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Ransom's Family Receipt Books

ASmith1946@aol.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:18:18

I first ran across a copy of the 1874 edition of Ransom’s Family Receipt Book at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. It intrigued me enough to purchase several booklets last year when a bookdealer offered them to me. However, at the time I was in the midst of several writing tasks, so I set them aside. When I began preparing an article on advertising cookbooklets for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange Newsletter, I examined the Ransom booklets more closely. They had been published annually, and each booklet was the same size with 32 pages plus an outside wrapper. They followed a similar format: the contents consisted entirely of patent medicine advertising and cookery recipes. The recipes were particularly interesting, for they reflected American cookery trends over a multi-year period. After completing the article, I decided to investigate D. Ransom and his Family Receipt Books.

I checked the holdings of major libraries and found that relatively few of Ransom receipt books had ended up in their collections. I proceeded to browse Internet booksellers, but few booklets were listed for sale. In desperation, I turned to E-Bay to see if any booklets were on the auction block. Much to my surprise, several were. In the midst of heavy bidding, I received an e-mail message from Paulette Williams, who asked if I was a Ransom family member. When I told her that I was a writer preparing an article about the Ransom cookbooklets, she recommended that I contact Mike Ransom. I did so, and Mike forwarded information collected by other family members about David Ransom. Simultaneously, I purchased Ransom booklets from Robert Newnham, who gave me the e-mail address of Jan Escamilla, a Ransom family member who collected the receipt books as well as other Ransom ephemera. Jan’s mother Grace DeHaan had used the Ransom patent medicines when she was a child. Jan had conducted research into Dr. Ransom and she kindly passed it along. Just as important, she knew other descendants of David Ransom, and she helped me make contact with them.

Mike Ransom also recommended that I contact Bob Gurn, the Head of the Special Collections Department, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Gurn forwarded my request for information about David Ransom to William H. Loos, the curator of the library’s rare book room. Loos came up with a newspaper article written in 1927 by an anonymous "Johnny Old Boy," who had worked for the "House of Ransom" for several years--probably during the 1860s and 1870s. Loos also suggested that I contact a local bookdealer whom he thought might have some Ransom receipt books. Indeed, the Buffalo Bookstore had 45 booklets, which I promptly purchased. Combined with the 31 booklets that I already possessed, I have amassed a large collection of Ransom’s Family Receipt Books.

These Ransom booklets in turn offered additional information and suggested new leads. For instance, one advertisement reported that David Ransom had attended Dartmouth Medical College, so I called Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College and the archivist forwarded copies of David Ransom’s letters of recommendation, information about his attendance, his thesis, and his graduation. Other Ransom advertisements suggested other avenues to pursue, and so far I’ve contacted over thirty people asking questions and almost everyone has had something to add or correct.

From these pieces, the following story emerges. David Louis Ransom was born to Robert Ransom and Lucy Stacy Ransom on January 29, 1817 in Hamilton, New York. In 1834 David began an medical apprenticeship with his uncle Consider Stacy in Earlville, a small community about ten miles from Hamilton. To prepare for a medical career, David Ransom simultaneously studied Latin with the principal of Cazenovia high school. He also studied under other medical professionals and he attended some medical lectures at Fairfield Medical College. In the summer of 1838, Ransom was admitted to Dartmouth Medical College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Due to the way the course of studies was structured at the time, he completed course of study on October 25, 1838, but did not officially receive his M.D. until the university graduation ceremonies in 1839. One of the requirements for graduation was to write a thesis on a medical subject. His topic was "Acute Rheumatism," which he defended in front of the medical faculty. He then attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

In 1839, he set up a medical practice in Earlville. At the time, the most important family in Earlville was that of Paul Allen Towne, who had six daughters. David Ransom married Harriot N. Towne on May 29, 1840, but she died less than a year later on March 9, 1841. Ransom remained in Earlville, and on January 2, 1845 he married his first wife’s sister, Rosina M. Towne. They had two children: Frank H. Ransom, born May 19, 1846, and David Louis, born July 2, 1853. Rosina Ransom died in March 16, 1855. In December 1855, David Ransom married the third sister Martha A. Towne. They had three children: Harriet Rosina, born 1857 in Hamilton; Paul C., born March 4, 1863 in Earlville; and Charles M., born February 20, 1868 in Buffalo.

In addition to his medical practice, David Ransom also became an agent for several patent medicines and acquired the rights to others. In the early 1840s Ransom had met Homer Anderson, a professor of chemistry and mathematics at Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York. Anderson’s claim to fame was his patent medicine "Dermador," an external lotion for inflamation, wounds, bruises, sprains, and burns. Anderson reported that he invented this process when he attempted to create Prussic acid when he ran into the formula by accident. When a student’s arm was accidently lacerated "by being accidently caught "in the machinery of the Observatory," Anderson freely applied Dermador. The next morning "the soreness was all gone and the arm had not pained him any through the night." Anderson claimed to have submitted Dernmador to various scientists, Physicians for trial, who all pronounced it the "best external remedy they had ever used." Anderson moved to Buffalo and marketed the proprietary medicine during the 1840s. It is not clear precisely when Ransom acquired the rights to it. Ransom warranted Dermador "to cure Inflamation in all cases of Wounds, Bruises, Sprains, Burns, Inflammatory Rheumatism, Bronchitis, Swelling of the Glands, Inflamation of the eyes, Broken Breasts, Frozen Feet, Chilblains, Piles, Pimples on the Face, Bee Stings, and all the Sores of the human Flesh is heir to." He also reported that "On Horses and Cattle it cannot be excelled for the cure of Galls, Chalks, Sprains, Wounds, and all hurts on animals. It never fails to cure if used as directed." As one advertisement put it, Dermador was good "for man and beast." It is unclear when Ransom gained the right’s to Dermador, but he opened a laboratory in 1846 and Dermador may have been his first manufactured proprietary medicine.

"Universal Magnetic Balm" had been developed by Dr. John R. Miller of Syracuse, who was an agent for patent medicines. His balm consisted of 56% grain alcohol. Miller probably sold the rights to the medicine sometime during the early 1860s. A later publication claimed that Miller’s balm had been used since the early nineteenth century.

Dr. Arthur Trask developed his "Magnetic Ointment" about 1845. It was used for diphtheria, croup, rheumatism, neuralgia, inflamation of bowels and kidneys, spinal affections, sore eyes, burns, piles, wounds, and bruises. It was considered "magnetic" because the components were passed through a magnetic field created by a galvanic battery. Trask began advertising his ointment during the late 1840s. David Ransom acquired the rights to it during the 1850s, and proclaimed it was "the most popular ointment in the United States" and "the GREATEST DISCOVERY OF THE AGE." What the ingredients were of the original Magnetic Ointment are unknown, but the company subsequently reported that its major ingredient was tobacco.

David Ransom added tolu, seneca, lobelia, and skunk cabbage to "Coxe’s Hive Syrup" to create a medicine that was successful in treating croup. Ransom initially "made it up in considerable quantities at a time and refilled the bottles of anxious parents for a small fee, instead of obliging them to incur the heavy expense of a second personal visit from him–and members of the doctor’s family filled them in his absence." Due to high demand, he began manufacturing "Ransom’s Hive Syrup and Tolu" in 1859. His advertising claimed that it had been successfully used by "hundreds of thousands" of satisfied customers. By 1861, David Ransom mainly focused on manufacturing patent medicines. As his business expanded, he needed a better base of operations with easy access to supplies, transportation, and printing facilities. By 1863 Ransom had transferred his operation to Buffalo, where he formed a stock company with Reuben S. Hamlin. Their company was first called Ransom, Handlin, & Company, but within the year, the name was changed to D. Ransom & Company. It manufactured and retailed drugs for distribution in the Buffalo area. After the Civil War, Sullivan A. Meredith joined the company. Meredith had served in the Pennsylvania regiment attaining the rank of brigadier-general, but was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. After his recovery he held the position of commissioner of exchanged prisoners in St. Louis. While in St. Louis, he married Julia F. Towne, yet another daughter of Paul Towne of Earlsville. The Meridiths moved to Buffalo in 1866.

The three partners launched the Western Medicine Warehouse, which served as a wholesale operation for druggists in the region. They became agents for many other patent medicines, including B. L. Judson and Company’s "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills." This medicine was the major focus of D. Ransom and Company’s first known publication: The Magnetic Almanac for 1865 for the Use of Everybody. Ransom’s almanac was based on an earlier work published by B. L. Judson and Company titled the Rescue of Tula Almanac. Tula was a soap-opera character who purportedly discovered the "Great Medicine of the Aztecs" or "The Manochan, or Mighty Healer." According to the story, Tula passes on the secrets of this miracle medicine to Judson, who manufactured it under the title "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills." "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills" manufactured by B. L. Judson & Co., New York. These pills were advertised as "safe, convenient and unfailingly Cathartic, anti-Dyspeptic and tonic medicine." In addition to extensive advertising for Judson’s medicines, Ransom’s 1865 almanac published another episode of the "Rescue of Tula" and advertised other patent medicines.

The Tula saga was continued into Ransom’s second almanac published in 1867. Under the title of "Story of Ometa, or Hawk Eye’s Escape," which was billed as "Truth stranger than Fiction." These almanacs also advertised "Dr. Judson’s Dead Shot Worm Candy," which had been invented by an earlier "Dr. Judson," who had lived in Glasgow, Scotland. This Judson, "one of the most celebrated Physicians of the age," on his deathbed asked J. B. Judson to pass on the secret for the benefit of mankind. Ransom also advertised Saratoga Water, "Heimstreet’s Inimitable Hair Coloring," "Prof. H. Anderson’s Dermador," "Trask’s Magnetic Ointment," and "Ransom’s Hive Syrup and Tolu."

The D. Ransom & Company changed advertising directions in 1868. It ceased publishing the almanacs and began issuing Family Receipt Books. The idea of promotional cookbooklets was not a particularly new idea. By 1817 almanacs published cookery recipes as well as unrelated advertisements lavishly promoting patent medicines and unusual medical treatments. Some almanacs eventually featured extensive cookery sections. By the 1850s, medical professionals issued cookery works, which promoted their products and services. For instance, H. Burchstead Skinner, a Boston physician, published several promotional cookbooklets beginning in 1848. His American Book of Cookery, published in 1850, was a paper-wrapped pamphlet loaded with promotional advertising. The intent of medical cookery pamphlets was to promote manufacturers and their medical products as the housewife read the recipes. The recipes were the lure to entice the potential consumer to read their advertisements.

