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What’s in a cookbook? How are these collections of recipes connected to history? What we eat, how we prepare meals, and how we think about diet tell us much about who we are. At the History Center our collection reveals what the women (for these collections are, indeed, all compiled by women) of each era value and make in their kitchens—and, as such, reflect a slice of the history of our community in Mansfield and Tioga County.
Probably the oldest cookbook on our shelves, though undated, is Mabel Whitlock’s ledger book of recipes, handwritten in lovely, flowing script. Typically, she organizes by category: soups, breads, meats, vegetables, preserves & pickles, salads, desserts, and dressings. This latter begins with a basic boiled dressing and then gives variations, including peanut butter. She uses a double boiler and assumes that the reader will understand the basics of making a smooth sauce. In keeping with the prominence of oysters in the 19th c., she gives us hints for amounts: “allow 1 qt. oysters to every 4 persons.”
By the 1900s, we begin to see cookbooks produced by the makers of various products and appliances. In 1913, Crisco brought out The Story of Crisco by Marion Harris Neil, subtitled “615 Tested Recipes and a Calendar of Dinners.” Besides the 615 recipes, this book has hints for young cooks (presumably all housewives), how to choose foods, plus, yes, “the story of Crisco.” As one might imagine, all these recipes use Crisco instead of butter or lard, and the book compares its product to these other “fats,” proclaiming: “The culinary world is revising its entire cook book on account of the advent of Crisco, a new and altogether different cooking method.” Even asparagus soup is made with Crisco. After a recipe for Crisco Fruit Cake, this admonishment appears: “Remember: when cake is not a success, it is not the fault of Crisco.”
In 1918, a small pamphlet from the Royal Baking Powder Co. appears: Best War Time Recipes. Because of rationing, many of their recipes describe how baking powder can enhance various coarser flours (oat, rye) that substitute for more refined white flour. By 1929, the world is trying to get back to some prewar lifestyle. The Art of Cooking and Serving by Sarah Field Splint has separate sections for households with and without servants—and the use of lots of Crisco. But by 1943, Helen Worth’s Down-On-The-Farm Cook Book goes back to the generic “shortening” in her recipes, which now include frozen desserts (ices, ice creams). She advocates for a simpler cooking with use of local products.
In 1960, The Electric Cook Book by Marguerite Fenner appears. We have entered the era of the electric appliance. As one might imagine, this book emphasizes the convenient and timesaving use of not just the electric stove, but deep cookers and electric skillets. The emphasis on healthy eating has disappeared with fried food dominant and lots of butter on practically everything, including vegetables.
Also in the 1960s, with the ability to mass-produce printed material, cookbooks by women’s groups began to pop up everywhere. One such group was the Mansfield Methodist Women, first known as the W.S.C.S (Women’s Society of Christian Service). Our library has an undated volume entitled simply Cook Book. Interestingly, this book contains throughout its pages ads from local businesses in and around Mansfield. The recipes in here are simple, meant for the homemaker. Each recipe is attributed to a local woman (identified by her husband’s name: Mrs. Chas Jupenlaz, Mrs. W.W. Allen, Mrs. A.H. Vosburg, with only a smattering of those who identified by their own names: Marion A. Adams, Eva S. Urell, Irene Stuart). In 1962, this same group, now known as Mansfield Methodist Women, published a cookbook that included recipes attributed to First Ladies: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Huckleberry Pudding, Mamie Eisenhower’s Frost Mint Delight (one of those ubiquitous jello offerings), Jacqueline Kennedy’s Hot Fruit Dessert. While these women get their own names, it is doubtful that the First Ladies actually spent much time in a kitchen.
Gertrude Jupenlaz is perhaps something of a local legend, famous for her small dinner parties and love of cooking. Her tiny booklet is entitled Cook’s Corner. An introduction by E.R.C. tells us that Gertrude had: “the peculiar knack of combining ingredients to make whatever food she may prepare an individual achievement.” The author narrates her joy of cooking, including anecdotes of origins. One for Suet Pudding tells us it is from “Sadie’s old W.C.T.U Cookbook.” Gertrude’s booklet is more of a compendium of ideas than a cookbook, breezy and fun to read.
Perhaps the most delightful offering in our collection is a lovely, spiral-bound book Recipes from Roseville, edited by Mary Holton Robare. More an historical document than a cookbook, this volume contains photos, bits of diaries, and of course recipes from the daybooks of three women in overlapping eras, beginning in 1849. The recipes are all attributed with short bios. One unusual baker was Helen Virginia Wilcox, who died in 1933 at the age of 15. But she baked! And even in bed with Scarlet Fever, she wanted “to make Uncle Tom a cake.” The recipe is included.
Food has long been an integral part of women’s lives. Today many men man the kitchens, but this is a recent phenomenon. By browsing the History Center’s shelf of cookbooks, one gets an intimate glimpse of how women throughout history have spent their days and contributed to family and community life through the preparation of food.
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