Category: Audience

Cookbooks hold stories beyond simple annotations or dog-eared pages. Each stain holds a memory, each inscription is a recipe, and every modification is a history waiting to be uncovered. Anyone who cooks or bakes regularly is likely making changes or additions to their recipes, which calls for immediate and specific notations within the physical book. Dickinson’s edition of The Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child is not an outlier. As a book in extreme disrepair and one where every page has a stain or note, this cookbook was well-loved.  

Child’s intended audience for this book is made explicit in its full title: The Frugal Housewife: Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy. The cookbook is intended for housewives in the mid-nineteenth century who are looking for cheap, easy, quick recipes and remedies. In other front matter, Child makes a note that this fourth edition includes an additional section titled “Hints to People of Moderate Fortune.” She states that her intentions for the book are “written from the same motive, viz: an honest and independent wish to be useful.” This book intends to be useful and frugal, evident in both the long title and additional note.  

This 1831 edition did, in fact, reach multiple frugal housewives. From what I can tell, I think the cookbook reached at least three different owners. The first owner is Mrs. Mary Webb Cady. She made many notes and additional recipes throughout the entirety of the cookbook, writing and stamping her name across much of the front matter. She was either very possessive of this book and the many additions she made, or she was simply ensuring that she never lost the book (Figure 2). A detailed internet search revealed a woman named Mary Webb who married Mr. Hiram Cady (Figure 1). While I cannot be certain that this Mary Cady is the same owner, her name and signatures line up, and the timeline would make sense, as she was born in 1806 in New York. Unfortunately, I cannot find much further information on her. Due to the era and societal norms, we can assume that Mrs. Cady was a housewife, and her many notes and additional recipes throughout the book show that she spent significant time cooking and baking.  

Figure 1: Marriage Note in the Cady Family Bible

Figure 2

I assume another owner also possessed this cookbook after Mrs. Cady due to a separate handwriting and darker pencil used for some drawings and recipes. While most of the additions to the book are in the same handwriting and light-colored pencil, and the many recipes match with the handwriting of the signatures, there are a couple of signatures at the very back of the book in much darker, less discernable handwriting. This makes me assume that there was indeed a second owner of this edition of The Frugal  Housewife, but they either did not own the book for long or did not use it nearly as much as the previous owner due to their general lack of marginalia.  

Figure 3: Recipe on top of page is Mrs. Cady’s, Recipe on bottom of page is our unknown owner’s

In a discussion with Malinda Triller-Doran, an archivist and librarian at the Dickinson College Archives, I learned that this book’s passage to the Dickinson Archives is not fully clear, but it is assumed to be part of the large donation from Charles Coleman Sellers’s Library. Charles Coleman Sellers was a librarian and curator for Dickinson College on and off between 1949 and his death in 1980. Sellers was also an author and librarian at other institutions as well, and his biography in the Archives states, “Sellers is best known in the Dickinson community for his Dickinson College: A History, published in conjunction with the bicentennial celebration of the College in 1973.”

Figure 4: Image of Charles Coleman Sellers

Ms. Triller-Doran informed me that after he died in 1980, he donated his collection/personal library to Dickinson. It is presumed that The Frugal Housewife was one of these donated books based on the timeline it was donated and the general lack of information on its journey to Dickinson. Only two other cookbooks lie in the archives: The Cook’s Oracle and Housekeeper’s Manual by William Kitchiner (published 1830) and American Domestic Cookery, Formed on Principles of Economy, for the Use of Private Families by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell (published 1822), neither of which are recorded to be a part of Sellers’ donation. While The Frugal Housewife’s journey to Dickinson remains unclear, it continues to hold significant history and information about its previous adventures.  

