Reply #35: My Grandmother's wedding gift book. [View All]

[pengillian101]

I don't know the year it was published - must have been mid-1880's or so.

It is so weird - divided into three sections. Keep in mind this is a gift to newlywed farmers. One section is animal husbandry, one is human ailments and fixes and the third is rudimentary cooking.

The 'funnest' to read is the human body fixes. Very holistic and they probably worked, lol.

For instance to break a fever, you cook up some ears of corn until done, wrap individually, then place next to the patient's body between his arms and legs. Wrap patient in a blanket - and sweat that fever out.

Some of it must have worked, as my Grandmother nursed my Father through 1-1/2 years of Rheumatic fever.

The end section with recipes has my Grandmother's handwritten notes. Very precious. She taught me how to bake and I still have my little kid's rolling pin, lol.