The Woman Suffrage Cook Book

Boston: In Aid of the Festival and Bazaar, December 13-19, 1886. 'Country Store,' April 21-26, 1890, 1890. Third edition (stated Second edition at head of title). xiv, 148pp. Ads. A few addition recipes on newspaper clippings pinned or loosely inserted. 8vo. Publisher's cloth-backed boards, a bit worn, joints starting. Third edition (stated Second edition at head of title). xiv, 148pp. Ads. A few addition recipes on newspaper clippings pinned or loosely inserted. 8vo. The Woman Suffrage Cook Book was first published for the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association Festival and Bazaar in 1886, and constituted proof that, “even if they wish to vote, the (truncated) suffragists cherish a feminine interest in culinary matters” (Woman’s Journal). Its editor, Hattie Burr, introduces the volume with the hope that “the great value of these contributions will be fully appreciated, and our messenger will go forth a blessing to housekeepers, and an advocate for the elevation and enfranchisement of woman.” After selling out at the Bazaar, the volume entered a second edition that same year, which was reissued with new ads in 1890 (as here).

Recipes were solicited from friends and allies across the country, though Bostonians are strongly represented. "Among the contributors are many who are eminent in their professions as teachers, lecturers, physicians, ministers and authors, – whose names are household words in the land." (Preface). The list of contributors following the Preface begins with Mary A. Livermore and Lucy Stone.

Among the Brahmin women who contributed are Mrs. D. W. Forbes (whose recipe for “dough cake” is annotated in pencil: “try this sometime”), and Sarah F. Sargent, who submitted recipes for “Citrus Cake,” “Washington Pie,” and “Lobster Salad.” Mrs. William Bowditch, whose Brookline home had been a stop on the Underground Railroad, provided more humble instructions for “Brown Bread” and “Spiced Potatoes,” among other recipes; and suffragist and abolitionist Abby Kelley Foster, who had collaborated with William Lloyd Garrison, missed the submission deadline altogether: her recipe for a roast beef dinner appears in a section titled “Supplementary [Too Late for Classification].”

Other eminent contributors include Mary C. Ames, “the highest paid woman journalist of her time, [who] had a recipe for Lobster Soup. Alice B. Stockholm, the fifth woman medical doctor in the United States, submitted a recipe for ‘pie-plant’ or rhubarb that removes the medicinal flavor. And Annie Jenness Miller, a leader in the movement to reform clothing, also contributed recipes. Toward the end of the Woman Suffrage Cook Book, notes of stridency began to dominate. Mary J. Safford, who became a medical doctor after nursing wounded Union troops in the Civil War, was allowed a tirade against the abomination of black pepper. Frances Willard, a suffrage and temperance leader, submitted a screed against pastries, cakes, hot bread, rich gravies, pickles, pepper sauces, salads, tea and coffee. The final section was called ‘Eminent Opinions on Woman Suffrage,’ and it included a bundle of quotations about equality from Plato to Abraham Lincoln” (“The Woman Suffrage Cook Book”).

All editions are scarce and difficult to find in good condition. Bitting, p. 70 (Inventory #: 372558)