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.

In the mid-1840s, Warner McCary, an ex-slave from Mississippi, claimed a new identity for himself, traveling around the nation as Choctaw performer "Okah Tubbee." He soon married Lucy Stanton, a divorced white Mormon woman from New York, who likewise claimed to be an Indian and used the name "Laah Ceil." Together, they embarked on an astounding, sometimes scandalous journey across the United States and Canada, performing as American Indians for sectarian worshippers, theater audiences, and patent medicine seekers. Along the way, they used widespread notions of "Indianness" to disguise their backgrounds, justify their marriage, and make a living. In doing so, they reflected and shaped popular ideas about what it meant to be an American Indian in the mid-nineteenth century. Weaving together histories of slavery, Mormonism, popular culture, and American medicine, Angela Pulley Hudson offers a fascinating tale of ingenuity, imposture, and identity. While illuminating the complex relationship between race, religion, and gender in nineteenth-century North America, Hudson reveals how the idea of the "Indian" influenced many of the era's social movements. Through the remarkable lives of Tubbee and Ceil, Hudson uncovers both the complex and fluid nature of antebellum identities and the place of "Indianness" at the very heart of American culture.

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!”

"Collection of incunabula and early medical prints in the library of the Surgeon-general's office, U.S. Army": Ser. 3, v. 10, p. 1415-1436.

In the unknown author’s preface, she describes her purpose as to provide ladies with suggestions for what is reasonable for their tables for each day in the week, so they can easily provide an agreeable variety to their families. The menus are organized by month with seasonal considerations, and then by day of the week (to be repeated within that month as needed), and by meal: breakfast, tea or lunch (if dinner is late) and dinner with several courses from soup to dessert. This edition of What Shall We Eat? 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.

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 first edition of this very popular nineteenth century cookbook was published in 1839 as The American Housewife, later expanded to The Kitchen Directory and American Housewife and often republished as The American Housewife and Kitchen Directory. Author Anne Howe’s name did not appear on the title page until later editions published after this 1841 version. Her preface states that although she is not an Ude (French chef) or a Kitchiner (popular British cookbook author), she knows the culinary arts as “practiced by good American cooks.” Bemoaning the inadequate instructions and limited practical knowledge expressed in other cookbooks, she presents over 350 recipes from the simplest broths to the most delicate cakes and sweetmeats with efficient instructions and practical economy. In addition to her recipe collection, the book includes recipes on cookery for the sick and making perfumes, as well as sections on housewifery and carving that appear to be simply lifted from earlier works. This edition of The Kitchen Directory and American Housewife 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.