Beginning in 1860, Jeremiah Curtis & Sons and John I. Brown and Son teamed up to publish Mrs. Winslow’s Domestic Receipt Book. The editions of this booklet were published annually and included cookery recipes, advertisements for their patent medicines manufactured by the proprietors, and testimonials of satisfied customers. Although the booklets advertised different products and contained different recipes, Ransom’s Family Receipt Books were a direct knock-off of Mrs. Winslow’s Domestic Receipt Books. The booklets were the same size, format, and length, and the early Ransom booklets were exactly the same yellow color. This likely caused some confusion, for Ransom changed the color of the outside wrap to orange in 1876.

Ransom did introduce innovations into the promotional cookbooklet genre. Previous advertising brochures, such as Mrs. Winslow's, were printed by the manufacturers and then sent to the retail stores for distribution. Readers were encouraged to contact the manufacturers to buy Mrs. Winslow's products. As the manufacturers sold products directly to customers, these promotional booklets pitted the manufacturer against the retailer. Ransom avoided this problem by printing the booklets in Buffalo and shipping them to retailers, who then printed their own names and addresses on the back of the booklets. This directed buyers to the local drugstores rather than to write to Ransom, Son & Company.

The second innovation was to encourage customers to retain the booklets, bind them together, and use them as a cookbook. To assist in this, D. Ransom, Son & Company the company indexed multiple issues, and also supplied back issues free of charge. In 1910 the company was willing to distribute the booklets from the previous twenty years. In all, Ransom's Family Receipt Books published more than two thousand cookery recipes. While some recipes were repeated, full corpus is a remarkable collection. The company urged customers to bind the booklets together and save them for future use.

About 1870, the firm created and promoted "Dr. Ransom's King of the Blood," familiarly known as "K. B." It was widely advertised within a short time of its invention. When a fire destroyed their retail operation, the company concentrated solely on wholesaling their products. Their target was druggists throughout the country. The firm reached the drugstores by direct contact with salesmen. It maintained twelve teams of horses and wagons, which traveled for up to two years throughout the nation. Rarely did the salesmen return with the same team of horses, which needed to be replaced on the journey. Salesmen replenished their supplies by train shipments to particular locations. The business thrived, and Ransom purchased and refurbished "the picturesque and historic stone mansion formerly part of the famous estate of the pioneer post-master-judge-farmer, Erastus Granger."

While exact sales figures are unknown, it is possible to estimate sales. In 1862 Congress passed the Revenue Act permitting proprietary medicines to place stamps on their bottles. D. Ransom and Company applied for the approval of using a Ransom proprietary stamp. Their design was approved by the government in 1865. These stamps came in 1¢ and 2¢ values and were affixed on the top of the bottle so that when opened the stamp was torn. This stamp guaranteed to customers that the article was genuine and that no one had tampered with its contents. These stamps were later altered when the name of the firm changed to D. Ransom, Son & Co. From 1865 to 1883, ten million stamps were printed. According to Henry W. Holcombe, this represented "a gross volume of a little less than three and a quarter million dollars, or an average in excess of $178,500 annually."

David Ransom died in Buffalo on December 12, 1872, and the company’s name was changed to D. Ransom, Son & Company. The son was Frank Ransom, who had been trained as a lawyer. In 1874 the partnership with Hamlin had dissolved and late in the year Meredith died. By that time, D. Ransom & Company was the largest drug manufacturer in Buffalo and was quickly expanding its sales to the region. It manufactured drugs in two laboratories managed by "two practical chemists." Frank Ransom managed it for many years. Charles Willis Ransom, David’s and Frank’s brother, moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he established the Ransom Brothers Wholesale Company, which became one of the largest wholesale drugstores in that state.

In addition to the receipt books, the company issued a series of other works, including booklets on its specific medicines, a booklet on horses, and Ransom’s Illustrated Encyclopedia Facts for All Ages and Ransom’s Horse Book.

The company thrived well into the twentieth century. After Frank Ransom’s death, the firm was managed by Arthur Milinowski, the husband of Frank’s sister, Harriet Rosina. D. Ransom, Son & Company survived through 1942, still producing Trask's Magnetic Ointment, Dermador Eye Lotion and Cooper's Balm and Ransom’s Hive Syrup. It did little advertising and it just seems to have petered out. It is unclear when it ended, but a stock certificate was issued in 1948 for a Ransom Building, Inc., which suggests that a new corporation was launched at this date concerned with construction.

Sources:

Anon. "Obituary, Death of Gen. Sullivan A. Meredith," Buffalo Morning Express, December 28, 1874, 1.

Anon. "Ransom’s Hive Syrup Originated in Earlville," The Earlville Standard, September 24, 1942.

Baldwin, Joseph K. A Collector’s Guide to Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles of the Nineteenth Century. Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1973.

Buffalo Illustrated. Commerce, Trade and Industries of Buffalo. Buffalo: Courier Printing Co., 1890.
Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Dartmouth College, September 1838. Windsor, Vermont: Tracy and Severance, 1838.
Democratic Reflector, 1845 and 1855, from archives of Madison (New York) County Historical Society.

Holcombe, Henry W., "Private Die Proprietary Stamp Notes," D. Ransom & Co.," Collector’s Club Philatelist 3 (July 1941): 212-215.

The Magnetic Almanac for the Use of Everybody. Buffalo, N.Y.: D. Ransom & Co., 1866-1868.

Old Boy, Johnny, pseud., The Times, est 1927, in the "Local Biographies," clipping file of Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in SPC Office, B8T369265 vol. 28, p. 177

Ransom, Wyllys C. Historical Outline of the Ransom Family in America. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Press of Ann Arbor Plant, The Richmond & Backus Company, 1903.

Ransom’s Family Receipt Books, 1868-1925.
Ransom’s Illustrated Encyclopedia Facts for All Ages. Buffalo: Gies & Co, nd [circa 1885].
Rescue of Tula Almanac. 1862. [New York?: B.L. Judson & Co.?1861]
Schenectady Reflector, January 11, 1850, as cited in Joseph K. Baldwin, A Collector’s Guide to Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles of the Nineteenth Century (Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1973), 38.

Rauner Special Collections Library, Archives, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Dartmouth College Library, New Hampshire.

