Advertisers Index from The Community Cook Book. South Orange, New Jersey

As I have written previously, many community cookbooks have advertisements scattered among the recipes.  This was a win-win situation for both the group who was publishing the cookbook and the business advertising. This is also great for genealogists and researchers since that provides information that includes people's names and occupations. So genealogists should do more than use community cookbooks to look for their female ancestor's names. They should also be seeking out these cookbooks to learn more about the community, especially if their ancestor was a business owner. Community cookbooks are a great source for social history when you are learning more about an ancestor's community and time period.

I received in the mail today one of my latest community cookbook acquisitions. The Community Cook Book. Compiled and Published by the Women's Auxiliary of the First Presbyterian Church. South Orange, New Jersey (1917) not only includes many advertisements but it also has an alphabetical index to the advertisers.  (Too bad there isn't an index to the recipe contributors as well).

This cookbook is without its original cover which may have included the owner's name on the inside.  But I do like how the owner inscribed the top of the title page with the names of two women and the words "recipes-good".

The First Presbyterian Church in South Orange, New Jersey who compiled and published this cookbook is still in existence. You can see their website here.

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Cookbook Advertising Directed at Women 1912

One of the great aspects of community cookbooks is that they often include advertisements from community businesses. These advertisements helped pay for the printing of the cookbook. In the example below, the bank decided to target women in their advertisement, which was smart since they were the ones who used the cookbooks.  The bank was probably also seeing the potential in new customers.

From the Hathi Trust Digital Library, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t86h4hv6v

I wonder how many banks today have a furnished rest room?

Of genealogical value in this ad are the names of the bank's officers at the bottom.

This advertisement and others are from the Christopher House Guild Cook Book, Compiled by the Christopher House Guild of the First Presbyterian Church, Evanston, Illinois (1912).

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New Jersey Community Cookbooks

Have a female ancestor from New Jersey?  There is a list of New Jersey community cookbooks on the Rutgers University Libraries website.  These cookbooks were written by women  from churches to membership organizations from 1900 to the present day.

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Food Friday: Jellied Veal Loaf

I like gelatin but I must admit that the combination of meat with gelatin doesn't thrill me.  I grew up with lots of Jello for dessert but mostly it was combined with fruit or a whipped topping. I remember the first time I saw a tomato aspic mold, I was about 20 years old, I couldn't understand why in the world someone thought that combining Jello and tomatoes was a good idea. (Now, if you like tomato aspic, please forgive me for the above comment, we all have our food preferences).


So for this Food Friday, a gelatin recipe you are probably glad no one made yesterday for Thanksgiving. This is one of many in this genre.

I highlighted this cookbook and recipe before.  You can read that posting here.

From Spirit Lake Cook Book (1937).

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Happy Thanksgiving!

From: http://hubpages.com/hub/Thanksgiving-vintage-postcards

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1913 Student Recipe Book from Brigham Young College

From Brigham Young College Recipes (1913) available from University of Utah.

While this cookbook is not a community cookbook,  it is a cookbook written by a Brigham Young College student and her instructor that includes contributions from other women. Recipes appear to be from instructors at the college and family members. The description for this cookbook, found through the Mountain West Digital Library, says, "Brigham Young College Cooking Recipes cook book, handwritten and compiled by Mary Carl [Carlisle] and instructor Phoebe Nebeker. Included in the cookbook are recipes for first and second year domestic arts students at Brigham Young College...."

This Brigham Young College Cooking Recipes cookbook is a handwritten  book with some damage.  The archive description indicates a date of about 1913 for this cookbook. However, one recipe found on page 53 shows a date of May 27 '12 . Though the recipes are from the early 1900s, there are many that we would be familiar with today including fondant, cheese fondue (page 21) and beef stew (page 31). Some recipes are probably more reflective of their historical era like the recipe for Rock Buns (page 38) which is some sort of biscuit with currants.

Looking for an idea for those Thanksgiving leftovers?  What about Potato Candy? Chocolate does make everything taste better...

From Brigham Young College Recipes (1913) available from University of Utah.

This is a great piece of food history that indicates just some of the recipes being used by domestic arts students at Brigham Young College in the early 1900s.

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Food Friday: Tomato Appetizer

I had been thinking of doing something fun on Fridays featuring community cookbook recipes.  The title Funky Food Friday seemed appropriate but I decided that I didn't want people to feel insulted in case they enjoy the recipes I feature. But let me just say that each Food Friday installment will feature more unusual recipes.

This first installment of Food Friday is from a community cookbook that was part of my maternal great-grandmother's collection. Schooners Recipes was written by the Schooner Club of The First Presbyterian Church in Monrovia, California.  It has a publish date of November, 1964. Although the recipes do feature the contributor's names, this particular one does not.

Our first recipe is for a tomato drink that includes whip cream and horseradish. 

So basically this is hot tomato juice with a frothy topping of whip cream and horseradish.  I like all of those ingredients but not sure I want them put all together.

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