Archive.org has a host of old cookery books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. I happened across a few in my Pinterest feed and gone completely down the rabbit hole in this treasure trove of information. Sure some ideas might be out of date, but you never know what you might find when you explore these books. I’ll be sharing more books as I find them in the coming weeks. –Douglas
What might you find in these old cookbooks? What special recipes have been handed down to you? Share in the Comments!
Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more
PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION.
DURING the time that this little book has been a candidate for public favor, it has attained a success far beyond the expectations of its most sanguine advocates ; and in issuing this revised and enlarged edition the author returns her sincere thanks to both press and public, who have so substantially seconded her efforts for culinary reform. In this edition an additional chapter has been devoted to the preparation of fruit for dessert, withspecial reference to the needs of American housewives. Most American ladies prepare fruit for table use either by canning it, or making it into rich and expensive preserves; while both of these methods are palatable, and available for winter use, the receipts given in the closing chapter will provide a welcome variety for serving fresh fruits at the table, and will tend to increase the healthy consumption of those abundant and excellent domestic productions, while they cannot fail to decrease the deplorable prevalence of that objectionable national compound, the pie. Recent investigations concerning retail prices in different sections of the country confirm the author in the estimate of cost given in this work ; in certain localities some of the articles quoted are more expensive, while others are cheaper ; but the average is about equal.
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† Available from the LA Public Library