Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil Trade Card, [c.1875-1940?] (Ms2009-064)
Advertisements
Ephemera
History of Food and Drink
Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
Medicine
Wythe County (Va.)
While Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil was marketed until the 1940s and 1950s, the particular trade card in this collection most likely dates to the late Victorian era. The Victorian era is a period of time that directly corresponds with the reign of the English Queen Victoria (1837-1901). The Victorian era saw the development of socialism, Marxism, Darwinism, and scientific Agnosticism. This period was a time of challenging known "truths." The Victorian era was also a time of snake oil peddlers–a phenomenon that lasted in one form or another through the mid-20th century. These medicines were marketed as a cure to almost any ailment, ranging from coughs and colds to deafness and lameness. While many medicines were snake oil products, some were marketed under a different label, such as "liniment," "tonic," and "compound."
Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil Trade Card (Ms2009-064)
Permission to publish material from the Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil Trade Card collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
English
'Book for Receipts' Recipe Book, 1731 (Ms2008-024)
The Book for Receipts is a recipe book written in England in 1731. At least two owners added to this work (the names of owners remain unknown) because the handwriting changes in the last third of text. Some recipe contributors are named, such as: Lady Westmorland, Mrs. Catherine Sanderson, Mrs. Allston, Mrs. Gilbert, and Sr. Orlando Gees. Recipes focus largely on delicacies-not on staple meals-and home remedies. Categories of recipes include: pickles and preserves, cakes, biscuits, jellies, creams, and beverages (wines). One noteworthy example of a home remedy entitled The famous American Receipt for the Rheumatism appears in the volume and, according to the author, is very famous in America; a Hundred Pounds have been given for the Receipt. Recipes also indicate the availability of foodstuff in the eighteenth century-as seen through the use of several pounds of good Jamaican Sugar.
See the Finding Aid for the Book for Receipts Recipe Book
Special Collections, University Libraries, Virginia Tech
1731
Permission to publish material from the Book for Receipts Recipe Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Cookbooks
Hertford Receipt Book, 1800-1833 (Ms2008-027)
The Hertford Receipt Book is a recipe book written in Hertford, England (a county town of Hertfordshire) from 1800 to 1833. The recipes were documented by several people as handwriting changes throughout the volume. Some recipes are ascribed/attributed and dated. Attributions include: Miss Anne Morris, W. R. Price, Mrs. Whitmore, the Hertford Paper, and the Shrewsbury Paper among others. Recipes for home remedies and household necessities encompass a large portion of the manuscript, examples of which are: a "Receipt for Killing Rats," a formula for "Common Lead Coloured Paint," and "A Salve for Drawing Wounds." Edible recipes include: jellies, cakes, breads, meats, stews, and beverages (ales and wines).
See the Finding Aid for the Hertford Receipt Book
Permission to publish material from the Hertford Receipt Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
English Receipt/ Home Remedy Book c. 1830s-1840s
A handwritten home remedy/receipt book with entries in English and French. The book is bound in red leather with paper marbling on the inner binding.
See the finding aid for English Receipt/Home Remedy Book
In the public domain
application/pdf
English and French
English Receipt/Home Remedies Manual, Pages on Home Remedies
Pages from the receipt book dealing with specific home remedies.
img/jpg
Macon County, Alabama, Household and Recipe Book (Ms2011-088)
African American history
Home economics
The collection consists of one household and recipe book from Macon County, AL. A variety of writers left entries within the journal, most notably Miss Zoonomia d. Hoxey Carter and Mrs. M. P. Edwards. A majority of the collection pertains to culinary interests. There are numerous recipes for cakes and icings, "messy" doughnuts, "pickels,"and breads. Some unique entries include a "Japanese Salad, "Rusk," and beer. Most of recipes contain a listing of ingredients and appropriate "method." However, some measurements maybe: unfamiliar (e.g. "saltspoon") or ambiguous (e.g. wine glass) to the contemporary chef. Written also within the book is an elaborate "description of servants duties." Each enslaved person receives his/her own section that outlines specific tasks and times for schedules on which they should be executed. Collectively, all were responsible for: meals, the enslaver's children, other enslaved people, clean rooms, livestock, firewood, laundry, gardening, and the enslavers themselves.
Carter, Zoonomia D. Hoxey, fl.1840s-1850s
Finding aid for the Macon County, Alabama, Household and Recipe Book
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Notebooks
J. E. Cooley [New York] Advertising Broadside (Ms2012-007)
Civil War
Single-page advertising flyer for J. E. Cooley, merchant, New York, NY, dated 1863. Flyer lists prices for a wide range of grocery items, including cheese, butter, fruits, grains, poultry and "sundries." Prices are handwritten alongside item listings.
