup of the coconut.  Pour into pie shell.  Press plastic wrap onto filling; refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 48 hours.  Top pie with whipped cream and remaining coconut.  Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie. 

Banana Cream Pie:  Increase vanilla to 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon; omit coconut.  Press plastic wrap onto filling in saucepan; refrigerate until room temperature.  Slice 2 large bananas into pie shell.  Pour filling over bananas.  Refrigerate until serving time.  Top pie with whipped cream and garnish with banana slices.

Chocolate Cream Pie:  Increase sugar to 1 1/2 cups and cornstarch to 1/3 cup; omit margarine and coconut.  Stir in 2 squares (1 ounce each)  unsweetened chocolate, cut up, after stirring in the milk.  Top pie with whipped cream.  Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie.