This post was written by library volunteer Diane Leone.
In recent years, historians have taken an interest in community cookbooks as valuable primary sources for understanding not only foods and cuisine over time, but also the larger life of the communities from which these texts originated. Community cookbooks, also called charities, have a history stretching back to the Civil War, when Maria J. Moss assembled recipes for what became A Poetical Cook-Book (1864), which was sold to raise funds for wounded soldiers. Her brainchild became so popular that, according to Feeding America, from 1864 to 1922 a variety of community groups produced over 3,000 charity cookbooks (Stoller-Conrad). Charitable causes included helping wounded veterans, widows and orphans. Still others were motivated by social and political issues such as temperance, poverty, and suffrage. Almost exclusively run by women, many, though not all, of these groups were religious in nature. The development of cheap printing techniques in the first half of the twentieth century led to greater popularity of the community cookbook, defined as follows in the McIntosh Cookery Collection at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: “The typical community cookbook was a profoundly local affair, produced by church or community groups, fraternal organizations, or charities using recipes submitted by members, and edited and published locally, aimed almost exclusively at a local audience” (“Community Cookbooks”).
In recent years, historians have taken an interest in community cookbooks as valuable primary sources for understanding not only foods and cuisine over time, but also the larger life of the communities from which these texts originated. Community cookbooks, also called charities, have a history stretching back to the Civil War, when Maria J. Moss assembled recipes for what became A Poetical Cook-Book (1864), which was sold to raise funds for wounded soldiers. Her brainchild became so popular that, according to Feeding America, from 1864 to 1922 a variety of community groups produced over 3,000 charity cookbooks (Stoller-Conrad). Charitable causes included helping wounded veterans, widows and orphans. Still others were motivated by social and political issues such as temperance, poverty, and suffrage. Almost exclusively run by women, many, though not all, of these groups were religious in nature. The development of cheap printing techniques in the first half of the twentieth century led to greater popularity of the community cookbook, defined as follows in the McIntosh Cookery Collection at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: “The typical community cookbook was a profoundly local affair, produced by church or community groups, fraternal organizations, or charities using recipes submitted by members, and edited and published locally, aimed almost exclusively at a local audience” (“Community Cookbooks”).
The five texts under consideration
(see insert above) are community cookbooks produced by local groups—four
church-affiliated—in the city of Schenectady.
Of the group, the Tabernacle Housewives’Guide is the only title not in the Grems-Doolittle Library collection,
although available online, as is the 1903 text.
A review of the books also reveals a change in
the foods consumed over the years. One of
a number of notable differences is in the popularity of oysters in the early
cookbooks. Recipes for this popular
shellfish abound in the 1890 and 1903 cookbooks. Other recipes from 1890 include tripe
(stomach lining, often of a cow) and sweetbreads (thymus and pancreas, usually
of a calf or lamb), which are not popular today. An
assortment of puddings is found in the earlier texts. The 1903 cookbook contains 69 puddings, many with
ingredients such as suet and bread crumbs, which contemporary Americans do not
associate with their conception of pudding as a sweet and creamy milk-based
dessert
Another major feature of the three early cookbooks is the prevalence of recipes for catsups (the term “ketchup” is more often used today) ; pickles; and jellies and preserves. While most households around the turn of the twentieth century had access to a wide variety of store-bought comestibles, food preservation was still popular among housewives of means. The recipes are varied, including plum catsup, cucumber catsup, mustard dressing, and other items not currently thought of as catsup. The variety of pickles is also quite varied. Although Americans are familiar primarily with pickled cucumbers, earlier cookbooks include recipes for items such as pickled string beans, oyster pickles, and mustard pickles.
Another major feature of the three early cookbooks is the prevalence of recipes for catsups (the term “ketchup” is more often used today) ; pickles; and jellies and preserves. While most households around the turn of the twentieth century had access to a wide variety of store-bought comestibles, food preservation was still popular among housewives of means. The recipes are varied, including plum catsup, cucumber catsup, mustard dressing, and other items not currently thought of as catsup. The variety of pickles is also quite varied. Although Americans are familiar primarily with pickled cucumbers, earlier cookbooks include recipes for items such as pickled string beans, oyster pickles, and mustard pickles.
The more recent cookbooks, from 1948 and 1979,
reflect culinary changes resulting from new food technology. One example is a 1979 chicken and rice
recipe, which calls for “1 can celery soup, 1 envelope dry onion soup, 1.5 cups
minute rice, 1 can mushroom soup.” It
was not until 1897 that Campbell introduced condensed soups, which were widely
distributed by 1911. Kraft began marketing Minute Rice only in 1946. A recipe for Spinach Torte required 3
packages of frozen spinach, available only in 1930, when Clarence Birdseye introduced
frozen food to consumers.
Later cookbooks also include recipes that
reflect changes in society. World War II
exposed American GIs to exotic foods overseas, which influenced post-war
cuisine. Furthermore, decades of
immigration led to greater familiarity with ethnic foods. The GE cookbook
offers recipes for Pizza Sauce, Chop Suey, and Italian Spaghetti. Filling the “International Fare” chapter in the
1979 text are recipes such as Chicken Kiev, Tamale Pie, Flank Steak Teriyaki,
and Chicken Orientale. The chapter on
“Meatless Main Dishes” reflects the rise of vegetarianism in the 1960s and 70s,
given impetus by Frances Moore Lappe’s 1971 groundbreaking book, Diet for a Small Planet. Another post-war change was the growing popularity
of the cocktail party, made fashionable by renowned American chef James Beard,
author of Hors D'Oeuvre and Canapes: With
a Key to the Cocktail Party (1940). The 1979 book includes appropriate chapters
titled “Appetizers” and “Cooking for Crowds.”
