Manuscript Location

Winterthur Library, Manuscript Collection

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Pennsylvania ➔ Philadelphia

Date of Composition

1848-1921

Description

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Emlen Randolph married Louis Wister on July 3, 1850 and bore three children between 1851 and 1860. She began this compilation of recipes on November 10, 1848; the last dated entry is from February 9, 1921. In addition to culinary recipes ("cold" slaw, macaroni, Italian cream, biscuits, Indian pudding, apple butter, soup a la reine, tomato farce, etc.), there are also recipes for whitewash, personal hygiene products (toothpaste and cayenne pepper gargle), and home remedies. Some of the recipes are attributed to family members (both Wisters and Randolphs) and to various other persons. One recipe is noted as being from Delmonico's, and another from "Cooking School," perhaps an edition of Fannie Farmer's "Boston Cooking-School Cookbook," first published in 1896. A few recipes cut from newspapers are laid into the volume. The recipes are written in different hands. There is no indication as to who the second principal writer was, although it was probably one of Lizzie's daughters. At the back of the volume is a section labeled "servants work," dated 1852-1853, describing the tasks expected of the cook, housemaid, chambermaid, and waiter, all of whom the Wister household presumably employed. The recipes are indexed in a database available at the library.