Abstract
This study examines four major American cookbooks – Fannie Farmer’s Cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I examine these works as primary sources for food history and for the social history of the period they were popularized. Through this examination, the argument is made for how cookbooks can be an important historical source as they are a window to the social history of when they were produced. Cookbooks can provide information about societal changes, technological advances, changing gender roles, global relations, and historical events. For each of these cookbooks I put them into context using both social and food history. Next, I describe the basic history of the author that leads them to writing the cookbook. Then I present the history of how the cookbook was published. An examination of multiple editions of each cookbook, such as the layout of the cookbook and a summary of its contents, along with a summary of these changes is offered as a picture of how the cookbook continues to change with the times. Finally, certain aspects of the cookbooks are provided as a reflection of the social history of their time.
Advisor
Shaya, Gregory
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Gallatin-Broad, Kathryn A., "Major American Cookbooks as a Window to the Past: Analysis of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, The Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (2017). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7480.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7480
Disciplines
History
Publication Date
2017
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2017 Kathryn A. Gallatin-Broad