IF YOU GET A LONGING NOW AND THEN FOR THE CLEAN SURE BEAUTY OF A NEW ENGLAND TOWN, FOR THE REST YOU FIND THERE AMONG SIMPLE THINGS, FOR THE FEELING THAT NEW ENGLAND SOIL HOLDS THE ROOTS SOMEHOW OF ALL THE AMERICA WE LOVE... THIS BELONGS TO YOU AND TO US... RUMFORD CHEMICAL COMPANY

{HISTORY}

Telling the stories of five unique aspects of culinary history, this vintage cookbook is fun on so many different levels. Let's look...

First, there is the story of Count Benjamin Thompson Rumford (1753-1814) who revolutionized cooking in terms of ability and efficiency. He invented the first oven, tea kettle, and boiler. He was the first to recommend that holes be drilled in the handles of pots and pans for hanging storage and he created an air-tight oven door through scientific studies of heat, airflow, and fuel analysis. 

Then there's the story of Eben Norton Horsford (1818-1893) who reconfigured the components of baking powder to include calcium biphosphate in place of the previously used cream of tarter. Eben opened his own baking powder factory in Providence, Rhode Island in 1854 called Rumford Chemical Works, which was named after Count Rumford. 

Rumford Complete Cook Book was first published in 1908 - a combined effort of Boston Cooking School founder Fannie Merrit Farmer (1857-1915) and British-American Home Economics Writer and Lecturer Lily Haxworth Wallace. Just like Eben Horsford and Count Rumford, Fannie and Lily took a scientific approach to cooking and household management thinking of both in hygienic, professional, and nutritious terms. 

You might suppose that a cookbook published by a food product company would solely focus only on recipes that called for their specific brand of food. Not so in the case of the Rumford Complete Cook Book. It includes recipes for all meals of the day, the majority of which do not call for baking powder.  Rumford was a forerunner in producing cooking booklets that taught American home cooks how to prepare better meals. Whether that was regarding equipment, nutrition, products, or cooking efficiencies, Rumford cooking booklets became a trusted reference for 19th and 20th-century households. In 1908, they combined many recipes and helpful advice into one hardbound book - the Rumford Complete Cook Book. By the time this edition was published in 1950, the cookbook had sold over six million copies. 

As happens with a beloved kitchen companion, with each printing special consideration was taken in revising recipes that evolved as kitchen modernization evolved throughout each decade. A lovely throughline to each cookbook edition though, most noteably in the baking section, is the appearance of Rumford Baking Powder.  A tried and true staple since 1857, when it was discovered that calcium biphosphate replaced natural minerals lost in the process of milling flour, Rumford Baking Powder was deemed a more nutritious product. 

This 1950 edition carried on the cookbook's legacy of printing beloved, tried and true recipes while also keeping up with modern kitchen appliances and best practices. It also contains a decorated front coverboard and a recipe clipping for Pot Roast of Beef taped inside the front endpaper. Various light cooking spots and stains throughout and a small seam split on the front covergive it a well-loved aesthetic - proof that this cookbook was a dear friend in the kitchen 

PHOTO OF LILY HAXWORTH WALLACE COURTESY OF THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, JAN 11TH, 1937

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Published in 1950

- 228 pages

- All recipes call for whole food ingredients and from-scratch food preparation

- Contains a series of black and white photograph plates 

- In addition to recipes, this cookbook includes various charts and diagrams related to meat cooking temperatures, pressure cooking guidelines, carving techniques, etc.

- Interesting recipes include Oven Fried Chicken, Irish Stew with Dumplings, Horseradish Sauce, Potato Nests, Omelet Souffle, Vanilla Marlow, Corn Fritters, One-Bowl Silver Cake, Sour Cream Cookies, Swedish Spritz, Baked Bean Sandwiches, Peanut Brittle, Mulled Cider, Boiling Water Pastry, Frozen Custard, Creole Rice Cakes, Barbecue Sauce, Chicken a la King, Beef Olives, Southern Spicy Gingerbread, Coffee Layer Cake, and  Crabmeat Ravigote.

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition, this cookbook is clean and bright throughout but does contain some random, light cooking spots on several pages. None of the spots interfere with reading any of the recipes. The seam on the front cover is splitting at the spine, affecting the bottom 2" inches of that area. The cover is still very securely attached to the spine, so there's no concern that it will fall off or even become more loose with longer use. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 7.5" inches (length) x 5" inches (width) x .75" inches (thickness) and weighs 10 oz

 {FOR THE 1950s KITCHEN LOVER}

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