J. E. Cooley, General Commission Merchant. (New York, (N.Y.))
See the finding aid for the J. E. Cooley [New York] Advertising Broadside
1863
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Virginia Brewing Company Letter (Ms2013-075)
Cocktails--History
The Virginia Brewing Company letter was written on September 27, 1909 by Louis A. Scholz, President of the company, and Henry Scholz, Secretary and Treasurer of the company requesting support for anti-Prohibition laws in Virginia.
Virginia Brewing Company. (Roanoke, Virginia)
See the finding aid for the Virginia Brewing Company Letter.
1909
Permission to publish material from the Virginia Brewing Company Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Correspondence
A page from "The Cowboy and Com-Cel-Sar" displaying customer testimonials.
Charlie White-Moon
1912
Pamphlets
Page 15 of "The Cowboy and Com-Cel-Sar" featuring customer testimonials.
In the public domain.
Pages 46 and 47 from "The Cowboy and Com-Cel-Sar" detailing the nature of the testimonials in the booklet.
"National Diary" Recipe Book, [1914?] (Ms2009-051)
A bound volume of recipes, handwritten or clipped from newspapers. The recipes are in no particular order and include main dishes, sides, and some breakfast items. The majority are dessert recipes. Some examples include "Grapenut pudding," "Deviled tomatoes," "Shepherd's Pie," and "Beer." It also includes some household tips. The volume was originally a 1914 daily diary and the pages prior to February 4th have been removed. The diary contains a single entry on Febraury 10th. The entry notes "take notice - we had an earthquake here today at 1:30...shocks felt all over the state so the paper says." It is likely the recipe book was compiled, or at least begun, in 1914. One of the clipped recipes in the latter part of the book is dated Friday, Febraury 13th, a date which would have occured in 1914.
See the Finding Aid for the "National Diary" Recipe Book
1914
Permission to publish material from the "National Diary" Recipe Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
A handwritten home remedy manual subsisting of pages sewn and bound to newspaper pages. The remedies range from cures for illness and maladies affecting both people and animals, as well as for practical recipes for repairing broken glass and making paint.
Samuel Hodgkins
See the finding aid for A Guide to the Home Remedies Manual
1921
Home Remedies Manual, Pages on Animal Remedies
Pages from the Home Remedies Manual dealing with remedies for animals.
Home Remedies Manual, Pages on Remedies for the Home
The pages from the Home Remedies Manual dealing with remedies for the home.
A page from the Home Remedies Manual with a receipt for an "Old Indian cure" for ague.
Print from Ivanhoe, Virginia, Moonshine Still Glass Plate (Ms2009-028)
The materials in the Ivanhoe, Virginia, Moonshine Still Glass Plate Collection include the glass plate and two black and white prints. The plate depicts a working still.
See the finding aid for the Ivanhoe, Virginia, Moonshine Still Glass Plate.
c,1932
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Photographs
Manuscript Book, How to Cook a Husband, c.1880 (Ms2010-079)
The collection contains a single hand-made ribbon-bound manuscript entitled, A Novel Recipe “How to Cook a Husband.” The book’s recipe instructs newlywed women on how to treat their husbands well with metaphors that compare wifely duties and cooking. It starts off with the lines, “A good many husbands are utterly spoiled by mismanagement in cooking and are so not tender and good.” Although the creator of the original story is unknown, the story is thought to have originated in New England in the early 1880s.
See the Finding Aid for the How to Cook a Husband Manuscript Book
c. 1880
Permission to publish material from the How to Cook a Husband Manuscript Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Lowenbach Brothers Price List (Ms2012-006)
The collection consists of an advertisement from the Lowenbach Brothers liquor distributors in Alexandria, Virginia, c.1910s. The flyer includes pricing for a range of liquors and spirits, apparently all mail order.
Lowenbach Brothers. (Alexandria, Va.)
See the finding aid for the Lowenbach Brothers Price List
c.1910s
Permission to publish material from Lowenbach Brothers Price List must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
This item is a c.1910s children's toy stove. When used, this stove would have been fueled by kerosene. This stove is missing some parts and has some damage, but it includes the stove, two pots (one with a lid), a kettle, a small baking pan, several kerosene burners, and handles from missing pots. The stove is missing the chimney, a few handles on stove doors, and likely several small pots and a larger vessel with a spout for heating water. Special Collections and University Archives staff believe this is a working toy stove, as these were commonly sold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, it has also been suggested this was a salespersons' model, as it would have been more portable than an actual stove.
