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| 3-D images of the body published in a 1924 edition of a 1879 German Medical Book. It has multiple overlays. |
COOKERY COLLECTING IN RETROSPECT
Note: We would like to thank our customers and friends for bringing us interesting cookbooks from their own personal collection, for us to copy (in the case of old family heirlooms) and include in our on site archives. Thanks Chris for helping us out.
It was just over one year ago, that my wife, Suzanne and I, began an ambitious project, to build a rare, vintage, and out-of-print cookbook collection, for our Gravenhurst, Ontario antique shop.
The model for the collection, was based on a Michigan book store, that had become one of the largest of its kind, based on its inventory of old cookbooks, dating back to the 1600's. This shop catered to an international audience of chefs and researchers, along with collectors and foodies, who had their own private libraries of cookery heritage. Their business, based in Ann Arbor, offered researchers the benefit of their highly prized personal archives of rare cookbooks, in addition to those antiquated texts from around the world, they sold, over the counter, and by mail order, to clients of all walks of life.
Suzanne, a retired Family Studies teacher, and a graduate of Ontario's 4-H program, who taught cooking to high school students, has been a lover of cookery heritage for most of her life. She is the offspring of a pioneer Muskoka family, and still possesses many of her great-great grandmother's handwritten recipes, spared from the original homestead, in the settlement of Ufford, on the shore of Muskoka's Three Mile Lake.
We have been collecting handwritten recipes for most of our married lives, dating back to the mid 1980's, most purchased in and around the district. We have also amassed a large volume of regional Canadian recipes. Along with about three hundred cookbooks to start with, we thought it was a good place to start, to build an even larger library, to be amalgamated with our Gravenhurst shop. Boy oh boy, did we ever underestimate the hunting and gathering effort, it was going to take, to build even a skeleton archives, with a few books left over to sell to our customers.
So it stands, that after one year, we have now created a reasonable permanent collection of cookery heritage, plus about five hundred vintage and used cookbooks to offer our customers for sale. The best part, is that we have been helping to research evasive and historic recipes, via our cookery archives, for a variety of customers, pleased to have such a resource in this region of Ontario. Suzanne isn't happy with our progress overall, and would like to have several thousand more books, to offer our clients, which include some local chefs, who have already thanked us heartily, for providing some key books they haven't been able to get otherwise.
As for the permanent collection, she has been making-do with reprint issues, of some of the oldest Canadian cookbooks, including the well known 1831 text, "Cook Not Mad," by the author known only as "Anonymous," published in Kingston, Upper Canada. Suzanne uses this book regularly, to handle information requests from patrons, as well as from other famous reprint editions, that weather use much better than if we had to handle the fragile first editions, on an every-day basis.
The original idea, was to find a way of using the thousands of handwritten recipes, Suzanne and I had been collecting, from decades of buying book lots at local estate auctions and special sales. We would get these recipes, stuffed for safe keeping, inside the boxes of old cookbooks. We decided to separate them, and put them in special acid-free sleeves, which were then placed in large binders, all for the sake of conservation. We now use those same full binders, on the counter of our shop, for chefs and home cooks to browse through; just in case, the raw history within, contained something a little extra, that they could benefit from in the contemporary kitchen. We've even framed a dozen or so, and does that ever get folks talking, mostly about their grandmother's kitchen. If you look closely, you can even see the impressed finger prints, from oily fingers, on the corners of these bits of paper, containing favorite recipes. There's quite a story, beyond just the recipes, when you examine these handwritten pieces from a particular family, much as if they are by themselves, a cookery journal of times past.
Over the past year, we have been offered collections of handwritten recipes, from old journal books, which we have copied and saved on our computer, as well as being given hundreds of vintage cookbooks, that we have included in our permanent collection, for the benefit of client researchers. We have been offered two more large collections, from local estates, but we haven't made the final acquisition, at this point in time. It does seem to be growing in all regards. Mostly because of the number of books we have in the permanent collection, and generally for sale. And by the interest being generated, having such a specialty resource in the first place. It's been a lot of work getting the collection up to this level, but it has been worth the effort, at least according to Suzanne, who is, afterall, the front line staff dealing with cookery clientele.
As both historians and antique dealers, we like to challenge ourselves. This may have been our biggest single project, and it came with a lot of potential consequences. At the time of a tight economy, we were diverting money and time away from antiques generally, and that was a huge gamble. By necessity, some areas of the business were temporarily neglected, in order for us to finish what we had begun in December 2012, as a long term "work in progress." As phase one, we had to get it opened by the busy July 1st weekend here in Muskoka. We didn't have much time to spare, but low and behold, we got both areas of our new specialty service open in time. What we were surprised about, was that the cookery resources, spun-off into our array of kitchen collectables almost immediately, which was a nice bonus, and offered some repayment of other money invested elsewhere. Having the vintage cookbooks, gave a new visibility, it seems, to the collection of antiquated kitchen utensils, mixing bowls, rolling pins, wooden spoons and copper pots. We suspected this might happen, but couldn't have imagined the full impact, as we appreciate now, one year after we began our cookery adventure.
