With Thanksgiving approaching and marketers focused on the holidays, the “Home, Sweet Home Cook Book” from the Home, Sweet Home Museum archives, published by the Ladies Village Improvement Society in 1939, caught my eye.
For decades, marketers have used the emotions in John Howard Payne’s song “Home, Sweet Home” to evoke a desire for comfort and home, often with images of warm fireplaces. The L.V.I.S. capitalized on the local connection to their mission, pitching itself as “improving home and village.” This phrasing built on the tradition of American women advocating social improvement as part of their responsibilities to manage home life.
East Hampton’s L.V.I.S. was established in 1895, and the group identifies this as its seventh cookbook. It was sold for a dollar under the leadership of Mrs. Nathan H. Dayton, the cookbook committee chairwoman.
Like many fund-raising cookbooks, it’s a compilation of recipes from members of the community, organized by sections, with a large advertising section. Familiar names like Miss Ruth G. Stratton, Mrs.
Everett J. Edwards, and Mrs. John Adams Mayer (a.k.a. Dorothy Quick) appear throughout, contributing recipes, some of which, like the one for fried cauliflower, would appeal to modern tastes.
Others seem a bit dated, like the recipes for gelatin salads and the three for chop suey, accompanied by an additional American chop suey recipe (page 37). Also noteworthy is a small section labeled “Men’s Recipes” (page 88), which includes a couple from Frank Tuma, the Montauk charter fishing industry founder, for fish chowder and “Montauk Starve-to-Death” (page 89), a clam and potato dish served on toast.
Those entertaining or cooking this Thanksgiving might be interested in the recipes for large groups, among them one for chowder for 25 people! I’m certainly hoping my relatives don’t decide to serve Mrs. Woodhouse’s cream, banana, and gin cocktails this year, but you may find some local inspiration for a holiday gathering.
Andrea Meyer, a librarian and archivist, is the head of the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
