The author of this fascinating mid-nineteenth century collection is not credited, but hints suggest that the material is not original and was compiled by the publisher from other sources. The recipes for a broad range of dishes represent basic cooking of the day obviously meant as an “everyday” household resource. In a long section titled “Indian Doctor,” medical treatment advice and remedies for every imaginable ailment from cholera and scarlet fever to corns and catarrh are included, and there is a substantial section on hair and skin treatment describing lotions and creams for everything from “preventing hair from falling” to curing freckles and pimples. The intriguing section “American Letter Writer” described as “letters on relationship” contains several dozen sample letters that family members and associates might write to each other in a wide variety of situations. For example: “From the Daughter to the Mother, in excuse for her neglect,” “From a Mother in town, to a Daughter at School in the country, recommending the practice of Virtue,” “From a Daughter to her Father, pleading for her Sister, who had married without his consent,” “From an officer to a Lady with whom he is in Love,” “The Officer’s Letter to the Lady’s Father,” and sample answers from the Lady and her father. This edition of The Housekeeper’s Guide and Indian Doctor was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

The unnamed author of this charming almanac/cookbook concoction was as a “lady of [New York] who has kept an extensive Boarding-house, for twenty-two years in Pearl St.” She took her almanac word for word, even using the same typesetting, from the most recent Farmer’s Almanac for 1840 by David Young. But in addition to the traditional almanac information on daily and monthly calendars, weather, and astronomical events, she included over 250 recipes in the art of cooking, pastry, and confectionary, useful household memorandums, and simple cures. This edition of The Housekeeper’s Almanac was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

When Seth Arnold’s wife became ill, he took over management of the household until he himself became temporarily unable to perform the chores. He soon realized that although his daughters could perform various tasks, they had no idea how to take over planning and everyday maintenance of the home. He wrote The Intellectual House-keeper to help the girls plan for and anticipate the tasks necessary in order to become household managers and not just domestic servants of their parents. Through a series of questions organized by day of the week and season of the year, Arnold encourages the girls to think for themselves, develop independence, and plan in advance for home and kitchen chores. There are also sections on managing illness, wounds, furniture, and clothing. “This may be used as a kind of family school-book, to assist parents in educating their daughters for business. If mothers will take the pains to teach their daughters in a regular manner, one week [of chores], by a series of practical questions . . . How much might they save their girls from unpleasant and mortifying circumstances, and their husbands from great trouble, care, anxiety, and unhappiness!”

There is no information available about Laura Trowbridge, but her goal in compiling Excelsior Cook Book is clear. Using her twenty-five years experience and selections from the “best and most approved authors,” she wished to encourage contemporary homemakers to achieve excellence in the “skillful discharge of domestic duties.” As cited on the title page of her encyclopedic reference, the book includes: cooking of all kinds of meats, fowl, fish; recipes for gravies, soups, sauces, bread, cakes, pastry, puddings, custards, preserves, and essences; canning fruit; methods for making butter, cheese, and soaps; antidotes for poison, cookery for the sick; a family physician’s manual; advice on gardening, care of house plants; and many “receipts” for items necessary to the “personal toilet.” As was the custom of the day, a number of the various sections of the book are word-for-word reprints from other books and compiled by many different authors. This edition of Excelsior Cook Book by Laura Trowbridge was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

The category of “charity cookbook” is a favorite in American culinary history. Funds raised by sales of these cookbooks, with recipes donated by women’s groups and church societies, were used to aid a wide variety of local causes and charities. Housekeeping in the Blue Grass belongs in this category—an excellent example of regional cooking styles of the post-Civil War Midwest. Several hundred recipes compiled by the Ladies of the Presbyterian Church in Paris, Kentucky, to raise funds for the Missionary Society include a complete range of dishes from soup to nuts. The introduction notes that the Blue Grass region of Kentucky is “considered the garden-spot of the State. It is celebrated for the fertility of its soil, the beauty of its pastures . . . and last, but not least, for the hospitality of its people and their table luxuries,” which are then richly described in the book. Over forty women who contributed recipes are acknowledged by name at the beginning of the book, and throughout, many of the recipes are attributed to their donors. The book also includes over 40 ads for local commercial establishments that, presumably, contributed funds for publication of the book. This edition of Housekeeping in the Blue Grass by Ladies of the Presbyterian Church, Paris, Kentucky, was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

For most of its early history, America was awash in cider, the most popular drink of the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally a farmer’s drink, it was a staple on farms and plantations in the colonies and an intimate part of everyday life for all citizens from Revolutionary War soldiers to elite landowners and officials. John Adams drank it every morning to settle his stomach, and politicians gave it away at rallies to gain popularity. Although not much is know about the author, Jonathan Buell’s guide includes everything you need to know about homemade cider from growing the apples to building cider mills and presses, fermenting and refining the cider, converting it to wine and champagne, and creating summer beverages and fancy vinegars. This edition of The Cider Maker’s Manual was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

This encyclopedic collection contains forty-four chapters with hundreds of recipes, and it includes discussions of methodology and ingredients as well as detailed recipes for a stunning array of dishes. Included are recipes for preserving fruits and fruit juices, preparation of jams and jellies, fruit and other syrups, summer beverages, dessert cakes, ice cream, sherbet, candy, bon-bons, puddings, tinctures, oils, and colorants. Written by an anonymous author, the “receipts” are from the “best New York, Philadelphia, and Boston confectioners, and include a large number from the French and other nations.” “The confectioner’s art is an accomplishment which may be ranked among the most desirable and graceful of all that pertains to domestic economy . . . It is absolutely necessary to the economy of the household that this art should form a part of every lady’s education.”

All we know of Val Miller is that for thirty-six years he worked as a skilled ice cream maker for commercial businesses, or he ran his own. His book is filled with advice for operating such a business, from running the front office, to employee relations, to manufacturing and marketing, including many recipes for a wide variety of ice creams. The recipes are compiled for large quantities suitable to a commercial operation but can be used by home cooks as well. This edition of Thirty-Six Years an Ice Cream Maker by Val Millerwas reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

We do not have specific information about how Mrs. E.J. Verstille of Georgia acquired her cookery skills, but it is likely that one of her reasons for compiling her cookbook was to preserve the traditions of southern cookery during the chaotic post-Civil War reconstruction era. Her recipes have a distinct Germanic flavor, but they also represent the classic culinary methods and ingredients of the South. Her chapters include Soups, Fish, Meats, Sauces, Vegetables, Bread, Battercakes and Waffles, Yeast, Cakes. Icing, Pastry, Puddings and Custards, Promiscuous Dishes, Preserves, Jellies, Wines and Cordials, Pickles, Dishes for the Sick, and Miscellaneous. (household advice and general techniques). This edition of Verstille’s Southern Cookery by Mrs. E.J. Verstillewas reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

Chocolate and chocolate recipes had become hugely popular in America in the late nineteenth century, and Baker’s Chocolate, later acquired by Kraft Foods, was one of the largest national brands in the country. This slim volume written by an author associated with the company discusses the history of chocolate products in the U.S., botanical information about the cocoa plant and method of processing the fruit, properties of different parts of the fruit and its value as a foodstuff according to eminent physicians, early use of cocoa in South America and Europe, the purity and healing qualities of cocoa-butter, and over 50 recipes for chocolate drinks, candies, cakes, tartlets, macaroons, wafers, jumbles, custards, creams, soufflés, meringues, pies, ice cream, caramels, syrups, and even wine.