By the end of year-two, in this ongoing pursuit to have one of the largest cookery collections in the region, we plan on making several major acquisitions in the coming months, and hope to double our present archives and reference library. We've got many more miles to travel, and quite a bit more business investment to make, before we can consider our original objectives have been met. When we began "Suzanne Currie's Cookery Nookery," in earnest, we expected it would take us a full five years to achieve what we thought acceptable, for any business making the claim of being the "biggest," or the "best," in the district. We believe that with four years to go, we have a real chance to make cookery history ourselves. Truth is, it has made the antique business, so much more interesting, because of this popular pre-occupation with food and its preparation; and yes, going all the way back to those first passed-down handwritten recipes, bulging out of the earliest printed cookbooks. The old and new together, as they have partnered since the beginning. We wouldn't have any printed cookbooks in the first place, without the handwritten journals that go back many centuries.
We have even established a "memorial" section of our permanent collection, to handle donations from estates, in memory of a loved one, who may have possessed a large collection of cookbooks. We have come upon many family members, who want their mother or grandmother's collection to remain intact, and will agree to donate these books, if we agree to keep them together....as a cookery resource. We will include this personal memorial, on the sign post above our private collection, in respect to individual donors, and the books will be shared, for information purposes, with our customers and researchers. Whether it is one special book, or a thousand, we are open to this memorial plan to share with others. We do not sell donations of cookbooks. We only put for sale, what we have purchased for that purpose. We do not charge for resource use, by the way, and Suzanne is a former librarian who loves to search for evasive recipes, as a pastime.
Although arguably, there are a lot of improvements to business, we could have undertaken, that would have required much less work, the hunt for vintage cookbooks has, none the less, been a remarkable and ever-changing adventure. It has put us in contact with many historians and collectors, and opened up new interests in the field of cookery heritage. Just when we thought we'd reached an age and maturity in the antique business, when we'd follow the straight and narrow road ahead, just for convenience, we stopped for awhile at the proverbial crossroads, and by golly, took a little detour for interest's sake. No regrets on our choice of direction. Where will it eventually lead? Well, if history is any indication, and our last year a template for things yet to come, we're going to be writing a book about this adventure, as a true to life, "believe it or not!" You'll read about it in "Curious; The Tourist Guide," before anywhere else.
More on collecting old cookbooks and cookery heritage, in coming issues. See you soon
HERE IS THE APRIL COLUMN I WROTE FOR THE GREAT NORTH ARROW. SEEING AS MANY OF YOU CAN'T GET COPIES OF THIS GREAT ONTARIO PUBLICATION, I HAVE DECIDED TO OFFER IT TONIGHT AS MY DAILY BLOG. BY THE WAY, THE GREAT NORTH ARROW IS PUBLISHED IN DUNCHURCH, ONTARIO.
SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT HANDWRITTEN RECIPES?
I can remember as a rookie reporter, suffering dearly for my craft back in the late 1970's, driving hundreds of miles on assignments in the West Muskoka area for our newspaper, The Georgian Bay-Muskoka Lakes Beacon, in MacTier. In the early spring, it was as picturesque as any place on earth, with an illuminated mantle of old snow visible in the moonlight, through the evergreen woodlands; yet the liberating scent of open earth that I could detect, just having the window open a crack. The chilly night air would keep me awake at the wheel.
I hate to admit I drove this way because it was unsafe. I had places to be and outside of sleeping in the car, no money for a motel room. Even though I was a pretty experienced driver, some of the icy conditions on the back roads, even in April, were quite a challenge. I was a reporter. I didn't want to make the news, by winding up down one of the many ravines I passed getting from here to there.
Traveling the country lanes of Muskoka, particularly in the early evening, just as the moonlight had begun its spring haunting over the old farmhouses, I used to occupy myself by imagining what was going on in these rural kitchens that I, a hungry reporter, might sincerely enjoy, if by chance, invited to stop over. I still do this today when Suzanne and I are out on an antiquing adventure. It’s the dinner hour that always fascinates me. Just as it did when I was a lonely single, working through dinner, and driving past these historic, friendly looking abodes with their twinkling lights, visible candles and oil lamps engaged on the tables. I imagined the wonderful cuisine being prepared in that farm kitchen, and I suppose it was, as a writer, the catalyst for many kitchen related feature articles from that point.....and from that perspective; the passerby looking in and wishing that instead of driving past, I might instead, and as a real treat, be invited to partake of the evening’s cuisine.
