Friday, August 22, 2014

Antique Cookbooks Part 3 1920 - 1928


by Anita Mae Draper


Welcome to Part 3 in my Antique Cookbooks series. You can read my story on how I came upon this treasure by checking out the previous posts:
Antique Cookbooks Part 1 1890 - 1906
Antique Cookbooks Part 2 1900 - 1916

Today's post covers the period of 1920-1928 and delves into the world of Household Science, or what we used to call Home Economics when I went to school fifty years later.

First up is the 1920 Household Science Circular No. 3 from my own province of Saskatchewan. I believe this 30-page 6" x 9" booklet would been distributed through the school system, not only because of the photographs, but also because of the simple recipes geared toward children's meals and lunch boxes.

1920 Saskatchewan Dept of Education, Short Course Recipes
 Household Science Circular No. 3

Here's the photograph from the front of the book, which is a far cry from the photograph of a real classroom at the back of the book which follows--especially in the length of the skirt. But although it may not be true to life, it reminds me of the little Robin Hood Flour outfits I used to dress my own little kitchen helpers in when they were small.

1920 Saskatchewan Dept of Education, Short Course Recipes Household Science Circular No. 3

Note the girl in the left forefront of this classroom photo as she shows that the Flapper fashion has already hit Saskatchewan by her headdress. I also found it interesting that the girls with white stockings wore white shoes, and those with black stockings wore black shoes. I'm curious if this was regulatory or a dictate of fashion.

1920 Saskatchewan Dept of Education, Short Course Recipes
 Household Science Circular No. 3

As an example of the recipes from this 1920 Household Science circular, I chose page 18 and 19 for 2 reasons. First, because they sometimes switch the word, cookies, for the word, cakes. Is there a reason for this due to different percentages of certain ingredients? And secondly, because they use the word, cassia, for cinnamon.

1920 Saskatchewan Dept of Education, Short Course Recipes
 Household Science Circular No. 3


1924 brings the 6" x 8.5" Apple Recipes, Bulletin No. 35 from the Fruit Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada. This is one of many booklets published over the years by governments who believe that educating the public on buying, storing and cooking produce will lead to more sales, better profits, and an improved and sustainable industry. If you have an abundance of fruit in your area, check your local Ag Extension Office, or local college or university, for a point in the right direction.


1924 Apple Recipes, Bulletin No. 35, Fruit Branch,
Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada

The value of these types of booklets are pages like the following which show the types of apples available by season, and what they are best used for. I remember how disappointed I was when I made an apple pie using our famous Canadian Macintosh apples. So mushy. And so different when I tried a pie using crisp Delicious apples instead. Now-a-days, we know that the best pies are made using a combination of apples for different tastes and textures. It must be remembered, however, that because this information was published in 1920, many of the apples listed are of the heirloom variety and not so readily available.

1924 Apple Recipes, Bulletin No. 35, Fruit Branch, 
Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada


The Metropolitan Cook Book measures 5.5" x 7.5", is 64 pages long, and was published in 1928 by The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The introductory page notes that there is a companion book entitled The Family Food Supply which explains marketing and meal economics and will be sent to you upon request. Pity the offer no longer applies for I am quite interested in what it would say.


1928 The Metropolitan Cook Book

I once entered a Heritage baking competition at the local fair with an entry from a recipe that used measurements in pounds instead of cups. In those pre-internet days, it took a lot of research to discover what the recipe needed. So for those of you who may run into recipes of this sort, I'm including that information from this Metropolitan Cook Book, as well as some recipes such as Iced Coffee and Cocoa Syrup. Yum.

1928 The Metropolitan Cook Book

I'd like to bring your attention to the recipe for Junket on the left side of the following page set. Am I correct in assuming that Junket is some sort of gelatine?

1928 The Metropolitan Cook Book


The page above on the right side caught my eye because of the use of cottage cheese as a sandwich filling--an ingredient I never considered tucking between two slices of bread although I have to admit the addition of walnuts sound good.

I have a couple cookbooks left which I want to show in more detail so I'll end this post here with this question for today...

Have you ever eaten junket or a cottage cheese sandwich?  Would you like to share your experience?


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Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their 4 kids. She writes cowboy stories set in the Old West, and Edwardian stories set in the East.  Anita Mae's short story, Riding on a Christmas Wish is published in A Christmas Cup of Cheer, Guideposts Books, October 2013. She is honored that Guideposts Books has chosen a second short story, Here We Go A-wassailing,  for inclusion in the 2014 Christmas Cheer II book set.   Anita Mae is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Agency. You can find Anita at   http://www.anitamaedraper.com/



4 comments:

  1. I've been around junket before but never had a cottage cheese sandwich. I have to admit that after not eating it for years I finally realized that a lot of its draw is that it's salty. hmmmm.

    These posts always make me want to drag out my collection of old recipe books. I think I have all the ones that my mom or grandma collected from church ladies, schools, cooperative extension, companies such as Robin Hood Flour, and those that came with appliances. I barely use any recipes that I haven't colllected and made my own, and for the most part I have a few on Pinterest or in one favorite cookbook. But I just can't seem to part with those old ones. They just have a sweet feel to them. I guess it's called nostalgia! and it's so much fun to go through them.

    The use of cassia for cinnamon is interesting!

    thanks Anita! Can you imagine all the old cookbooks that are lying around undiscovered? treasures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Deb. Your comment is so interesting, and I understand what you mean about the old ones. :)

      Delete
  2. Ugh. Cottage cheese (in any form) = do not want!

    However, I always enjoy your historical posts, Anita. So nicely done and interesting. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, DeAnna. I appreciate you saying so. :)

      I've grown fond of cottage cheese in the last few years, but I find I have to add cracked pieces of saltines into it and then the salt enhances the flavour.

      But I don't think I could handle it between bread. I could be wrong, though. Ha.

      Delete

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