This edition of The Frugal Housewife has not been rebound and is completely falling apart. Most of the pages are no longer tied or glued together, and the front and back covers have completely fallen off. It is now held together by a gentle string around the entirety of the book and must be untied to open and re-tied once the reader is done. This indicates that the book is either not used much anymore (as there is no reason to rebind it) or the disrepair has happened more recently than one would think. If it has not been rebound yet, we may be able to assume that it did not need to be rebound until quite recently. A book this old and well-used is expected to be run down, and the fact that it was owned by a librarian for the last century or so makes me assume that the reason for its current state of disrepair is that the librarians who have looked after it had not wanted to interfere in the history of the book itself. Rebinding it may have been frowned upon since it would hide the historicity of the book’s frequent use, which is made evident by its disrepair, or may have simply been too expensive. We can assume much about this edition of The Frugal Housewife by its disorder, stains, marginal notes, and added recipes. What many may view as ruin or destruction has only added to the value and intrigue this cookbook holds.  

Works Cited 

“Brief Life History of Mary.” FamilySearch.Org, ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LD5F-34T/mary-webb-1806-1876. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.  

“Charles Coleman Sellers (1903-1980).” Charles Coleman Sellers (1903-1980) | Dickinson College, archives.dickinson.edu/people/charles-coleman-sellers-1903-1980. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.  

Triller-Doran, Malinda. Personal Interview. 26 November 2024. 

A Selection of One Hundred and Forty of the Most Favourite English, Scotch, Irish, and American Songs is no insignificant part of the early publishing world of Carlisle, PA, considering its connections to publisher Archibald Loudon. I’ve discussed Archibald Loudon and the physical book in-depth in previous blog posts, however, here I want to uncover the intended and actual readers of the book. (Here are links to the previous posts: 

Loudon was aware of current publishing trends (Fretz 64)—so, it’s not unreasonable to say that he might be able to provide insight into the wider reading audience of Carlisle. He dedicated himself, for example, to subjects like the arts, including theater, poetry, and song. He lived and worked during a time when the town was forming its initial artistic legacy. In fact, he likely wanted a stake in the already-rapid growth of Carlisle. Early Carlisle was a standout amongst the landscape of Pennsylvania, though you wouldn’t know it today. Historian Judith Ridner describes it as “a sizable and significant place” with urban features that were considered unique in the eighteenth century (2). It functioned as a “migration gateway” that grew into a bustling center for “divergent interests” (3), and there is something to be said about the fact that “divergent interests” describes Loudon’s publishing history perfectly. 

His writing, editing, and publishing cover a significant number of Carlisle histories and issues, especially white settler interactions with and violence against Native populations. (The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a boarding school for Indigenous American children intent on erasing their cultural history as they grew into adulthood with a history of violent institutional tactics, was later founded in the nineteenth century.) Loudon extensively participated in Carlisle’s long history of literature recording the colonization of/expansion into Native American land. His Scottish immigrant family had personal violent conflict with local Indigenous peoples when first settling in the U.S. (Hunter). This further exemplifies Loudon’s personal, political, and business stakes in his publishing history. By publishing the work of a local poet, Isabella Oliver, Loudon demonstrated a proactive attempt at shaping the landscape of Carlisle’s creative arts.

 A Selection, then, is a venture into compiling songs relevant to him and his Scottish-American history, as well as representing the larger population of Carlisle. Early Carlisle has a deep history of Scottish and Irish immigrants settling in or near the town (Ridner 8-9). I have been unable to uncover much detail about the publication history or reasoning behind this particular book of Loudon’s—he never published other songbooks—but his wide variety of artistic publications speaks partially for itself. (I’m working under the speculation that Loudon had at least some small part in the selection of songs in A Selection, rather than republishing one other compilation. My blog post titled “Origins,” describes how I came to this conclusion.) Assuming the majority of his publications came from personal interest mixed with the intent of success, the focus on Scottish-American and Irish-American music fits neatly as an answer to the question of the book’s intended audience. Loudon likely knew that he could rely on the audience of the immigrant population of Pennsylvania. Ridner focuses intently on the intersecting cultural groups of historical Carlisle, investigating the ways that “similar regional affiliations linked settlement patterns and ethnic identity among the mid-Atlantic’s Euro-American colonists” (7). Loudon’s publication of A Selection is a prime example of appealing to cultural identities similar to his own, a group which made up a large portion of the Carlisle population during his time. They were one of the largest immigrant groups in the eighteenth century traveling to British North America, and by far the predominant ethnic group of early Carlisle (8). Loudon sought monetary and cultural success both by the advantage of belonging to this group, and by seeking to appeal to it. 