While putting most concentration on the state of the open road, I kept myself awake with this kitchen-fare curiosity. I could so vividly imagine grand harvest tables with a crispy, brown, sage covered old Tom Turkey sitting there all hot and buttered, awaiting the carver’s first cut. I could visualize the sideboard loaded with pickles and sweet relishes, a bowl of steaming dressing, and big vessels of squash or turnip. It was a case when imagination was my best advantage, as in a lot of these motor trips, I was pretty much broke and heading home to a somewhat empty cupboard. It was the way many reporters operated in my day, the printed word being far more important than contented tummies. We sacrificed for our craft. I wasn’t much of a cook anyway. But imagining such wonderful fare was within my creative license anyway, and it didn’t cost me a cent.
There were times on the beat however, that I would arrive to do a story on an anniversary couple, for example, just in time for tea and treats. I'd be waiting for the arrival of M.P. Stan Darling, or M.P.P. Frank Miller, to present government recognition plaques. The kind folks of West Muskoka always fed the hungry reporter. I was fed at many events I covered, and for a hungry, lonely guy, many of these get-togethers were more fun than work. I’d get the story, the photograph, and a plate of roast beef courtesy the local Lions Club. or a recreation group hosting a fundraiser. I was food-conscious as a writer and I guess it was a natural progression then to wrap-up my years in journalism, composing websites about recipes and dining traditions in this part of Ontario.
Imagining what was going on in these farm kitchens wasn’t too much of a stretch for me, as I visited many houses of friends with my parents, during my formative years, and watched as hosts of events prepared their food. I wasn’t satisfied with just eating the local fare but I wanted to see how it came about. I can remember looking in the kitchens and seeing the chaos of preparation, and saw clear evidence of handwritten recipes strewn on the counter-tops, as if they had been both the first and last defense of a really good dinner party. I loved all the hub-bub associated with kitchens......a fetish? I don’t think so but it has been a pretty powerful and life-long addiction to the culture of the kitchen.
The author in me was fascinated by both what I could see, and could not (and had to imagine instead), in these warm kitchen windows, in the farmhouses and neat little homesteads and cottages, I passed quickly by on my reporting jags through the Ontario hinterland. I would love to have visited each one, and experienced not only the food but the family aura that made the kitchens such fabulous places to hole-up; especially when all else in the daily routine became tiresome and oppressive. I felt like that a lot. Alas, when I got home, well, there was just something missing. A partner for one thing! I had just recently been dumped by a long time girlfriend, and admittedly I was a wee bit despondent about this sudden change of life.
As part of the settlement of the relationship, she got the friends, and kitchen gatherings of old mates became pretty thin after this. It was pretty much my cat "Animal," a few hockey mates who dropped over for beer when they heard I had a few, and small social events that were not quite culinary extravaganzas. I did give it the old college try but there always seemed to be something missing. I knew I had to make some changes because this wasn’t my concept of a good life. A good life was having a home where people wanted to visit; and an abode that had the kind of kitchen that would attract a country fiddler, at the same time as comforting a poet philosopher, a political wannabe, an out of work store clerk, a maiden in distress, a bartender with a night off, or a flutist looking to entertain. I wanted my place to be a safe haven, where over a good feast the problems of the world would be debated and resolved.
It is wrong and sexist for me to say it was my partner Suzanne who made all the difference. As a home economist by profession, it’s true, she made me cease eating potato chip and oyster sauce sandwiches, (a lowly reporter’s quick fix before another meeting) and turned me against processed food in return for lemon chicken, casseroles to die for, roast beef that melted in my mouth.....and desserts that were heavenly. Suzanne helped me refine my kitchen fantasies. I begged her to allow me to participate in food preparation......even if that only meant being offered a seat to watch. I am a pretty fair cook of basic foods now, thanks to her tutorship for all these years. And it brought to our combined home, here at Birch Hollow, a true joy for time spent in preparation of food, as much as in its ceremonial consumption as the glorious end to the cooking adventure.
When I’m out on a spring reporting junket now, I still can’t help looking longingly into the distant windows of old, cheerfully appointed farmhouses, and those neat little bungalows tucked into the budding landscape, bathed with the moonlight’s milky glow, and wonder about the respective dinner fare being served to the eager inhabitants tonight. What time tested recipes might have been employed to make these hot dishes, and the cake under glass on the oak sideboard? An idealist? A Rockwelian hold-out? A spirit encased in sentiment? You bet! When I come upon these handwritten recipes, some more than a century old, well folks, I just can’t help myself....I just get lost in time and tradition but I always return in time for dinner. In the next issue of The Great North Arrow, I'll give you some heritage insights about handwritten recipes, and why we need to conserve them for posterity.
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