"A Little Gravy in the Dish and Onions in a Tea Cup": What Cookbooks Reveal About Material Culture

Author(s): Elizabeth M. Scott Source: International Journal of Historical Archaeology, Vol. 1, No. 2 (June 1997), pp. 131-155 Published by: Springer Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20852879 . Accessed: 31/07/2013 10:07
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Journal International VoL 1,No. 2, 1997 ofHistorical Archaeology,

Tea Cup": What Cookbooks Reveal About Material Culture

ElizabethML Scott1

"ALittleGravy in theDish and Onions in a

Six British colonial and Anglo-American cookbooks from theperiod into theways inwhich items 1770-1850provide insights ofmaterial culture were used in the The items the past. many often of suggest Junctions multiple as well as rethinking so heavily markers relied uponbyhistorical archaeologists,
of gender associations for some items of material culture. KEY WORDS: cookbooks;material culture; methodology; gender. need for critical reconsiderations of the functional typologies and status

INTRODUCTION
one comes across an archaeology, Every once in a while in historical or all artifact document that kinds of doors intoa past unexpected opens
society. Such was the case with several eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cookbooks I first encountered several years ago in the process of disserta tion research. Written in second person (with an "understood you" as sub

ject), these books engage the reader in a kind of mental conversation one were standingin thekitchen with theauthor)aboutmany (almostas if were of the which foodsand beverages and stored ways in prepared,served, inBritishcolonial and Anglo-American NorthAmerica.
For glimpse

holdswith a degreeof detail thatis surprisingly notonlyabout illuminating,

food and beverage
1Zooarch Research,

historical archaeologists, the cookbooks provide an engaging into eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Anglo-American house preferences
Box

and preparations,
63673.

but also about

the uses

PO.

285, St. Mary, Missouri

131
O 1997 Plenum Publishing l092-7697/97/060(M)131$115(V0 Corporation

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132

Scott

towhich vessels and utensils(ceramic, metal, andwooden) generally glass, were put.Although thepictureconveyed by thecookbooks supportssome of the "acceptedwisdom" inhistorical archaeologyaboutmaterial culture some it of also calls it and itsfunctions, intoquestion.Therein lie the sur
prises.

THE COOKBOOKS The six cookbooks I analyze here are not presented as a definitive
sub

as an illustration of theutility of thiskind of but rather sistencepractices, for in its and functional artifact data typologies historicalar implications These cookbooks containprimarily recipes for foods and beverages, meats and vegetables, but also includeinstructions forchoosingand buying inpublishededitionstoday;their dates range from 1772 original publication to 1847.Of the sixbooks, threeare orientedprimarily to theurban north
chaeology.

sample, even of late British colonial and antebellum Anglo-American

recipes for remedies and food for the sick, and recipes for household com modities (e.g., dyestuffs, insecticides, hair care). The books are available

eastern United

States, one to the rural South, and two to the urban and rural South. Three of the books are most reflective of upper-class foodways; spans the range from lower- to upper-class foods.

twowere intendedprimarily for themiddle and lowerclasses; and one

A Colonial Plantation Book of Cookbook: TheReceipt Harriott Pinckney a book of recipes she kept from 1770 until about Hony, 1770, is literally was never 1820 (Hooker, 1984). It is theonly "book" examinedhere that a publishedcookbook. HarriottHony was partof SouthCarolina's Anglo
American nutmeg, mace, pepper, and cloves) and abundant use of butter, milk, and cream, the latter items being available in large quantities only to the well to-do (Hooker, 1984, pp. 26-27). Thus, in Harriott Horry's collection we see the cooking practices from a wealthy southern plantation in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

her choice of flavorings use of favoredby theEnglish (frequent ticularly

upper class and her recipes reflect this class membership,

par

were out of financialreach formost people (McKibbin, 1976, p. xviii).

very much in the English manner." She notes Carter's "lavish use of lemons and oranges with the meats and fish;" citrus fruitswere very expensive and

TheFrugalColonialHousewifewas published in 1772by SusannahCar ter.Jean McKibbin (1976,p. xviii)notes that Carter's book "was probably and for the used of thepopulation who lived prepared by wealthysegment manner that inan elegant mirrored and that her recipes"were English life,"

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What CookbooksReveal AboutMaterial Cvitme

133

Susannah Carter's book was printed inBoston and it is oriented toward

an urban, upper-class Amelia

was published in 1796 by American Cookery,also urban-oriented,

Simmons, an orphan who had worked as a domestic servant most

audience.