Finding aid
Kira Dietz (photographer)
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No script or language materials.
Artifacts
An Ideal Home Illustrated Scrapbook (Ms2013-026)
The collection consists of an illustrated scrapbook, detailing the set up for a household, possibly compiled for a new bride or a school assignment. Each room is mapped out and illustrated with magazine pictures and includes a price list of furnishings and housewares. There are also images of food and suggested menus. The last page includes a total cost for the home and suggested utilities, furnishings, appliances, linens, etc. of about $12,500.
See the finding aid for An Ideal Home Illustrated Scrapbook.
c.1940s?
Permission to publish material from An Ideal Home Illustrated Scrapbook must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Scrapbooks
Myers Bros. & Co. Trade Card (Ms2013-046)
The Myers Bros. and Co. Trade Card shows a Confederate soldier swapping tobacco with a Union soldier in exchange for a bag of coffee.
Myers Bros. & Co. (Richmond, Va.)
See the finding aid for the Myers Bros. & Co. Trade Card.
late 1860s-early 1900s (likely c. early 1870s)
Permission to publish material from Myers Bros. & Co. Trade Card must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
"Cooking Recipes" Recipe Book (Ms2008-023)
Cooking Recipes is a book filled with hand-written recipes. A hand-painted image of a girl with a duck adorns the cover of "Cooking Recipes." Within the book's pages exist a variety of recipes for soups, salads, puddings, cookies, cakes, icings, and biscuits. A personal note from "Helena" precedes the recipes. In this note, "Helena" thanks the unknown receiver, "Girlie," for participating in her wedding. "Helena" also reinforces the notion that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. No information exists on the recipe book's time period or the geographic location from which it was produced. From the book's appearance, one can surmise that it dates from around the 1930s. Due to the lack of provided surnames, no biographical information exists on the recipe book's bestower, "Helena," or its receiver, "Girlie."
See the Finding Aid for the Cooking Recipes Recipe Book
n.d.
Permission to publish material from “Cooking Recipes” Recipe Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Sallie Wilson Recipe Book, n.d. (Ms2009-002)
This collection consists of a recipe book bearing the name of Sallie Wilson of Liberty, Virginia. The small book contains more than 100 recipes, mostly for various desserts (pies, cakes and puddings) and breads, but also for such fare as potato stuffing, scalloped oysters, mock sausage, Welsh rarebit, and currant wine. Entries near the back of the book include cures for dysentery and indigestion and instructions for making such household items as soap, yellow dye and cement for broken china. The item is not dated, though the date 1868 appears on the inside front cover. While no verifiable information about the compiler of this recipe book could be found, census records reveal a Miss Sallie Wilson living in Liberty (Bedford County), Virginia in the early twentieth century. In the 1900 census, she is listed as a head of household, born in December 1844. Also living in the home are older sister Nannie T., younger brother Thomas C., and a servant. In the 1910 census, the Wilson sisters are again listed as residents of Liberty, accompanied by a boarder.
Wilson, Sallie
See the Finding Aid for the Sallie Wilson Recipe Book
Permission to publish material from the Sallie Wilson Recipe Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
"Koch-Recepte" German Recipe Book, n.d. (Ms2009-050)
A recipe book handwritten in German. The book is broken up into sections, but only about one-third contain recipes. Most of the recipes are in the "Backwerk" or "Baking" section. Some examples of recipes include: "Kartoffelsalat" (potato salad), "Grie
See the Finding Aid for the "Koch-Recepte" German Recipe Book
Permission to publish material from the "Koch-Recepte" German Recipe Book must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
El Mirador Hotel Cocktail Menu, n.d. (Ms2015-040)
This collection contains an undated cocktail menu for the South Pacific Room of the El Mirador Hotel. The menu's cover depicts South Pacific art and the El Mirador Hotel name. On the inside the menu shows colorful depictions of the cocktails offered by the hotel bar. The name and price of each drink is written below the drink depictions.
El Mirador Hotel Cocktail Menu (Ms2015-040)
Permission to publish material from the El Mirador Hotel Cocktail Menu must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Menus
A handwritten receipt book containing handwritten receipts and pages from cookery booklets. The receipts range from cures for illness and maladies in people and animals to practical receipts for paint and stains. This item also includes a partial transcript.
Manuscript Receipt Book, Remedies for the Home
Pages from the Manuscript Receipt Book dealing with remedies for the home.