This calendar has been written in response to innumerable requests from many of my friends for something novel, new and good in sandwiches and beverages...

{HISTORY}

Published by the P.F. Volland Company in the 1910s, this rare antique cookbook contains 365 days of sandwich recipes, one for each day of the year, along with 47 beverage recipes to accompany them.

Written by Elizabeth O. Hiller (1856-1941), a trusted food authority, cookbook author, and domestic sciences teacher in the early 20th century, this book was ideal for holiday gift-giving in the 1910s, as it was originally packaged in a presentation box and the cookbok was tied at the top with tassled silk cording. It was just the kind of inspiration a home cook needed to start the New Year off on a delicious adventure in the kitchen. 

Elizabeth had her hand in all areas of the culinary arts throughout her career. Considered the greatest cook in the world in the early 20th century, Elizabeth was a recipe creator, a food brand spokesperson, the principal of the Chicago Domestic Training School, and a cross-country lecturer on all aspects of kitchen work from cooking techniques to table display to sanitary cleaning methods and nutritional meal-planning.

This tall, narrow paperback book was one of a series of calendar cookbooks that Elizabeth wrote and published between 1915-1927. Other calendar topics included dinners, salads, desserts, and luncheons, and all were available in their beautiful boxed wrapping that matched the cover art of each cookbook.

Sandwiches have evolved quite a bit over the course of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, they were more delicate affairs as opposed to our hearty lunchtime meals of today.  This cookbook highlights their early emergence as a finger food, a cocktail companion, a dainty tea time snack, a luncheon buffet offering, a picnic nibble, and also a sweet treat enjoyed as a dessert.

Here in The Calendar of Sandwiches & Beverages, there are some easily recognizable favorites still enjoyed today - tuna melts, ham and egg sandwiches, grilled cheese, chicken club, ham and swiss, cucumber sandwiches, fried egg and bacon sandwiches, and simple bread and butter folds. Other recipes are more intriguing and tell a lot about food trends and culinary creativity in the early 1900s. 

Of that latter batch, interesting recipes include Salted Peanut and Cream Cheese Sandwiches, Date, Fig & Prune Sandwiches, Nasturium Folds, Lady Finger and Orange Marmalade Sandwiches, Sunshine Cake Sandwiches with Marshmallow Sauce, Tomato and Horseradish Sandwiches, Salmon and Ravigote (a French-style vinaigrette) Sandwiches. Swiss Cheese and English Mustard Sandwiches,  Egg and Cucumber Pickle Sandwiches,  Pimento, Lettuce and Chive Sandwiches, Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Green Pepper, Onion and Parsley Sandwiches, and Celery, Orange and Nut Sandwiches.

Other entries have a bit of specific appeal... Boy Scout Sandwiches, Afternoon Tea Sandwiches, Two-Toned Fancies, Milwaukee Club Sandwiches, Springtime Sandwiches, College Girl's Sandwiches.  And beverage recipes suitable for all seasons, party themes, and holidays round out the rest of the entries of this fascinating collection.

For the sandwich lover and the food historian, this is a dream cookbook written by a woman who was so highly regarded in her field that thousands of people showed up to attend each of her lectures in any one city across the U.S.  Of the boxed series, The Calendar of Sandwiches & Beverages is one of the harder to find, so it's exciting to be able to include it here in the shop. We especially love the beautiful illustration of the woman holding a steaming cup of tea on the cover.

Photograph of Elizabeth O. Hiller courtesy of the Daily Journal, Monday, June 16, 1902, Page 8 (Freeport, IL)

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• Published by the P.F. Volland Company between 1915-1927
• Contains 365 sandwich recipes plus 47 beverage recipes
• Hard to find edition in series

{CONDITION}

In well-loved antique condition, this paperback cookbook shows signs of age and wear on the front and back coverboards. On the front cover, there is a wrinkle across the top fourth of the cover and a vertical tear (measuring 4" inches in length) that has been previously repaired via tape. The back cover is missing a 1/2" inch section of the corner and there are two small creases in the middle the cover.

The cookbook is missing its original tassled silk cording and is currently bound together by raffia, which holds all the pages securely in place. Two recipes contain x marks in pencil in the margins, but other than that the interior pages are very clean and bright. The inside of each coverboard has been reinforced with strips of archival paper along the creases to prevent further damage or weakness. Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 11" inches (length) x 5.5" inches (width) x .25" inches (thickness) and weighs 7 oz.