Andy's Collection of Pre-1861 American Cookbooks

ASmith1946@aol.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:10:03

Abell, Mrs. L. G. The Skilful [sic] Housewife’s Book. New-York: D. Newell, 1846. [Lowenstein #392]
Abell, Mrs. L. G. The Skillful Housewife’s Book. New-York: J. M. Fairchild & Co., 1855. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Abell, Mrs. L. G. The Skillful Housewife’s Book. In Saxton’s Rural Hand Books. Fourth Series. New York; C. M. Saxton and Company, 1857. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Acton, Eliza. Modern Cookery: Prepared for American Housekeeper by Mrs. S. J. Hale. From the Second London Edition. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1852. [Lowenstein #560]
Alcott, William A. The Young House-keeper or Thoughts on Food and Cookery. Third stereotype edition. Boston: George W. Light, 1838. [Lowenstein #231]
Alcott, William A. The Young House-keeper or Thoughts on Food and Cookery. Fifth stereotype edition. Boston: George W. Light, 1842. [Lowenstein #300]
Alcott, William A. The Young House-keeper or Thoughts on Food and Cookery. Third stereotype edition. Boston: Strong & Brodhead, 1849. [Lowenstein #467]
Alcott, William A. The Young House-keeper or Thoughts on Food and Cookery. Twentieth stereotype edition. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, & Co., 1855.
Alcott, William A. Vegetable Diet. New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1850. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Alcott, W. A. The Home-Book of Life and Health. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1856.
Allen, Ann H. The Housekeeper’s Assistant Composed upon Temperance Principles. Boston: James Munroe and Co., 1845. [Lowenstein #358]
Agricultural Almanac, for the Year of Our Lord, 1836. Lancaster, Pa: John Bear, 1836. [recipes; not in Lowenstein]
[Alsop, Richard.] The Universal Receipt Book or Complete Family Directory by a Society of Gentlemen in New York. New York: I. Riley, 1814. [Lowenstein #66]
[Alsop, Richard.] Homespun, Priscilla (pseudonym). The Universal Receipt Book. Second edition. Philadelphia: Isaac Riley, 1818. [Lowenstein #79]
The American Family Cook Book Containing Receipts for Cooking Every Kind of Meat, Fish, and Fowl, and Making Soups, Gravies, and Pastry, Preserves and Essences; with a Complete System of Confectionery and Rules for Carving. And also Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats by Mrs. Leslie. Boston: Higgins, Bradley and Dayton, 1858. [Lowenstein #747]
American Family Keepsake. Boston: Published at 66 Corn Hill, 1848. [Lowenstein #429]
American Family Keepsake. Boston: Published at 66 Corn Hill, 1849. [Lowenstein #450]
The American Family Receipt Book: A New Collection of Nearly 500 Rare and Valuable Recipes.... New York: H. Phelps Co., 1848. [Lowenstein #431]
The American Family Receipt Book. New York: Phelps, Fanning, & Co., 1852, as in The American Family Library. New York: H. Phelps, 1850. [Not in Lowenstein; the same as Lowenstein #500]
The American Home Cook Book. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1854. [Lowenstein #605]
The American Housewife. Seventh edition. New-York: Dayton, and Saxton, 1841. [Lowenstein #262]
The American Housewife. New York: Dayton and Newman, 1843. [Lowenstein #277]
The American Housewife, or Directions for Preparing Upwards of Four Hundred Dishes in the Most Approved Style. Philadelphia: Henry F. Anners, 1851. [Lowenstein #501]
The American Practical Cookery Book; or, Housekeeping Made Easy, Pleasant, and Economical in All Its Departments. Philadelphia: John E. Potter and Company, 1859. [Lowenstein #769]
The American Practical Cookery-Book; or, Housekeeping Made Easy, Pleasant, and Economical in All Its Departments. Philadelphia: G. G. Evans, 1860. [Lowenstein #806]
The Approved Recipe Book. Containing Directions to Families in Domestic Economy, by the Most Experienced Housewives. Plainfield, N.J.: Printed and for sale by M.F. Cushing, at the office of the "Union," 1839. [Not in Lowenstein]
Arts Revealed, and Universal Guide... New York: American Family Publication Establishment, 1853. Paper [Lowenstein #570]
Arts Revealed, and Universal Guide... New York: American Family Publication Establishment, 1854. [Lowenstein #609]
Arts Revealed, and Universal Guide... New York: American Family Publication Establishment, 1856. [Not in Lowenstein]
Arts Revealed, and Universal Guide... New York: H. Dayton, 1858. [Not in Lowenstein] [90]
Arts Revealed, and Universal Guide... New York: H. Dayton, 1860. [Lowenstein #808]
[Audot, Louis Eustache]. French Domestic Cookery. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. [Lowenstein #382]
[Audot, Louis Eustache]. French Domestic Cookery. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855. [Lowenstein #652]
[Barlow, Joel.] The Hasty-Pudding. In Saxton’s Rural Hand Books. Fourth Series. New York; C. M. Saxton and Company, 1857. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Barnum, H. L. Family Receipts, or Practical Guide for the Husbandman and Housewife. Cincinnati: Published by A. R. Roff; Lincoln and Co. Printers, 1831. [Lowenstein #141]
Barnum, H. L. The Farmer’s Own Book. Boston: Charles J. Hendee, 1832. [Lowenstein #163]
Barnum, H. L. The Farmer’s Own Book. Boston: Charles J. Hendee, 1836. [Lowenstein #198]
Beecher, Catherine Esther. A Treatise on Domestic Economy... Revised edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1845.
Beecher, Catherine Esther. A Treatise on Domestic Economy... Third edition. Revised edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1852.
Beecher, Catherine Esther. Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book. Third edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1849. [Lowenstein #458]
Beecher, Catherine Esther. Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book. Third edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855. [Lowenstein #661]
Beecher, Catherine Esther. Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book. Fifth edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, c1846.
Bickerstaff, Isaac. Hampden Almanac and Housewife’s Companion, 1831. Hartford: H. Burr, 1831. [Not in Lowenstein; only known copy]
Bliss, Mrs. The Practical Cook Book. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1850. [Lowenstein #494]
Bliss, Mrs. The Practical Cook Book. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, Co., 1856. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Bradley, Mrs. J. S. Mrs. Bradley’s Housekeeper’s Guide. Cincinnati: H. M. Rulison, 1853. [Lowenstein #591]
Bradley, Mrs. J. S. Mrs. Bradley’s Housekeeper’s Guide. Cincinnati: H. M. Rulison, 1859. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Brillat-Savarin, [Anthelme], trans. by Fayette Robinson. Physiology of Taste; or, Transcendental Gastronomy. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1854. [Lowenstein #639]
Call, Eliza A. The Young Housekeeper and Dairymaids Directory Containing the Most Valuable and Original Recipes. Syracuse: J. G. K. Truair & Co., 1859. [Not in Lowenstein]
Carter, Susannah. The Frugal Housewife. Philadelphia: James Carey, 1796. [Lowenstein #15]
Carter, Susannah. The Frugal Housewife: Or, Complete Woman Cook; Wherein the Art of Dressing All Sorts of Viands Is Explained in Upwards of Five Hundred Approved Receipts... New York: Printed and Sold by G. & R. Waite, No. 64, Maidenlane, 1803. [Lowenstein #32]
Chadwick, Mrs. J. Home Cookery: A Collection of Tried Receipts... Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company; New York: Charles S. Francis and Company, 1855. [Not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #653]
Child, Mrs. [Lydia Maria]. The American Frugal Housewife. 12th edition. Boston: Carter, Hendee, and Co., 1833. [Lowenstein #166]
Child, Mrs. [Lydia Maria]. The American Frugal Housewife. 13th edition. Boston: Carter, Hendee, and Co., 1833. [Lowenstein #167]
Child, Mrs. [Lydia Maria]. The American Frugal Housewife. 20th edition. Boston: American Stationers’ Company, 1836. [Lowenstein #194]
Child, Mrs. [Lydia Maria]. The American Frugal Housewife. 29th edition. New York: Samuel S. & William Wood, 1844. [Lowenstein #317]
Clarke, Thomas C. The American Pocket Library of Useful Knowledge. Philadelphia: J. Fagan, 1841. [Not in Lowenstein; has recipes]
Cobbett, William. Cottage Economy...to which is Added The Poor Man’s Friend. New York: John Doyle, 1833. [Lowenstein #170]
Cobbett, William. Cottage Economy...to which is Added The Poor Man’s Friend. Hartford: Silas Andrus and Son, 1848. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Collins, Mrs. A. M. The Great Western Cook Book, or Table Receipts adapted to Western Housewifery. New York: A. S. Barnes & Company, 1857. [Lowenstein #722]
The Complete Cook. With Additions and Alterations by J. M. Sanderson Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1843. Bound with The Complete Confectioner. With Additions and Alternations by Parkinson. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1845. [Lowenstein #302; Lowenstein notes that the Complete Cook is "sometimes bound with "the Complete Confectioner" 1844– so this is a new edition]
The Complete Cook. [TITLE PAGE MISSING; bound with Mrs. Rundell, A New System of Domestic Cookery, 1844–see]
The Complete Grocer. New-York: John H. Turney, 1832. [Lowenstein #158]
The Cook Not Mad. Watertown: Knowlton & Rice, 1831. [Lowenstein #139]
Cookery as It Should Be. By a Practical Housekeeper and Pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard, 1853. [Lowenstein #572]
Cookery as It Should Be. By a Practical Housekeeper and Pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow. Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard, 1856. [Lowenstein #679]
Cookery as It Should Be. By a Practical Housekeeper and Pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow. Seventh edition, revised and enlarged. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard, 1857. [Lowenstein #712]
Cooley, Arnold James. A Cyclopedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts. New York: D. Appleton, 1846. [Not in Lowenstein]
Cooley, Arnold James. A Cyclopedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1851. [Not in Lowenstein]
Cooley, Arnold James. A Cyclopedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts. New York: D. Appleton, 1856. [Not in Lowenstein]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Charles Tappan, 1846. [Lowenstein #399]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: John M. Whittemore, 1848. [Lowenstein #449]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Tappan, Whitemore & Mason, 1850. [Lowenstein #497]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Brown, Taggard and Chase, 1859. [Lowenstein #805]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Brown, Taggard and Chase, 1859. [Lowenstein #805]
Cornelius, Mrs. [Mary Hooker]. The Young Housekeeper’s Friend. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Brown and Taggard, 1860. [Lowenstein #835]
The Corner Cupboard. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1859. [Lowenstein #775]
[Crowen, Mrs. Thomas]. Every Lady’s Book. New York: J. K. Wellman, 1845?***. [Lowenstein #350]
[Crowen, Mrs. Thomas]. Title page: Every Lady’s Book. New York: J. K. Wellman, 1846. Cover: Every Lady’s Cook Book: A Complete Practical Instructor in the Art of American and European Cookery. New York: Wilson and Company. [Lowenstein #378]
[Crowen, Mrs. Thomas]. Every Lady’s Book. New and Greatly Improved Edition. New York: Kiggins and Kellogg, 1856. [Lowenstein #682]
Cust, Lady [Mary Anne]. The Invalid’s Own Book. New-York: D. Appleton, 1853. [Lowenstein #584]
Cust, Lady [Mary Anne]. The Invalid’s Own Book. New-York: D. Appleton, 1854. [Not in Lowenstein; similar to #584]
De la Casa, Giovanni. Galateo: or a Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners... Baltimore: George Hill, 1811. [Lowenstein #55]

