The introductory texts reproduced here were written by the original Feeding America team to contextualize the books that were selected for inclusion as part of the 2001 digitization project.
The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy.
By Lydia Maria Francis Child
Boston: Carter and Hendee, 1830.
The Frugal Housewife was first published in Boston in 1829 and was reprinted at least four times in the next two years. By the eighth edition of 1832, the name had been changed to The American Frugal Housewife to differentiate it from the English work of Susannah Carter (See The Frugal Housewife - 1803). The book went through at least 35 printings between 1829 and 1850 when it was allowed to go out of print because of the publication of newer, more modern cookbooks and also because of Mrs. Child's increasingly public work in the cause of anti-slavery.
The strong emphasis on the virtues of thrift and self-reliance and on frugality, a continuing theme in American cookbooks, reflected Mrs. Child's New England heritage and her concerns for the nutritional effects of the 1820's depression in the United States. There has been some speculation that the trim, compact size as well as the subject matter made this a convenient and helpful volume for pioneer families to carry on their westward migration. In addition to hundreds of recipes from Apple Pie to Whortleberry Pudding, the book contains household hints, remedies and practical information on buying, cooking and storing food.