of her life. Her inexpensive book combined"themost commonand prac and those suited to specialoccasions and tomore liberalfood ticalrecipes her book forpersons allowances" (Wilson,1984,p. xi). Simmons intended or lesswealthy women and cooks.This is clear inher Preface, likeherself inwhich she expresses thehope that
theLady of fashion and fortune will not be displeased, if many hintsare suggested more generaland universal of thosefemalesin thiscountry, who forthe knowledge are reduced to the or otherunfortunate circumstances, parents, by the lossof their or taking of going intofamiliesin the lineof domestics, with their necessity refuge friendsor relations,and doing those things which are really essential to the themas goodwives, and useful membersof society.(Simmons,1984,p. perfecting 3)

Of these threeeighteenth-century cookbooks, twoare urban-oriented two reflect and one plantation-centered; and are intendedfor the upper
class and one the middling and lower classes. Susannah Carter's book con steps and sets of utensils. Harriott Horry's

and those involving most complex tainsthe largest the numberof recipes,
recipes are less varied and in

clude thekindsof self-sufficient practices to be expectedon a plantation, and smoking suchas salting from Amelia Simmons' hogs raised there. pork a section not found in book containsfarfewerrecipesand includes Carter's forchoosingand purchasing book: instructions and meats, vegetables, fruits atmarket,something domestic servants undertaken and by less by probably own shopping. who did their wealthyhousewives The American FrugalHousewife, published in 1833 by Lydia Maria was "written and abolitionist, for thepoor" (1833,p. 6) Child, a feminist and thoseofmoderatemeans who were "not ashamedof economy" (1833, Massachusetts and her book ismore urban-oriented p. 1). Child lived in variationsin some recipes that thanrural,althoughshe includes might be
way of life. occasioned by living in "the country." Lydia Child also includes several es says on "economical" uses of resources in a household and on a "frugal"

have addressed the widest possible audience in terms of economic class. It contains over 1,300 recipes, some "quite plain and cheap" (Bryan, 1991, p. v), others complex and expensive, which reflect foodways in the upland South, rural but not plantation-centered. reflects both urban and plantation environments in the lowland South. Al

The Kentucky Housewife, publishedbyLetticeBryan in 1839,seems to

The CarolinaHousewife,published in 1847by Sarah Rutledge, Finally,

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134

Scott

for"families ofmoderate income"(1979, p. thoughshe says it is intended to book used the is be the clearly by iv), wealthy as well. Rutledge was of the class Charleston and notes thatthisbook was of upper part society from the family of and acquaintances" "a selection books friends receipt out in What most The stands CarolinaHouse perhaps (1979,p. v). clearly access to was to which the foodstuffs degree enjoyedand wife is plantation the South. antebellum depended upon by theurban elite in
these three nineteenth-century cookbooks, one reflects primarily upper-class practices, one is intended for middle and lower class cooks, is urban and one covers the spectrum from upper to lower classes. One Of oriented, one is rural-oriented, and one reflects both rural and urban lo cations. As with the eighteenth-century books, instructions for choosing and

meats and vegetablesare not includedin thebook intended for purchasing theupper classes (bySarah Rutledge) but are includedinLettice Bryan's of various and Lydia Child's books.The latter books also include drawings
domestic mammals

not in any of theotherbooks.

and deer illustrating the various cuts of meat;

these are

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COOKBOOK DATA

The foregoing discussion illustrates that, although six cookbooks can not be considered a "representative sample," the books analyzed here re flect practices of Anglo-American upper, middle, and lower classes in rural and urban locations in the northeastern and southern United States during

and early tomidnineteenth the late eighteenth centuries. The cookbook had different authors their motives for books (Ross, undoubtedly publishing 1993),and peoplemay ormay not have actuallyfollowedthesecookbooks
closely. However, the recipes do reflect how at least some groups of people commonly prepared and served their food and drink in a time period and region of the country that are often the subject of historical archaeological research. is important to this article, rather than evidence for particular What class or regional subsistence and beverage preparation, regimens (which should be an article unto

intotheuses ofmaterial culture in food self),are thecookbooks' insights

serving, and storage. We need not have a more

it

the uses archaeologists usually attribute to pots, pans, tins, kettles, patty pans, skillets, custard cups, gravy boats, platters, bowls, and so forth, are of dishes and utensils we recover in some unexpected ways.

or largersample for these insights to havemerit.Although representative found in the recipes, it is also clear thatpeople commonly used thekinds