The Domestic’s Companion. New-York: Edward W. Martin, 1834. [Not in Lowenstein--same date, title, but different printer]
Doran, [John] Dr. Table Traits with Something on Them. New York: Redfield, 1855. [Lowenstein #673]
Doran, [John] Dr. Table Traits with Something on Them. New York: Redfield, 1859. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Economical Cookery. Newark, New Jersey: Benjamin Olds, 1839. [Lowenstein #238]
Ellet, Mrs. Elizabeth Fries (Lummis). The Practical Housekeeper: an Cyclopedia of Domestic Economy. New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1857. [Lowenstein #743]
Ellis, [Sarah]. Mrs. Ellis’s Housekeeping Made Easy. New-York: Burgess and Stringer, 1843. [Lowenstein #311]
Emmons, Samuel. The Family Physician, or the Two Systems with an Appendix Containing 158 Valuable Recipes. Boston: E. Cutting & E. Brown, 1844. [Not in Lowenstein]
Facts for the People: or Things Worth Knowing. A Book of Receipts. Philadelphia: Laraway & Holstz, 1850. [Lowenstein #476]
Facts for the People: or Things Worth Knowing. A Book of Receipts. Philadelphia: Laraway & Holstz, 1851. [Lowenstein #510]
The Family Book of Knowledge Containing Many Valuable Recipes in Cookery, Confectionery, Pastry. New York: Published for the Proprietor, 1857-8. [Lowenstein #717]
The Family Cook Book; Seven Hundred and Seventy-one First Rate Receipts. New-York: Collins & Brothers, 1858. [Lowenstein #749]
The Family Cook Book; Seven Hundred and Seventy-one First Rate Receipts. New-York: Collins & Brothers, 1858. [Lowenstein #749]
The Family Receipt Book. Second American Edition. Pittsburgh: Randolph Barnes, 1819. [Lowenstein #83]
Family Receipt Book: Part II. for Confectionary, Pickling, Temperance Drinks, &c, with General Information Useful to Housekeepers. Philadelphia: M. B. Roberts, 1841. [Not in Lowenstein; probably a continuation of Lowenstein #240 by same publisher, dated 1839; only known copy]
The Family Token. Greensboro, N. C.: Dowler and Cotton, 1854. [Edition not in Lowenstein; same as #619, different publisher, different location
Findley, William T. Ethics of Eating and Drinking. The Christian Ethics of Eating and Drinking. Xenia, Ohio: Nichols and Fairchild, 1860.
Fisher’s Temperance House-Keeper’s Almanac. Boston: James Fisher, [1843]. [Lowenstein #306]
Fisher’s Temperance House-Keeper’s Almanac. Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, [1843]. [Not in Lowenstein; like Lowenstein #306, different city and publisher.]
Fisher’s Economical House-Keeper’s Almanac. Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, [1844]. [woodcut dished meats] [Lowenstein #324]
Fisher’s Temperance House-Keeper’s Almanac. [woodcut: fountain with cupids] New York and Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, [1843]. [Not in Lowenstein; similar to #306; different cover and cities]
Fisher's Improved House-Keeper's Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1852. Philadelphia, New York and Boston: Fisher and Brother, [1852]. [Not in Lowenstein]
Fisher and Brother’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac for the Year of Our Lord, 1853. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher and Brother, [1853].[Lowenstein #576] [Cover detached]
Fisher and Brother’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac for the Year of Our Lord, 1854. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher and Brother, [1854]. [Lowenstein #620]
Fisher and Brother’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac for the Year of Our Lord, 1854. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher and Brother, [1854].[Lowenstein #620]
Fisher’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1855. Philadelphia, New York and Boston: Fisher and Brother, [1855]. [Lowenstein #650]
Fisher’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1857. Philadelphia, New York and Boston: Fisher and Brother, [1857].[Lowenstein #719]
Fisher’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1858. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher and Brother, [1858]. [Not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #750]
Fisher and Brother’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac for the Year of Our Lord, 1859. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher and Brother, [1859].[Lowenstein #779]
Francatelli, Charles Elmé. French Cookery. The Modern Cook, A Practical Guide to the Culinary Art. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1846. [Lowenstein #381]
Francatelli, Charles Elmé. Modern Cook, A Practical Guide to the Culinary Art. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers, nd [1860]. [Lowenstein #822]
Girardey, George. Manual of Domestic Economy, or House-Keeper's Guide. Dayton, Ohio: Jno. Wilson, Printer, 1843. [Not in Lowenstein; same as Lowenstein #273; different date]
Gilman, Caroline. See Lady’s Annual Register and also Housekeeper’s Annual, and Ladies’ Register.
Glasse, Mrs. H[annah]. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Alexandria: 1812. [Lowenstein #61]
Goodrich, Chas. A. The Family Encyclopedia, or Compendium of Useful Knowledge. New York: J. Whorter Smith & Co., 1860. [Not in Lowenstein]
Hale, Mrs. S[arah] J. The Good Housekeeper, or the Way to Live Well. Boston: Weeks, Jordan and Company, 1839. [Lowenstein #241]
Hale, Mrs. S[arah] J. The Good Housekeeper, or the Way to Live Well. Sixth edition. Boston: Otis, Broaders and Company, 1841. [Lowenstein #269]
Hale, Mrs. S[arah] J. The Good Housekeeper, or the Way to Live Well. Sixth edition. Boston: Otis, Broaders and Company, 1841. [Lowenstein #269]
Hale, Sarah. The Lady’s New Book of Cookery. Fifth edition. New York: H. Long & Brother, J. C. Derby, 1852. [Lowenstein #554]
Hale, Sarah Josepha. The New Household Receipt-Book. New York: H. Long& Brother, 1853. [Lowenstein #595] [Scaca; July 15, 2002; 48.39]
Hale, Sarah J. Mrs. Hale’s New Cook Book. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers, 1857. [Lowenstein #737]
Hale, Sarah Josepha. Mrs. Hale’s Receipts for the Million. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1857. [Lowenstein #738]
Hall, Elizabeth M. Practical American Cookery and Domestic Economy. New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1856. [Lowenstein #699]
Hand Book of Practical Receipts: or Useful Hints in Every Day Life by an American Lady. New York: A. S. Barnes & Burr, 1860. [Lowenstein #814]
Harwell, H. I. The Domestic Manual: or Family Directory. New-London: Samuel Green, 1816. [Lowenstein #74]
Hayward, John. The Family Visitor. Boston: Weeks, Jordan, 1840. [recipes; not in Lowenstein]
Hayward, John. The Family Visitor. Second edition. Boston: Otis, Broaders, and Company, 1840. [includes recipe section] [Not in Lowenstein]
Hayward, John. The Family Visitor. Third edition. Boston: Otis, Broaders, and Company, 1840. [includes recipe section] [Not in Lowenstein]
Henderson, W. A. Modern Domestic Cookery enlarged and improved by D. Hughson, M.D. combined with The New Family Receipt Book New York: Leavitt and Allen, ND [similar to 1857 edition]. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Henderson, W. A. Modern Domestic Cookery combined with The New Family Receipt Book New York: Leavitt and Allen, 1857. [Lowenstein # 735]
Henderson, W. A. Modern Domestic Cookery combined with The New Family Receipt Book New York: Leavitt and Allen, ND [similar to 1857 edition; different than one above]. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Hodgson, Mary. The Philadelphia Housewife. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1855. [Lowenstein #668]
The Housekeeper’s Almanac, or, Young Wife’s Oracle. New-York: Elton, 1840. [Lowenstein #254]
The Housekeeper’s Almanac, or, Young Wife’s Oracle. New-York: Elton, 1842. [Lowenstein #287]
The House Keepers Almanac: and the Young Wife’s Oracle, Containing over 200 Valuable Receipts in Cookery, Confectionary, Pastry, &c. &c. New-York: Nafis & Cornish, 1845. [Lowenstein #356]
Housekeeper’s Almanac, Or, the Young Wife’s Oracle! For 1840! containing Upwards of 250 Valuable Recipes in Cooking, Confectionary, &C. &c. New-York: [Turner and?] Fisher, 1840. [Not in Lowenstein]
House-keeper’s Almanac and Good Wife’s Receipt Book, 1842. Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, 1842. [Lowenstein #284]
Housekeepers’ Almanac and Family Receipt Book 1853. Philadelphia: John H. Simon, [1853.] [Not in Lowenstein; similar to #580]
Housekeepers’ Almanac for the Year 1853 and Family Receipt Book. Philadelphia: Andrew Dimond, [1853]. [Not in Lowenstein, similar to #580; different publisher]
Housekeepers’ Almanac for the Year 1854 and Family Receipt Book. Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1854.
Housekeepers’ Almanac for the Year 1854 and Family Receipt Book. York, PA: A. J. Warfield, 1854. [Not in Lowenstein, similar to #624-625; different location]
Housekeepers’ Almanac for the Year 1854 and Family Receipt Book. Baltimore, MD: John Berger, 1854. [Not in Lowenstein, similar to #624-625; different location]
Housekeepers’ Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1855. Philadelphia: King & Baird, [1855]. [Lowenstein #655]
Housekeepers’ Almanac and Family Receipt Book, 1858. Philadelphia: King & Baird, [1858]. [Lowenstein #755]
Housekeepers’ Almanac for the Year 1859. Philadelphia: King & Baird, [1859]. [Lowenstein #781]
Housekeeper’s Annual, and Ladies’ Register: for 1844. Boston: Redding and Co., [1844] [Lowenstein #327]
Housekeeper’s Annual, and Ladies’ Register: for 1844. Boston: Redding and Co., [1844]. [Lowenstein #327] [SECOND COPY, SEE Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Memorandum-book, for 1841-44.
House-Keeper’s Guide and Indian Doctor. New York: Published at 128 Nassau Street. W. Lord, stereotyper, 86 Fulton Street, 1852. [Lowenstein #546]
House-Keeper’s Guide and Indian Doctor. New York: Published at 100 Nassau Street. W. Lord, stereotyper, 86 Fulton Street, 1853. [Lowenstein #581]
How to Cook and How to Carve. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, [1859-60]. [Lowenstein #817]
How to Cook and How to Carve. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, [ND].
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The American Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book. Stereotyped edition. Cincinnati: Published by H. W. Derby, 1845. [Lowenstein #341]
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The New England Economical Housekeeper. Montpelier: E. P. Walton, 1845. [Lowenstein # 364]
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The New England Economical Housekeeper. Worcester: S. A. Howland, 1846. [Lowenstein #391]
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The New England Economical Housekeeper. Worcester: S. A. Howland, 1847. [Lowenstein #424]

Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The New England Economical Housekeeper. Worcester: S. A. Howland, 1847. [Lowenstein #424] [credit card; October 9, 1998; 23]
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The New England Economical Housekeeper. Worcester: S. A. Howland, 1848. [Lowenstein #441]
Howland, Mrs. E[sther] A[llen]. The American Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book. Twentieth Thousand. Improved and Enlarged fortieth thousand. Worcester: William Allen, [ca 1854]. [Lowenstein #603]
Johnson, James F. The Chemistry of Common Life. 2 vols. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1855. [Not in Lowenstein; same as Lowenstein #610; different year]
Kitchen Directory and American Housewife. New York: Mark H. Newman & Co., 1841. [only first 106 pages] [Lowenstein #271]
Kitchen Directory and American Housewife. New York: Mark H. Newman & Co., 1846. [Lowenstein #385]
Kitchiner, William. The Cook’s Oracle. Boston: Munroe & Francis, 1822. [Lowenstein #92]
Kitchiner, William. The Cook’s Oracle. New York: J. & J. Harper, 1830. [Lowenstein #128]
Kitchiner, William. The Cook’s Oracle. [New York]: J. & J. Harper, 1831. [Lowenstein #140]
Kitchiner, William. The Cook’s Oracle. New-York: J. & J. Harper, 1832. [Lowenstein #159]
Kitchiner, William. The Cook’s Oracle and Housekeeper’s Manual. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855. [Lowenstein #646]
Koogle, J. D. The Farmer's Own Book: a Treatise on the Numerous Diseases of the Horse, with an Explanation of Their Symptoms, & the Course of Treatment to Be Pursued; Also Other Useful Information. Baltimore: Printed by McCoull & Slater, 1857. [Masi; June 25, 2004; 50] [Not in Lowenstein; does have recipes]
Ladies’ Cooking Assistant and Family Friend Containing a Selected Number of Important Family Recipes. [bound with] Ladies’ Indispensable Assistant. New York: published at 128 Nassau Street, 1850; New York: E. Hutchinson, ***. Paper [Lowenstein #485]
Ladies’ Indispensable Assistant. New York: F. J. Dow & Co., 1850; [bound with, but not identified as Ladies’ Cooking Assistant and Family Friend Containing a Selected Number of Important Family Recipes] [Edition not in Lowenstein; this appears to be the real first edition of the book]