Beyond this community, however, he intended to introduce these artistic pursuits to the wider Carlisle and Pennsylvania colonist public. His consistent patronage of artists in Carlisle, particularly those of the same ethnic group, speaks clearly to this hypothesis. It’s a strong piece of evidence in support of the role he wanted to take on as what historian Eric Fretz calls an “early disseminator of culture” (Fretz 61), particularly Scots-Irish and Euro-American culture. Fretz holds a high opinion of Loudon, made clear by the credit he gives to his artistic and publishing dreams—and can also be read as insight into Loudon’s intended Pennsylvania audiences. Fretz’s admiration may resemble the respect given by other Carlisle citizens, publishers, and art-lovers at the time, despite his strictly local influence. However, I’m unable to find information on the life or cultural identity of Eric Fretz beyond his interest in Loudon, so this should be taken with a grain of salt. 

Ridner explains her desire to study the intricacies of Carlisle history as a way to provide insight into the larger history of American development through the micro-history of Carlisle development (3-4). Archibald Loudon serves a similar purpose for the history of Carlisle development—his micro-history is reflective of Carlisle publishing trends and colonial interests, from widespread perceptions of Indigenous communities to a high valuation of theater, poetry, and music, and trade. 

“Chas H.”

Though Carlisle’s early history paints a relatively clear picture of Loudon’s intended audience for A Collection, there’s a mystery remaining that I’m quite fond of: the names written on the inside covers of the Dickinson College Archives’ copy of the book. I’ve been stumbling through research, trying to discern the cursive letters of the surnames of the elusive “Chas. H” and “George W” that previously owned the book. (I’ve included images here of the signatures as they appear on the inside covers.) I’ve concentrated my online searching to Carlisle, PA, when researching the potential surnames for “Charles” and “George.” A notable lead I possessed in this search is George’s note of the year he acquired the book: 1838 (see second image). I’ve tried to put these results in conversation with the limited information I can glean from the alumni records of Dickinson College. While I haven’t found any definitive matches for the folks who wrote their names in the book, there are a couple alumni with name similarities. Charles Kuhn was a part of the class of 1802, but did not graduate, and there is no further information about him.

“George W” “his Book 1838” “song Book 1838”

As for the “George W” who owned the book in 1838, George W. Corner became a trustee of Dickinson College post-graduation, and was a part of the class of 1841 (Reed). Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say whether the book was donated by someone who attended the college or not, due to a lack of record on how it came to the Archives, and digging up family trees online has proven to be unproductive when the cursive letters are unclear. However, I did find something I previously missed: what looks like “1842” written in pencil, underneath “Chas. H.” The fragments found in this copy may not form a complete story, but they give hints at a timeline of the book’s ownership. The names and dates written inside are an indication that despite Loudon’s small area of influence, audiences of A Selection passed the little book around.

Bibliography:

A Selection of One Hundred and Forty of the Most Favourite English, Scotch, Irish, and American Songs. 1806. SC 398 87 S698.

Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections.

Fretz, Eric. “Archibald Loudon of Carlisle: Disseminator of Early American Culture.” Cumberland County History, vol. VII, no. 2.,

pp. 61-67. Cumberland County Historical Society.

Reed, George L. Alumni Record Dickinson College. Dickinson College, 1905.

​​Ridner, Judith. “Introduction.” A Town In-Between: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the Early Mid-Atlantic Interior, University of

Pennsylvania Press, 2010, pp. 1–11. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhb4h.5. 

(Image Credits: taken by iPhone, by author, inside the Dickinson College Special Collections.)