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture

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Simplyput, thedata fromthesecookbookscall intoquestion some of our long-held, albeitoften tacit, about thefunctions of various assumptions and wine glasseswere not used fordrinking beverages;what standsout hadmultiplefunctions. here is thatthese,and other, items Theywere used notonly fordrinking for beverages, example,but also for measuring ingre and and foods. foods; dients;preparing, boiling, baking serving have devisedmany functional to Historical archaeologists typologies most based on aid in the interpretation of archaeological assemblages, South (1977), and some specifically concerningceramics (e.g., Yentsch, et do not allow for the 1990;Beaudry al., 1988).However, such typologies
ceramic and glass vessels we excavate. It is not that tea cups, tea spoons,

multiple uses of objects revealed in these cookbooks. Some scholars have shown that archaeologists must take into account the various stages of use

lifean objectmighthave (e.g.,Orser, 1992) and thebuyingand sellingof used ceramicsand other items, especially inpoorer urban neighborhoods the data fromthesecookbooks suggestthat However, (e.g.,Seifert,1994). we must go one step further, allowingfor multipleuseswithina household,
thereby making more complex our interpretations of the archaeological re

or community. mains fromthathousehold,neighborhood,

PREPARATION VESSELS AND UTENSILS: "PROVIDE CHINA CUPS, AND FILL THEM WITH THE CLEAR JELLY" of foodsand beverages (as As mightbe expected,it is thepreparation as that receives themost attention in the well remedies,dyestuffs, etc.) to devoted serving and storageof foodsand with less attention cookbooks, in a items of I used with discussion measuring ingredients beverages. begin of items discussion used in actual prepa in Tkble followed by I), (detailed of those ingredients intofoods, ration medicines,or otherhouse beverages, hold commodities(detailed inTkblc II).
Units ofMeasure Spoons of various sizes (tea, table, salt, and dessert) are the most fre include by the "large tea-spoonful," tablespoonful," and "large tablespoon those

quentlyused measuringutensilnoted here (see Tkble I). Additional vari

ations in measurement (not heaped)," "tea-spoon full." "small

heaping

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136 Table L Units ofMeasure Utensil Spoons lea spoon

Used to measure

Scott

Table spoon

Dry spices (e.g., curry powders, salt, mace, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, powderedsage) Dry ingredients (e.g., celeryseeds, grated lemon, flour,saleratus, pearlash, soda, tea leaves,pulverizedalum) Liquid ingredients (e.g., cream,brandy) Other ingredients pokeberryjelly) (e.g.,butter, cream of tartar, Dry spices (e.g.,powdered sage, cinnamon, ginger, Dry ingredients (e.g., flour,chopped parsley,grated horseradish,
rice flour, corn meal, salt, grated bread, brown allspice, mustard, mace, cloves, cayenne pepper) sugar, powdered sugar, arrowroot, rice, corn, grated orange peel, caraway

seeds, flaxseeds) (e.g.,water, vinegar, salad oil, sweet oil, rose Liquid ingredients
water, sweet cream, melted butter, white wine, prepared white brandy, honey, catsup, broth, clear gravy, hot milk, molasses)

rough

rum, lemon juice, artichokeextract, lime brandy,peach water,

rennet, Jamaica

Spoonful

Other ingredients peach marmalade, riceboiled topap, (e.g.,yeast, mashed sweet potato, cold hominy,raspberry butter, jelly,soft boiled rice) Dry spices (e.g.,whole whitemustard seeds, pepper,mixed spice,
mace, cinnamon,

curry powdered thyme, powder) Dry ingredients (e.g., sugar, flour,brown sugar, ground coffee, buckwheatflour,Indianmeal) rye flour, vinegar,anchovycatsup, (e.g., pepper-vinegar, Liquid ingredients
warm water, sweet cream, milk, melted butter, white wine, sweet cider, veal gravy, brandy, lemon brandy, rose brandy, sack, essence of spruce, tomato catsup, rose water, orange flower water, New arrowroot powder, corn flour, wheat flour, rice flour, corn meal,

ginger, pulverized

sassafras

leaves, dried

sage,

molasses, rennet England rum, water) Other ingredients (e.g., grated tongue,currantjelly, lemonpickle, butter,finely chopped suet,yeast, whipped eggwhite,white cake Salt spoon
Dessert spoon

Dry Dry Dry Dry

icing, wood ashes, cough syrup, soy, lively emptings, lime, plaster of Paris, ashes stirred in cider, lard)

chloride

of

spices (e.g., salt) ingredients (e.g., gratedhorseradish) mace, powderedcinnamon) spices (e.g., salt,allspice,powdered ingredients (e.g., powdered sugar, flour,dried artichoke
peach water, orange flower

Other ingredients (e.g.,butter, yeast) Cups and mugs Tea cup Dry spices (e.g. corianderseeds,powdered ginger) rice flour,hominy,finebread Dry ingredients (e.g.,white starch,
crumbs,

flowers) ingredients Liquid (e.g., rose water, water, wine, brandy, vinegar)