Ladies’ Indispensable Assistant. New York: published at 128 Nassau Street, 1851. Paper [Lowenstein #519] [Masi; May 7, 2004; 100]
The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Memorandum-book, for 1838. Boston: T. H. Carter, 1838. [Lowenstein #223]
The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Memorandum-book, for 1839-41. [THIS INCLUDES 1839, 1840 and 1841 BOUND TOGETHER] Boston: Otis, Broaders, and Co.,1839-41. [Lowenstein #243; #255; #272]
The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Memorandum-book, for 1841-44. [THIS INCLUDES 1841, 1842, 1843 and 1844 BOUND TOGETHER] [Lowenstein #272; #288; #310; #372]
The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Almanac, for 1842. Boston: William Crosby and Company, 1842. [Lowenstein #288]

The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Almanac, for 1842. Boston: William Crosby and Company, 1842. [Lowenstein #288]
The Lady’s Annual Register, and Housewife’s Almanac, for 1843. Boston: T. H. Carter, 1843. [Lowenstein #310]
See Housekeeper’s Annual, and Ladies’ Register: for 1844.
[Lankester, Edwin]. Vegetable Substances Used for the Food of Man. New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1840. [Lowenstein #258]
[Lankester, Edwin]. Vegetable Substances Used for the Food of Man. The Family Library No. 169. New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. [Lowenstein #396]
Lardner’s One Thousand and Ten Things Worth Knowing...Almost Everything that Can Be Necessary in the Kitchen, the Parlor and Dressing-Room... New York: H. Long & Bro., 1856. [Not in Lowenstein; only known copy]
Lea, Elizabeth E. Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts. Second edition. Baltimore: Cushing & Bro., 1846. [Lowenstein #375]
Lea, Elizabeth E. Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts. Fifth edition. Baltimore: Cushings and Bailey, 1853. [Lowenstein #575]
Lea, Elizabeth E. Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts. Tenth edition. Baltimore: Cushings and Bailey, 1859. [Lowenstein #776]
[Lee, N. K. M.] The Cook’s Own Book and Housekeeper’s Register. Boston: Munroe & Francis, 1832. [Lowenstein #160]
[Lee, N. K. M.] The Cook’s Own Book and Housekeeper’s Register. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1849. [Lowenstein #453]
[Lee, N. K. M.] The American Family Cook Book. Boston: Higgins, Bradley & Dayton, 1858. [Lowenstein #747]
[Lee, N. K. M.] The Cook’s Own Book and Housekeeper’s Register. Boston: Munroe & Francis, 1845. [Lowenstein #344]
Leslie, Eliza. Seventy-Five Receipts. Eighth edition. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1835. [Lowenstein #190]
Leslie, Eliza. Domestic French Cookery, Chiefly Translated from Sulpice Barué. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1832. [Lowenstein #162]
Leslie, Eliza. Domestic French Cookery, Chiefly Translated from Sulpice Barué. Fourth edition. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1836. [Lowenstein #196]
Leslie, Eliza. Directions for Cookery; Being a System of the Art, in its Various Branches. Sixth edition. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1839. [Lowenstein #235]
Leslie, Eliza. Directions for Cookery; being a System of the Art, in its Various Branches. Tenth edition. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1840. [Lowenstein #249]
Leslie, Eliza. Directions for Cookery; Being a System of the Art, in its Various Branches. Twentieth edition. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1844. [Lowenstein #321]
Leslie, Eliza. Directions for Cookery; being a System of the Art, in its Various Branches. 59th edition. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1861.
Leslie, Eliza. Leslie’s Old Standard and Renowned Cookery. Directions for Cookery in the Various Branches. Sixtieth edition. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1851. [Probably 1890– reason advertising in back includes Brannt, first published in 1890] New York: E. Steiger & Co., nd.
Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s Lady’s New Receipt-book. Philadelphia: A. Hart, late Carey & Hart, 1851?
Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s New Receipts for Cooking. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers, 1854. [Lowenstein #637]
Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s New Receipts for Cooking. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1854. [Lowenstein #637]
Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book. Philadelphia: R. B. Peterson, 1857. [Lowenstein #734]
Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book. Philadelphia: R. B. Peterson and Brother, 306 Chestnut street, [1859]. [Lowenstein #792]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. A New American from the Latest London Edition. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jun. and Brother, 179 Market Street–between 4th and 5th; Pittsburgh: C. H. Kay, 1829. [Lowenstein #121– Lowenstein says 129 Market, probably wrong]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Fourth American Edition. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jun. and Brother, 179 Market Street–between 4th and 5th; and Pittsburgh: C. H. Kay [1829?].[Edition not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #121]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jun. and Co., No. 4 Minor Street, and John I. Kay & Co., No. 51 Market Street, 1831. [Lowenstein #147]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jun. and Brother, 122 Chestnut; Pittsburgh: C. H. Kay, [1829?]. Fourth American Edition. [Lowenstein #122]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: James Kay, Jun. & Co.; Pittsburg [sic] John J. Kay, 1830. [Lowenstein; #133]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: Troutman & Hayes; Pittsburgh: Kay & Co., 1852. [Lowenstein #556]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: Hayes & Zell, 1854. [Lowenstein # 628]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: Hayes and Zell, 1855. [Lowenstein #660]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: Hayes and Zell, 1857. [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Mackenzie, Colin. Mackenzie’s Five Thousand Receipts in all the Useful and Domestic Arts. Philadelphia: Hayes and Zell, 1860. [Lowenstein #820]
[McDougall, Mrs. Francis Harriet (Whipple)]. The Housekeeper’s Book. Philadelphia: William Marshall and Co., 1837. [Lowenstein #208]
McGetrick, M. The Housewife’s Guide; or, a Complete System of Modern Cookery. New Edition, revised and corrected. New York: G. F. Bunce, 1834. [Lowenstein #178]
McMullen, Thomas. Hand-book of Wines, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical; with a Description of Foreign Spirits and Liquors. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1852. [Lowenstein #544]
Man, Anna. The Little New York Cook; Die kleine New Yorker köchin. New York: Verlag von Steiger, 1859. [mostly in German, but English titles of recipes] [Not in Lowenstein]
Mann, Mrs. Horace. Christianity in the Kitchen. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1857. [Lowenstein #637]
A Manual of Homeopathic Cookery. New-York: William Radde, 1846. [Lowenstein #387]
Marquart, John. Six Hundred Receipts. Lebanon, Philadelphia: Christian Henry, 1860. [Not in Lowenstein]
Marshall, Josiah T. The Farmer’s and Emigrant’s Hand Book. Boston: H. Wentworth, 1852. [Not in Lowenstein; includes many recipes]
Marshall, Josiah T. The Farmer’s and Emigrant’s Hand Book. Cincinnati: Applegate and Co., 1856. [Not in Lowenstein; includes many recipes]
Mendall, P. H. The New Bedford Practical Receipt Book. New Bedford: Charles Taber and Co., 1859. [Lowenstein #797]
The New American Housekeeper’s Assistant being a Collection of Choice Receipts in Cookery of All Kinds. New-York: np, 1816. [Not in Lowenstein; only known copy located]
New American Cookery, or Female Companion. By an American Lady. New York: D. D. Smith, 1805. [Lowenstein #36]
A New Collection of Genuine Receipts... Concord: Fisk & Chase, 1831. [Lowenstein #134]
New Family Receipt Book. New-Haven: Howe & Spalding, 1819. [Lowenstein #84]
A New Family Receipt Book Containing All the Truly Valuable Receipts for Various Branches of Cookery– Selected from the Best Authorities. To Which Are Added a Number of Valuable Receipts for Brewing... Brockport, [NY?]: Western Star Office, 1832. [Not in Lowenstein; only known copy located]
A New Family Receipt Book... Hartford, CT: Ezra Strong, 1835. [Lowenstein #189]
Nicholson, Elizabeth. The Economical Cook and House-Book. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard, 1857. [Lowenstein #714]
Nicholson, Elizabeth. What I Know; or, the Economical Cook and House-Book. Fourth edition. Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, 1860. [Lowenstein #834]
One Thousand and One Things Worth Knowing; A Book Disclosing Invaluable Information, Receipts and Instruction, in the Useful and Domestic Arts. Everything of Which is of Practical Use to Everybody. New York: Henry Stephens, 1855. [Lowenstein #666]
Parkes, Mrs. William. Domestic Duties; or Instructions to Young Married Ladies. New-York: J. & J. Harper, 1830. [Not in Lowenstein]
Pereira, Jonathan. Charles A. Lee, ed. A Treatise on Food and Diet. New York: Fowler & Wells, 1843. [Not in Lowenstein]
[Philip, Robert Kemp.] Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1856. [Lowenstein #690]
[Philip, Robert Kemp.] Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1856. [Lowenstein #690]
[Philip, Robert Kemp.] Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know. New York: Garrett, Dick & Fitzgerald, 1857. [Edition not in Lowenstein; similar to #731]
[Philip, Robert Kemp.] Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1858. [Lowenstein #786]
[Philip, Robert Kemp.] Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1859. [Lowenstein #786]
The Practical Housewife, A Complete Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy and Family Medical Guide. New Edition, Revised and Greatly Enlarged. London: Houlston & Wright; Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1860. [Not in Lowenstein]
[Prism, Mrs.] Indispensable Companion and Housekeepers’ Guide. New York: Dayton Publishers, 1859. [Lowenstein #788]
[Prism, Mrs.] The Ladies Indispensable Companion and Housekeepers’ Guide. New-York: H. Dayton, Indianapolis, Indiana: Asher & Co., 1860. [Lowenstein #819]
Putnam, Mrs. [Elizabeth H.]. Mrs. Putnam’s Receipt Book, and Young Housekeeper’s Assistant. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1849. [Lowenstein #460]
Putnam, Mrs. [Elizabeth H.]. Mrs. Putnam’s Receipt Book, and Young Housekeeper’s Assistant. New and Enlarged Edition. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1852. [Lowenstein #563]
Putnam, Mrs. [Elizabeth H.]. Mrs. Putnam’s Receipt Book, and Young Housekeeper’s Assistant. New and Enlarged Edition. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1856. [Lowenstein #693]
Putnam, Mrs. [Elizabeth H.]. Mrs. Putnam’s Receipt Book, and Young Housekeeper’s Assistant. New and enlarged edition. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1858. [Lowenstein #763]
Raffald, Elizabeth. The Experienced English Housekeeper. Twelfth Edition. Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1801. [Lowenstein #29]
Randolph, Mary. The Virginia House-wife, or Methodical Cook. Third edition. Washington: P. Thompson, 1828. [Lowenstein #114]
[Randolph, Mary]. The Virginia House-wife. Baltimore: John Plaskitt, 1836. [Lowenstein #203]
