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Until the 1800s, most cookbooks were written for chefs by other chefs. That's when upper-class women began writing cooking instructions for common families. The cookbook genre as we know it today, however, was developed in the late 19th century by Fannie Farmer.
Farmer, the Director of Miss Farmer's School of Cookery, taught practical cooking to housewives and self-published The Boston Cooking School Cook Book in 1896. Whereas recipes used to call for a "sprinkle" of this and a "pinch" of that, Farmer implemented uniform measurements and syntax that is still in practice today. Versions of her book are still being printed...
Until the late 1700s, cookbooks in America were published in England or featured English foods. The first all-American cookbook was American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, published in 1798. These distinct recipes used foods natively grown in the U.S., such as pumpkins.
In the 1800s, cookbooks also contained information about how to keep your house, how to make soap, how to set the table, produce home remedies, and so on.
Big names in 20th Century cookbooks include The Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker. Good Housekeeping published their first cookbook in 1903, and in the 1940s and '50s, other magazines and newspapers began publishing cookbooks.
Other collectible cookbooks are those created by churches or charities. Usually spiral-bound and created to be used as fundraisers, charity cookbooks date back as far as the late 1800s. The majority of cookbooks are soft-cover (although some do come in hardcover), and most were written by women.
With collecting cookbooks, the possibilities are endless - and you can put your collection to work and actually use the recipes!
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t read books. In grade school, I devoured library books. I also loved… [more]
Special collections is where we keep non-circulating rare materials which have to be used in the reading room… [more]
I started working as the curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in 1994, but I’… [more]
Bookplate mania in America and England peaked from 1890 to about 1920. That's when the really great collectio… [more]
I’m a packrat, so in 1995, I was itching to collect something. I went around to local flea markets here bec… [more]
This Flickr photo pool features over 2,000 photos and scans of vintage cookbooks and old recipes from the 1940s to … [read review or visit site]
This archive of 76 influential American cookbooks from the late 1700s to early 1900s, assembled by the Michigan St… [read review or visit site]
Want to do one quick search and pull up the mother lode of vintage books? Try Google Book Search, a database filled… [read review or visit site]
If you’re interested in collectible childrens books, check out this special digital collection from the Universit… [read review or visit site]
Greg Kindall's collection of over 2100 colorful and historic book labels, pasted into books by publishers, printers… [read review or visit site]
This great blog, by an anonymous mom in Texas, is an ongoing bibliography of hundreds of vintage childrens books, c… [read review or visit site]
This visually interesting and highly specialized collection from the Hawaii Karate Museum focuses on rare and histo… [read review or visit site]
This Smithsonian microsite showcases Czech avant-garde book cover designs from the 1920s and 30s, complete with hig… [read review or visit site]
Bruce Black's gallery of paperback book covers from the 1940s and 50s. With help from numerous contributors, he's a… [read review or visit site]
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