The introduction of the gas stove around the
turn of the 20th century changed the way food was cooked. The early cookbooks, probably written with
coal-burning ovens in mind, do not include oven temperatures, which would have
been very difficult to determine. Instead, instructions include statements such
as the following, in The First Reformed
Church Cook Book (1903): “Have a hot oven at first, then decrease the
heat,” “Bake 35 minutes or until rhubarb
is done,” “Bake in slow oven,” and “Place in an oven of moderate heat.” Some recipes omit oven instructions
entirely. The 1948 and 1979 cookbooks
include cooking temperatures for gas and electric appliances.
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| Examples of the types of ads in our community cookbooks. From the 1890 Schenectady Cook Book. |
Advertising also crept into the recipes. The 1903 recipe for clear bouillon includes
“Durkey's or Bell's mixed seasoning,” and the 1913 publication cites Quaker Oatmeal
as an ingredient for oatmeal bread and Coleman’s Mustard for salad
dressing. The later books, which do not
include advertising space, feature even more brand names in their recipes: Uncle
Ben’s Wild Rice, Wesson Oil, Crisco, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing, Campbell’s
Soup, La Choy Soy Sauce, and Velveeta Cheese.
Earlier cookbooks are often strewn with
literary quotations. As Janet Theofano writes
of the cookbook authors in Eat My Words:
Reading Women’s Lives through the Cookbooks They Wrote, “Primarily
conscientious and busy housekeepers attending to the needs of their families,
they displayed their education and their knowledge of elite culture even in
cookery books” (142). The 1890 and 1914
texts preface many chapters with quotations, often Classical or Shakespearian,
generally related to the genre of food being introduced. For example, the soup chapter in 1914 is
begun with an excerpt from Cicero: “Hunger is the best seasoning,” and a
Longfellow couplet adorns the chapter on pies.
The salad chapter in 1890 begins with a passage from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: “My salad days
when I was green in judgment.”
Women of a century ago were expected to behave
as good wives and mothers. Typical of period cookbooks are life recipes, which
advise women on upholding one’s role as the moral center of the household. The 1914 text includes the recipe, “How to
Grow Meek and Patient: Take two small, irrepressible boys to your heart, and
home. After ten years, if you are not meek as Moses and as patient as Job, it
will be because you have not improved your opportunities.” One of the more
common “recipes” often featured in early community cookbooks is titled “How to
Preserve a Husband.” Interestingly, this
appears only in the 1948 text, placed before the table of contents, perhaps as a quaint reminder of
earlier times. It reads:
"Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young and take only such varieties as have been reared in a good moral atmosphere. When once decided upon and selected, let that part remain forever settled and give your entire thought to preparation for domestic use. Poor varieties may be made sweet and tender by garnishing them with patience well sweetened with smiles and flavored with kisses to taste; then wrap them well in a mantle of charity, keep warm with a steady fire of devotion and serve with peaches and cream. When thus prepared they will keep for years."
These women were also expected to manage a household efficiently. Many ads promoted this belief. The Van De Carr Spice Company’s 1890 ad tells potential customers that “Economy is wealth.” According to a 1903 ad for The Schenectady Trust Company, “Modern women of intelligence and standing find a bank account absolutely necessary for their personal and household affairs.” A knowledge of cooking was essential for any lady of the house. Gracing the inside cover of the same cookbook is a bookstore ad, featuring a poem, “She Could not Cook.” The bride in the poem “…went to a book-store and bought a cook-book as every wife ought.” Another company, Barhyte & Devenpeck, purveyors of baking flour, will “Guarantee light bread/And pastry, and light-/hearted women.” Another important aspect of running a home is the subject of an ad in the 1914 cookbook by Guarantee Polishing & Plating: “Look over your silver. – Would you feel ashamed of it if you were entertaining?”
Community cookbooks also reveal information on
local society. In the five texts under
consideration, the names of the recipe contributors and in some cases, the
cookbook committee members, are indicated; this can be an aid in examining the activities
of Schenectady citizens. In the earlier
books, the numerous ads provide insight into the variety and locations of
businesses operating in Schenectady and other localities over a specific time
period. The most interesting source for
local history is the Episcopal Church
Women’s Cook Book of 1979, which offers a brief overview of inns, taverns,
breweries and bakeries operated by parishioners throughout the history of the church. It also traces the role of the St George’s Ladies
Industrious Society in raising funds, since 1833, for a variety of projects,
including a church, Sunday School, a new church tower, a parish house, and
church restoration.
Community cookbooks are a wonderful resource
for tracing the evolution of food trends, as well as the life of society at
both national and regional levels. Today,
online kits have made self-publishing easier than ever. Perhaps future readers will comb them for
historical gems, as we do today.
Works Cited
"Community Cookbooks." Special Collections and University Archives UMass Amherst
Libraries, 2017, http://scua.library.umass.edu/cookbooks/?page_id=202.
Stoller-Conrad, Jessica. "Long Before Social Networking, Community Cookbooks Ruled The
Stove." Northeast Public Radio, 20 July 2012, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/
2012/07/18/156983942/long-before-social-networking-community-cookbooks-ruled-the-stove.
Theofano, Janet. Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They
Wrote. Palgrave, 2002.