[Randolph, Mary]. The Virginia House-wife. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co., 1851. [Lowenstein #531]
[Rundell, Mrs.]. A New System of Domestic Cookery. Philadelphia: Benjamin C. Buzby, 1807. [Lowenstein #44]
[Rundell, Mrs.]. A New System of Domestic Cookery. Philadelphia: Benjamin C. Buzby, 1810. [Lowenstein #54]
[Rundell, Mrs.]. A New System of Domestic Cookery. New-York: R. M’Dermut and D. D. Arden, 1814. [Lowenstein #65]
[Rundell, Mrs.]. A New System of Domestic Cookery. Second edition. New-York: R. M’Dermut and D. D. Arden, 1815. [Lowenstein #72]
[Rundell, Mrs.]. A New System of Domestic Cookery. Third edition. New-York: Robert M’Dermut, 1817. [Lowenstein #76]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The American Domestic Cookery, by a Lady. Baltimore: F. Lucas, 1819. [Lowenstein #81]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The American Domestic Cookery, Formed on Principles of Economy for the Use of Private Families. By an Experienced Housekeeper. Illustrated by Nine Engravings, to Which Is Added the Complete Family Brewer. New-York: Evert Duyckince, 1823. [Lowenstein #93]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The Experienced American Housekeeper. New-York: Johnstone & Van Norden, 1823. [Lowenstein #95]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The Experienced American Housekeeper. Hartford, CT: Andrus and Judd, [1830]. [Lowenstein #129]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The Experienced American Housekeeper. New-York: Nafis & Cornish, nd. [circa 1838] [Lowenstein #217]
[Rundell, Mrs.] The Experienced American Housekeeper. New-York: N. C. Nafis; Philadelphia: John B. Perry, nd. [circa 1840s according to OCLC search of publishers] [Not in Lowenstein; no copy in OCLC]
Rundell, Mrs. A New System of Domestic Cookery. From the sixty-seventh London edition. Philadelphia Carey and Hart, 1844. [Lowenstein #337; bound with The Complete Cook]
[Rutledge, Sarah]. The Carolina Housewife. Charleston: W. R. Babcock & Co., 1847. [Lowenstein #405]
Savery, Lillie. Home Comforts; or, Economy Illustrated. New York: Bunce & Brother, 1855. [Not in Lowenstein]
Sears’ New Family Receipt Book. New York: Robert Sears, 1853. [Not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #495]
Secundus, Dick Humelbergus. Apician Morsels. New-York: J. & J. Harper, 1829. [Lowenstein #115]
Secundus, Dick Humelbergus. Apician Anecdotes. New-York: J. D. Strong, 1836. [Lowenstein #195]
[Simmons, Amelia.] American Cookery. Brattleborough, VT: William Fessenden, 1814. [Lowenstein #64]
[Skinner, H. B.] The American Family Keepsake: or People’s Practical Cyclop dia. Boston: H. B. Skinner, 1847. [Cover has the title New American Book of Cookery and Housekeeper’s Assistant, with a date of 1851] [Edition not in Lowenstein]
Skinner, H. B. The American Book of Cookery. Boston: J. B. Hall, c1850. [Cover has the title New American Book of Cookery and Housekeeper’s Assistant, with a date of 1851] [Edition not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #498]
Skinner, H. Burchstead. The American Family Prize-Book. Boston: [Published and sold by John B. Hall], 1853. [Lowenstein #569]
[Skinner, H. Burchstead]. Our Family Book, or Household Prize, a Work Adapted to the Wants of Every Trade & Profession, from the Humblest Mechanic to the Gentleman of Fortune, Such as the Farmer & Gardener, Fruit-grower & Florist, Bird-fancier, Cattle & Horse Doctor, Fowl-breeder, Physician & Apothecary, Perfumer & Confectioner, Medical & Culinary Herbalist, Sick Man & the Healthy, Rich Man & the Poor, Business Man & Man of No Business, Merchant & Lawyer, Minister & --- Man. (Cover Title). Boston? Np, 1855?. [Not in Lowenstein]
Smith, E. Goodrich. The Preservation of Food from the "Aus der Natur" of Abel with Additional Notes by E. Goodrich Smith. Hartford: Press of Case, Lockwood and Company, 1857. [Lowenstein #744]
Smith, Prudence. Modern American Cookery. New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1835. [Lowenstein #187]
Soyer, Alexis. The Modern Housewife or Méag re. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1850. [Lowenstein #491]
Soyer, Alexis. The Modern Housewife or Méag re. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1857. [Lowenstein #736]
Soyer, Alexis. The Modern Housewife or Méag re. New-York: D. Appleton & Company, 1860. [Lowenstein #824]
Soyer, Alexis. A Shilling Cookery for the People: Embracing an Entirely New System of Plain Cookery and Domestic Economy. London and New York: Geo. Routledge & Co., 1855. [Not in Lowenstein]
Stafford, J. R. J. R. Stafford’s Family Receipt Book. [New York]: Benj. Urner, 1860. [Not in Lowenstein, neither is an 1857 edition noted in OCLC]
Stephen, John. A Treatise on the Manufacture, Imitation, Adulteration, and Reduction of Foreign Wines, Brandies, Gins, Rums, etc. etc. Philadelphia: Published for the Author, 1860.
Storke, E. G., ed. The Family and Householder’s Guide. Auburn, New York: The Auburn Publishing Co., 1859. [Lowenstein #778]
Storke, E. G., ed. The Family and Householder’s Guide. Auburn, New York: The Auburn Publishing Co., 1859. [Lowenstein #778]
Storke, E. G., ed. The Family Farm and Gardens, and the Domestic Animals. Auburn, NY: The Auburn Publishing Co., 1859] [includes The Family and Housekeeper’s Guide] [Not in Lowenstein; the culinary section is the same as Lowenstein #778]
Temperance Cooking Almanac. 1844. Philadelphia and New York: Turner & Fisher, [1844]. [Not in Lowenstein; only known copy]
Thornton, P. [Mary L. Edgewater, rev.] The Southern Gardener and Receipt-Book. Third edition. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1860. [This edition not in Lowenstein; similar to Lowenstein #801]
Timbs, John. Knowledge for the People: or the Why and Because. Boston: Lilly & Wait, and Carter & Hendee, 1832. [Not in Lowenstein; has food but no formal recipes]
Trainer, Timothy, ed. Family Manual Containing Things Worth Knowing. 17th stereotyped edition of five thousand each. Cleveland: Sanford & Hayward, 1845. [Edition not in Lowenstein; same as Lowenstein #355, only different publication location]
[Trainer, Timothy, ed.] Multum in Parvo. Family Manual Containing Things Worth Knowing. 18th stereotyped edition of five thousand each. Columbus, O.: M. F. Gates, 1846. [Edition not in Lowenstein; same as Lowenstein #355, only different publication location and slightly different title]
Trall, R[ussell] T[hacher]. The Hydropathic Encyclopedia. Two vols. New York: Fowler and Wells, 1851. [Not in Lowenstein; includes section on cookery]
Trall, R[ussell] T[hacher]. The New Hydropathic Cook-book... New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1854. [Lowenstein #636]
Trall, R[ussell] T[hacher]. The New Hydropathic Cook-book... New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1855. [Lowenstein #665] [
Trall, R[ussell], T[hacher]. Water-Cure for the Million. The Process of Water-Cure Explained. Popular Errors Exposed. Fourth edition. New-York: Miller, Wood & Co., 1860. [Edition not in Lowenstein: similar to Lowenstein # 832 and #833]
Tuel, John. Facts for the People: Every One’s Book. New York: Published by the Author, [1860]. [Lowenstein #812]
Turner’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac: Good Wife’s Recipe Book 1843. Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, 1843. [Lowenstein #316]
Turner’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac: and Family Recipe Book 1844. Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, 1844. [Lowenstein #338]
Turner’s Improved House-Keeper’s Almanac: and Family Recipe Book 1847. New York and Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher, [1847]. [Lowenstein #427]
Ude, Louis Eustache. The French Cook. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Carey, 1828. [Lowenstein #109]
Upton, Rebecca. Home Studies. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company; London: Sampson, Low, Son and Company, 1856. [Lowenstein #688]
Upton, Rebecca A. The Housekeeper and Gardner. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company; Cincinnati: George S. Blanchard, 1858. [Lowenstein #754]
The United States Practical Receipt Book. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1844. [Lowenstein #340]
The United States Practical Receipt Book. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1845. [Not in Lowenstein– same as Lowenstein #340– different year]
The United States Practical Receipt Book. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1849. [Lowenstein #463]
Valuable Secrets in Arts, Trades &c. Selected from the Best Authors and Adapted to the Situation of the United States. New York: Published by Evert Duyckinck, G. Long, printer, 1816. [Lowenstein #75]
Walker, Thomas. Art of Dinning; and the Art of Attaining Health. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1837. [Lowenstein #204]
[Webster, Mrs. A. L.] The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Fourth edition. Hartford, Connecticut: Richard H. Hobbs, 1844. [Lowenstein #330]
Webster, Mrs. A. L. The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Thirteenth edition, revised. Hartford: Ira Webster, 1850. [Lowenstein #483]
Webster, Mrs. A. L. The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Nineteenth edition, revised. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1853. [Lowenstein #583]
Webster, Mrs. A. L. The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Twentieth edition, revised. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co.; New York: James C. Derby, 1855. [Lowenstein #658]
Webster, Mrs. A. L. The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Twenty-first edition, revised. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1858. [Lowenstein #758]
Webster, Mrs. A. L. The Improved Housewife, or Book of Receipts. Twentieth edition, revised. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co.; New York: James C. Derby, 1856. [Lowenstein #689]
Webster, T. and Mrs. Parkes. An Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1848. [Lowenstein #433]
Webster, T., and Mrs. Parks. American Family Encyclopedia of Useful Knowledge, or Book of 7223 Receipts and Facts. New York: J. C. Derby, 1856. [Lowenstein #677]
Wells, J. R. The Family Companion. Second edition. Boston: Printed for the Author, 1846. [Lowenstein #379]
Wheeler, Eliza Ann. The Frugal Housekeeper’s Kitchen Companion, or Guide to Economical Cookery. New York: Ensign & Thayer, 1850. [Edition not in Lowenstein; previous editions are, but not one in 1850]
Wheeler, Eliza Ann. The Frugal Housekeeper’s Kitchen Companion, or Guide to Economical Cookery. New York: Phelps, Fanning, & Co., 1852, as in The American Family Library. New York: H. Phelps, 1850. [Lowenstein #542]
Widdifield, Hannah. Widdifield’s New Cookbook. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers, 1856. [Lowenstein #705]

Collecting Cookbooklets

ASmith1946@aol.com — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:21:29

On a hot summer’s afternoon at an outdoor flea-market, I ran across a cardboard box brimming with dust-covered cooking pamphlets. The dealer was preparing to leave when I started to rummage through the box. I asked for the price. With sweat dripping down his face, the proprietor replied a buck apiece. I slowly started to examine them. When almost everything else was packed away, the dealer proposed fifty bucks for the entire box. "What a deal," he proclaimed without exuberance. Without any idea of what the pamphlets were worth, I counterbid ten dollars. To my dismay, he happily acquiesced.

