Today in History: Fannie Farmer & Cooking
Today in History–March 23–the Library of Congress features cookbook author Fannie Farmer, born on this day in 1857. In 1896 she published the Boston Cooking School Cookbook (known today as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook), which was the first to feature standardized measurements. Learn more about Farmer and American cooking by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access a cornucopia of cooking related primary sources.
Primary sources
- Cooking primary source set
- Cookery primary source set
- Cookbook primary source set
- My Cookery Books by Elizabeth Robins Pennell
- Cookbooks as Vacation Literature New-York Tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), 06 Aug. 1922
- Recipes found in historical U.S. newspapers
- Advertising Food image set
Digitized historical cookbooks
- Catering for special occasions, with menus & recipes (c 1911) by Fannie Merritt Farmer
- A new book of cookery (c 1915) by Fannie Merritt Farmer
- The Boston cooking-school cook book (c 1918) by Fannie Merritt Farmer
- American Church, Club and Community Cookbooks
- The forme of cury: a roll of ancient English cookery, compiled, about A.D. 1390, by the master-cooks of King Richard II (printed 1780 Page Turner – PDF)
- Compleat Cook (London, 1656 Page Turner – PDF)
- Art of Cookery (London, 1747 Page Turner – PDF)
- Soyer’s culinary campaign . . . cookery for military and civil institutions the army, navy, public, etc. etc. (1857 Page Turner – PDF)
- Oyster; where, how and when to find, breed, cook and eat it (1861 Page Turner – PDF)
Online exhibition items
- Manuscript cookbook (ca. 1770)
- Jefferson’s Recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream (1780s)
- Jefferson’s Pasta Machine (1787)
- American Cookery (first cookbook published in America, 1796)
- The New York Cook Book (1892)
- The White House Cook Book 1900
- Lehr-bukh vi azoy Tsu Kokhen un Baken [Textbook on How to Cook and Bake] (1901)
- 800 Proved Pecan Recipes: Their Place In The Menu (1925)
- Attractive Meals Without Meat (1932)
- Tamalada (Making Tamales) (1990)
Films, videos, event recordings
Inside Adams blog posts
- A 1904 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner
- As American as Peanut Butter and Jelly
- The Art of War . . . and of Sandwich Making
- Aunt Sally Baking Powder
- “The Battle Creek Diet System”: A Pamphlet and Birth of the Fake Meat Industry
- A Brief History of Pumpkin Pie in America
- Broccoli, Opossum, and Gingerbread: Presidential Food
- Celebrate with a Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Civil War: Thanksgiving Foods
- Candied Yams or Candied Sweet Potatoes?
- Cockles, Motto Lozenges, and Sweethearts
- Cook with Gas
- Dedicated to Their Husbands and Gentlemen Friends
- Fear the Turtle or Eat the Turtle
- Featured Advertisement: a 1914 Thanksgiving Shoppers Guide
- Featured Advertisement (card): Aunt Sally Baking Powder
- Featured Advertisements: Cook with Gas
- Featured Advertisement: Cracker Jack
- Food Thrift: Scraps from the Past
- Good Gravy!
- The Great Sheet Cake Mystery
- Kebabs, Kabobs, Shish Kebabs, Shashlyk, and: Chislic?
- For the Love of Barbecue
- National Ice Cream Days of the Past
- Not “Frozen”: Researching the Frozen Dinner Industry
- Pie•ology: A Full Filling Story
- The President and the Parsnip: Thomas Jefferson’s Vegetable Market Chart
- A Range of Ranges
- A Renewable Feast
- Stranger than Fiction
- A Sweet Potato History
- ‘Tis the Season for Squash
- A Toast to the New Year
- Today’s Scoop
- Ushering in the New Year with Special Foods
- When Life Gives You Lemon Pies: Consuming History through a Community Cookbook
More Library blog posts
- Beyond Father’s Day: The Story of the Backyard Barbecue Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
- Cooking Up History: A Library Baking Adventure Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
- Feast Your Eyes: Meatless Meatloaf Monday Picture This!
- Food, Fun, and Primary Sources: Celebrating Holidays Teaching with the Library
- Food for Thought: Recipes in the Collections In The Muse
- Holy Trinity Greek Festival Local Legacy
- How To Collect Family Recipes: Inspiration From The Library’s Cookbook Collection Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
- Recipes and Collections for “October, the apple-scented month” Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
- Serving Up Food Collections Timeless Stories from the Library
- Trending: Food, Glorious Food Timeless Stories from the Library
Book bibliographies
- Alimentación, Gastronomía, Cultura y Hábitos Alimenticios en el Mundo Ibérico (Europa y América) y el Caribe
- Cooking with Love and Chocolate
- Selected Works on Gastronomy
- Solar Ovens and Solar Cooking
- Women’s History and Food History: New Ways of Seeing American Life
Outside resources
- Exploring Active Nonfiction Through the Ages using contemporary & historical recipes
- Food History Digital Primary Sources Culinary Institute of America