When I examined the unexpectedly acquired cache, the outstanding characteristic was the diversity of the booklets. Some were unattractive with no illustrations, while others contained spectacular color engravings detailing how the food was styled and served. Some were a few pages in length; others were over one hundred; most averaged somewhere in-between. Some were small enough to fit into a pocket; others were magazine-sized. Some were just black and white; others were colorful. Some were rectangular; others were die cut. Some booklets were in bad condition; others looked as if they had never been opened. The only common characteristics were that they were smaller than cookbooks, larger than brochures and leaflets, and had soft covers.

Cookbooklets provide a Rorschach-like test for the culinary field: there are as many motivations for collecting them as there are collectors. Bonnie Slotnick’s interest in cookery pamphlets began as a child. Her mother had a copy of Butter-Nut Bread's Interesting Collection of Good Ideas, with beautiful illustrations of food and people. Bonnie treasured the booklet so much so that she framed and hung the original on the wall of her cookbook store in New York. It’s not for sale and neither is her personal collection of 500 cookbooklets. Jan Longone, cookbook collector and proprietor of The Food and Wine Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, believes that cookbooklets introduced new products and cooking utensils and equipment to America. Cookery pamphlets, says Longone, are windows to our culinary history.

Barbara Kuck, formally the curator of the Culinary Archives and Museum at Johnson and Wales University, particularly appreciates the kitchen equipment advertising booklets, which show how to prepare food. For Johan Mathiesen, formally the proprietor of Food Words in Portland, Oregon, cookbooklets often are the only surviving records of cooking lore. His favorite community cookery pamphlet is Mary Ulmer and Samuel E. Black’s Cherokee Cooklore, which preserved local recipes that did not otherwise survive. Joe Carlin, cookbook collector and proprietor of Food Heritage Press in Ipswich, Massachusetts, started his collection of cookbooklets when he found some in a miscellaneous ephemera box at a used book store. To him, advertising cookbooklets serve as important milestones in the history of the companies that produced them. Cookbook dealer Meg Savilonis of Bee & Thistle Books in Greene, Rhode Island, believes that the advertising cookbooklets may—or may not—have been effective promotional devices when published, but today they are irresistible collectibles. Her favorites are the Walter Baker chocolate booklets and the Rumford Cook Books.

Unfortunately, no comprehensive bibliography of cookbooklets has been published. How many cookery pamphlets were published in what quantity is unknown. The Szathmary Collection of Culinary Arts in Special Collections Department of the University of Iowa counts about 3,000 cookbooklets and culinary leaflets. The Culinary Archives and Museum at Johnson and Wales University has about 10,000 paperback cookbooks and another 20,000 cookery pamphlets. I estimate that at least 100,000 cookery pamphlets and leaflets were published in the United States prior to 1960, and this estimate may well be low. I recently bought three collections of sight-unseen cookery booklets with only three duplicates among the more than 200 booklets.

My collection is divided into three major categories: charitable and community cookery pamphlets, such as those compiled by religious or charity groups; government published pamphlets, which contain recipes; and advertising cookbooklets that promoted particular products, such as those manufactured by the H. J. Heinz Company or the Campbell Soup Company, or cooking equipment, such as Agate Iron Ware or Waring Blenders.

Community and Charitable Cookbooks

American charitable and community cookbooks first emerged after the Civil War. The first known post-Civil War fund-raising cookbook was Nantucket Receipts, published in Boston in 1870, which was intended for sale at "the fair for the New England Hospital for Women and Children." The following year, three charitable cookbooks were published in Massachusetts communities and one in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These early works, like most subsequent charitable cookbooks, were printed in small quantities and sold locally. Their success encouraged other groups to compile and publish charitable cookbooks of their own, and a new genre of cookery works was created. These works were written or compiled by non-professionals and were intended to generate income for a particular community charity or religious group.

Most community cookbooklets sold few copies compared with commercial cookbooks. As cookery pamphlets were paper covered, many are in very bad condition, and some have not survived at all. As money making was usually the main reason for their publication, community cookbooklets tend to have few illustrations and rarely do they feature color engravings. The two best bibliographies for community and charitable cookbooks are Margaret Cook’s America's Charitable Cooks: A Bibliography of Fund-Raising Cook Books Published in the United States and Eleanor and Bob Brown’s Culinary America: Cookbooks Published in the Cities and Towns of the United States of America.

Government Pamphlets

Government pamphlets are generally ignored by culinary collectors; yet many government publications have excellent recipes. While tens of thousands of food-related publications have emanated from federal and state departments of agriculture, most publications are unattractive, badly written, and have few recipes. However, from an historical standpoint, many government food publications are extremely important. Cornell University Agricultural Experimentation Bulletin on "Recent Chinese Vegetables" published in 1894 contained the first Chinese recipes published in America. The 1896 Manual for Army Cooks featured one of the largest collections of "Mexican" recipes published in America up to that time. During wartime, many government publications were issued to help Americans deal with rationing and food shortages. Departments of Agriculture also published many books on canning and preserving food. Some of these pamphlets were written by culinary professionals who were famous for their commercial writing, such as Maria Parloa, Marion Neill and Marion Harlan. Other government pamphlets were so successful that they have remained in print for decades. For instance, George Washington Carver’s How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways to Prepare It for Human Consumption, was originally published by the Tuskegee Institute’s Agricultural Experiment Station in 1916 and the booklet has been regularly reprinted ever since.

Advertising Cookbooklets

I must admit that my favorite cookery pamphlets are those which promote commercial products. They usually sport excellent photo images, professional layout, and clear printing. These attractive booklets also have been largely ignored by food professionals and cookbook collectors. Some professionals nostalgically yearn for the days before convenience foods and labor-saving equipment took over the kitchen; to these, the advertising cookbooklets espouse crass commercialism. With some exceptions, few cookery booklets appear to be worth much, hence most book dealers ignore them. For dealers and collectors, the problem is one of understanding a complex and confusing genre. By far, this category of food works is the most voluminous. Thousands of promotional cookbooklets have been issued over the years, and no professional bibliographic reference has been developed to offer guidance through the morass.

Advertising cookbooklets have several antecedents. The earliest were almanacs with recipes. Advertising appeared in almanacs by 1809. Eight years later, health almanacs appeared incorporating advertisements lavishly promoting patent medicines and unusual medical treatments. Many health almanacs also published recipes, and some developed cookery sections. Likewise, temperance almanacs contained recipes without alcoholic beverages. Incomplete lists of almanacs with recipes appear in Eleanor Lowenstein’s Bibliography of American Cookery Books, 1742-1860 and in William R. Cagle and Lisa Killion Stafford’s American Books on Food and Drink.

By the 1850s, medical professionals were issuing cookery books and cookery pamphlets unrelated to almanacs. For instance, H. Burchstead Skinner, a physician from Boston, published several cookery pamphlets beginning in 1848. His American Book of Cookery, published in 1850, was a paper-covered work loaded with promotional advertising. The intent of medical cookery pamphlets was to promote manufacturers and their medical products as the housewife read the recipes. The recipes usually had little to do with the medical product being sold. The advertising included descriptions of products or services that the publisher hawked and, often, testimonials from satisfied customers. Patent medicine cookbooklets are most easily found from the years between 1880 and 1910. Two famous patent medicine cookbooklets were Mrs. Winslow’s Domestic Receipt Book published in Boston and the Ransom’s Family Receipt Book published in Buffalo. These booklets were issued annually from the 1860s to the early decades of the twentieth century. When the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 eventually proscribed their products and circumscribed their claims, the genre declined.

The advertising-cookery connection took on a different twist in England in the 1850s. Charles Elmé Francatelli's Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes carried advertising from manufacturers who sold food. In some recipes, Francatelli specifically recommended the advertised products. In the United States at that time, American food manufacturers produced generic products, such as flour and sugar, that were marketed usually in barrels, often without labels. These goods were sold to regional middlemen, who broke up the lots and sold smaller packages to local stores. Middlemen often placed their own label on the box or can. When the U.S. Patent Office began registering trademarks and slogans, the use of brand names and attractive labels increased. This was coupled with a drop in the price of paper and the invention of the rotary press, which made high-speed, low-cost printing possible. With the advances in color lithography and photography in the late 1800s, brand-name food manufacturers began advertising nationally through magazines and by publishing pamphlets. Customers were encouraged to request particular brand-name products at local grocery stores, thus generating demand. Local stores, in turn, were encouraged to purchase the product directly from the manufacturer. This eliminated the need for middlemen or brokers, and reduced the price for the retailer and customer. Beginning in the 1870s, food producers and food-related manufacturers established brand names and issued advertising cookbooklets to promote their products. The recipes in these booklets usually featured the company’s brand named product. These recipes often were picked up and reprinted in newspapers and magazines, and cookbook compilers often republished them complete with the original brand name in the recipe.

In many cases, the advertised products were simply the same generic commodities with new brand names. As brand-name products required advertising and more expensive packaging, they cost more than the generic product. Manufacturers had to offer reasons why housewives should purchase their particular product. Hence, the "new and improved" shibboleth became commonly associated with advertising campaigns.

Many other products were new creations or inventions and had no generic equivalent. In this case, manufacturers had to create a demand for their products. Also, housewives had to be shown how to use these products. Thus, advertising cookbooklets offered recipes incorporating the product. As these were showcase recipes, they were often excellent and developed by professionals. Early manufacturers turned to well-known cookery experts. For instance, Fannie Farmer’s first publication was The Horsford Cook Book, an advertising cookbooklet produced for the Rumford Chemical Works in Rhode Island. All recipes in the booklet were subsequently featured into her popular Boston Cooking-School Cook Book published the following year. Famous culinary authors endorsed the products and often published recipes using them in their cookbooks.

Advertising messages at first concentrated on saving time and energy. Then the focus shifted to economy and nutrition. In 1931, Favorite Recipes of the Movie Stars offered recipes purportedly contributed by movie stars. This suggested a new direction for advertising cookbooklets–using movie stars to push products. In 1933, General Mills’s cookbooklet Betty Crocker’s 101 Delicious Bisquick Creations As Made and Served by Well-Known Gracious Hostesses; Famous Chefs; Distinguished Epicures and Smart Luminaries of Movieland included many recipes signed by the Hollywood movie stars. Two years later, General Mills followed it up with Let the Stars Show You How to Take a Trick a Day with Bisquick as Told to Betty Crocker. Of course, the "as told to Betty Crocker" tag is disingenuous. Betty Crocker was the brainchild of the fertile imaginations of General Mills advertisers in 1922. The creation of a fictional character proved successful: Betty Crocker still graces the advertising promotions of General Mills, although she has changed her style of clothes and appearance over the years. Betty Crocker cookbooklets remain popular and the early works sell for a premium.

Betty Crocker was not the first fictional character intended to sell food products. Probably the first was the Quaker Oats pilgrim, who was originally trademarked in 1877. He first graced the label of a whisky bottle. The pilgrim was subsequently used to sell Quaker Oats, which was one of America’s first cardboard-packaged foods. But the company had a real problem. Oats were considered horse feed, so in 1891 the Quaker Oat Company hired several men dressed as Quakers to ride trains across America giving out free samples of their product at every stop. Needless to say, the advertising gimmick was wildly successful.

Other successful fictional characters were also created about the same time. In 1888, Chris L. Rutt and Charles Underwood bought an old flour mill near St. Joseph, Missouri, and began developing a pancake mix that contained all the necessary ingredients. Their resulting product, "Self-Rising Pancake Flour," was the first ready-mixed food sold commercially in America. Rutt attended a minstrel show which featured a tune called "Aunt Jemima." Rutt applied this name to the pancake mix. Like the Quaker Oat pilgrim, Aunt Jemima impersonators were hired to sell the product around America. While the "Aunt Jemima" fictional character is condemned today as a promoter of racial stereotypes, at the time it promoted trust, quality, and stature of the product. Today, cookbooklets that feature Aunt Jemima, such as Aunt Jemima’s Album of Secret Recipes published in 1935, and other African-Americana sell at a premium.

Other fictional characters emerged to promote the sale of particular products. America’s sweetener during the nineteenth century was molasses. As the price of sugar decreased, sugar sales boomed and molasses sales declined. By the 1920s, molasses manufacturers had to advertise to attract customers. Brer Rabbit was borrowed from children’s literature to sell molasses. Cookbooklets, such as The Personal Recipes of Brer Rabbit, remain popular today. Many fictional characters remain popular among cookbook collectors long after the companies that spawned them have disappeared.

As advertising cookbooklets were intended to sell products, many booklets were more attractive than standard cookbooks and were written much more professionally than the community or charitable cookbooks. Advertising cookbooklets included illustrations of the product that the advertiser was selling, the foods produced by the recipes of the company factory, and the prizes the company won at fairs and expositions. The companies that manufactured the products needed to be sure that the recipes would work and were excellent examples of how their product could be used. Hence, the recipes in advertising cookbooklets were usually much better than those that appeared in other cookbooks.

Companies circulated these booklets in a variety of ways. Some gave them away with their products by inserting them in the box. For instance, those connected with food equipment, such as stoves, refrigerators, or choppers, usually included instructions as to how the equipment worked, along with recipes for foods that could be prepared or served using the equipment. Others announced that the booklet would be sent to customers free or for the price of mailing. Still others distributed the booklets through retail outlets.

The single descriptive characteristic of advertising cookbooklets is their diversity. Early booklets were relatively simple black and white affairs with few illustrations. As time progressed, these booklets became more colorful and attractive. Most were filled with lively anecdotes, engaging advice of the era, and amusing quotes praising the products. The booklets introduced new color processing techniques in drawings and photographs. Color was used as an eye-catcher to promote products and whet the appetite for the depicted meal or recipe. Burbank, California cookbook dealer Janet Jarvits is particularly enraptured by the color lithographs. Some are so realistic, claims Jarvits, that it appears almost possible to step into the picture.

Many companies published cookbooklets. Baking powder manufacturers published innumerable cookbooklets, including the Royal Baking Powder’s Royal Baker and Pastry Cook, published during the 1890s, and Calumet’s Reliable Recipes, published during the 1930s. Some cookbooklets have remained good sellers. Although many collectors detest Jell-o, they love the Jell-o cookbooklets published by the Genesee Pure Food Company. These have some of the best illustrations, including some from Norman Rockwell, who was more famous for his Saturday Evening Post covers.

The recent spate of books devoted to cookbook collecting is both a reflection of the increase in popularity and an additive to hype interest even further. In less than ten years, six books on cookbook collecting have been published–all of which have paid some attention to cookbooklets. In 1990, Robert Allen included sections on them in his Guide to Collecting Cookbooks as did Linda Dickinson in her Price Guide to Cookbooks and Recipe Leaflets. Four years later, two books on cookbooks featured sections on advertising cookbooklets: Mary Anna DuSablon. America's Collectible Cookbooks and Mary Barile’s Cookbooks Worth Collecting. Last year, two additional books were published that dealt with cookbooklets: Bunny Crumpacker’s Old-Time Brand-Name Cookbook, and Sandra J. Norman and Karrie K. Andres’s Vintage Cookbooks and Advertising Leaflets, which contains gorgeous color pictures of cookery pamphlets and collectible paper items along with value ranges. While each of these works have flaws, they are a good place to begin to seek information about cookbooklets.

Cookbooklets present several special problems for both collectors and sellers. The first is storage. The booklets are often in bad shape, particularly if they were employed in an active kitchen. Hence, many booklets that were actually used have not survived, or if so, they are in miserable condition. As many booklets are fragile and could easily fall apart, they can not be stored on shelves. Their condition often requires special handling. Unlike most cookbooks, these pamphlets must be stored away in acid-free plastic containers in boxes or in three-ring binders. Most dealers do not want to spend the time to understand booklets, which apparently have so little value. Neither boxes nor binders are as attractive as bookshelves lined with old cookbooks. Moreover, most advertising cookbooklets promote products that have long ago ceased to exist. As the products have not survived, the recipes in the booklets are often useless. Even those which advertise products still available cannot often be used, as the products themselves have changed dramatically over the years. So for practical purposes, historical recipes are not easy to execute.

I enjoy collecting cookbooklets partly because of their historical content, their diversity, and their attractiveness, but also because of their low cost compared with old cookbooks. I acquired most of my collection of cookery pamphlets for under five dollars apiece. My most expensive have run between fifty and seventy-five dollars. Some special cookbooklets sell for much more. Some cookbooklets are famous, and their high prices reflect their popularity. If the illustrations in a booklet were done by a well-known artist, collectors can expect the price to be accordingly higher. The more colorful the booklet, the more expensive it is likely to be. Die-cut advertising booklets and those with moving parts are particularly popular collectibles. However, like all cookbook pricing, condition is crucial. Because of their soft covers and inexpensive binding, cookbooklets are particularly prone to losing covers and inside pages, which dramatically lowers their value.

While many cookbook collectors are interested in buying cookery pamphlets, the field is by no means limited to those interested in food. Collectors of advertising booklets purchase promotional cookbooklets. Likewise, many antique collectors also are interested in booklets about the kitchen equipment they have acquired. Crossover fields for cookery pamphlets exist. Some collectors specialize in ephemera produced by companies, such as Campbell Soup and Planter’s Peanuts. Price guides for collectibles originating from these companies have been published. David Young and Micki Young’s Campbell’s Soup Collectibles: A Price and Identification Guide includes cookbooklets along with prices. Some early Campbell cookery pamphlets are the most visually attractive, such as their Campbell’s Menu Book published in 1910 and their Helps for Hostesses published six years later. Likewise, Planters Peanuts cookbooklets are saleable as crossover items. Planters Peanut’s cookbooklets, published during the 1940s, sell from eight to twenty dollars according to Jan Lindenberger’s Planters Peanut Collectibles 1906-1961.

Flea markets still abound with cookery pamphlets, although their condition is not always good. As cookbooklets are plentiful, they are usually available at low cost. Many cookbook dealers carry moderately priced booklets and brochures. Some have good selections. Dealers at paper shows or antique shows usually have a much larger quantity and higher quality selection, but the prices are generally higher because of the items’ recognized value as collectibles.

The problem for the collector is how to locate particular cookbooklets; the problem for dealers is how to locate diverse groups of collectors who might purchase their inventory. Two solutions have emerged recently. Since 1988, the Cookbook Collectors’ Exchange, a bi-monthly newsletter, provides a vehicle for discussion of new and old cookbooks and cookbooklets. Launched by Sue Erwin, the exchange now has 500 members and is continuing to grow. No matter how many cookbooklets a collector has, reports Sue Erwin, there are always surprises. Free sample copies of their newsletter are available by contacting the Cookbook Collectors' Exchange at P. O. Box 32369, San Jose, CA 95152-2369. The second solution to the task of finding buyers or sellers is the internet. Many book dealers now have web sites. It is possible to search many book dealers sites through search engines, such as www.bookfinder.com. Using these search engines, it is possible to locate particular cookbooklets. For dealers, it is now possible to list titles, scan in color illustrations, and sell nationally.

Fifteen years after I acquired my first box of cookbooklets, I remain enthralled with their diversity and beauty. Today, my collection contains about 1,000 booklets. Many possess spectacular color-rich engravings of foods, families, and feasts: they are works of art in their own right. Others are dull, but historically significant. Still others brim with some incredibly good recipes. All cookery booklets are an important part of the culinary tapestry of America.