Liquid

buttermilk, milk, cream, Madeira wine, rose water, melted stewed vinegar, flax seed tea) molasses,

ingredients (e.g., arrowroot powder in water, boiling

butter,

flour, sugar, brown

sugar)

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What CookbooksReveal AboutMaterial Culture Table L Continued Utensil

tea cup Used to measure

137

Large

Small tea cup

Half a tea cup

Good-sized tea cup

Coffee cup cup Large breakfast Small cup Cup

Other ingredients boiled rice, (eg., sago,yeast,tapioca,leaven, butter) liquid ingredients (e.g.,water,milk, sourmilk) rice,sugar,brown sugar) Dry ingredients (e.g., coarse rice flour, milk, cream) (e.g., dissolvedsaleratus, Liquid ingredients Dry spices (e.g., carawayseeds) Liquid ingredients (e.g., dissolvedsaleratus) Other ingredients (e.g.,yeast) Other ingredients (e.g.,Russian jelly) Other ingredients (e.g.,boiled and strainedcarrots) Other ingredients (e.g., cold hominy) Dry spices (e.g., ginger) Dry ingredients (e.g., sugar) Liquid ingredients (e.g.,water,milk,molasses, cream) Dry spices (e.g., ginger) Dry ingredients (e.g.,wheat flour,rice flour,Indianmeal, sugar, brownsugar,rice, chopped shallotsor onions) wine, tomatocatsup,boiling (e.g., sweetcream, Liquid ingredients rice boiled soft,fatfrom Other ingredients yeast, (e.g.,butter,lively meat drippings) Dry ingredients (e.g., hops) making pancakes) (e.g., beer for Liquid ingredients
water, beer, cider, rose water, milk, pepper tea)

Pint mug

Mug

Glasses and Tumblers Wine glass Dry ingredients (e.g., caraway seeds) (e.g., rosewater, orange flowerwater, peach Liquid ingredients rosebrandy,lemon water,brandy, wine,whitewine, sherry brandy, wine, portwine,water,milk, coughmedicine) Tumbler claret,portwine) Liquid ingredients (e.g.,water,buttermilk, Other ingredients (e.g., toastand water) Half a tumbler (e.g., sour orange juice, lime juice,water with Liquid ingredients citricacid) Glass liquid ingredients (e.g., various kindsof wine, brandy,and rum; Gil) thathad soaked calf s rennet) Dry ingredients (e.g., fine Indianmeal, rice, rice flour,finegrits, wheat flour) Liquid ingredients(e.g., sweet cream, white wine, buttermilk, lemonjuke, rosewater, lemonbrandy, catsup, sweetoil) Other ingredients yeast (eg., made mustard,sweetemptings, (e.g., cold water,brandy) liquid ingredients Other ingredients mustard) (e.g., yeast, (e.g.,muscat, sherry wine) Liquid ingredients
Plates molasses, claret, Madeira wine, vinegar, warm water, brandy, water, sweet cream, good sour wine, rose water, peach water, wine

Half-gill Bottles
Plates and Soup Plate

Soup plate
Pots Common-sized pot

Dry ingredients (e.g., gratedbrownbread) Other ingredients (e.g., sweet potatoes to be baked, peeled and cut up apples to be baked, shrimpto be boiled) finely Other ingredients (e.g., peeled tomatoes) Other ingredients (e.g., anchovies)

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138 Table II. Materials Used inCooking and Baking Utensils Spoon Large spoon Dessert spoon Silver spoon Wooden spoon
Cleaver Iron spoon Vessels Jar

Scott

Miscellaneous items Needle Large needle Hot poker Pin

Sharp scissors

Queensware

Stone jar Earthen jar

jar

jar High, small-necked Large jar

Pewter

Fork Silver fork Very sharpknife Sharp penknife knife Small, sharp-pointed Fish-knife Small knife Knife Mortar and pestle
Broad-bladed knife Saw

Round-bottom Small Coarse

Small tumbler lea cup

plate

round-bottom

Earthen dish/pan Wine glass Small cup Cup China cup Deep china dish
Earthen Large glass

tea cup tea cup tea cup of common size

Pitchers Tin plate Tumbler

cups

notonly foodsand beveragesbut also otherhouseholdcom These include modities. For example, plaster of Paris (to mend glass and china),was as were ashes stirred incider (to preventnau measured by the"spoonful," on Variations measurements these include sea). by the "large heaping
spoonful," "good spoonful," and "moderate spoonful." In the nineteenth-century cookbooks examined here, two additional sizes of spoons were used: salt spoons and dessert spoons. Butter was meas

In many

cases

ingredients were measured

simply by the "spoonful."

ured by the "large dessert-spoonful," salt and lard by the "small dessert spoonful," flour by the "common sized desert-spoonful," and supercarbonate of soda by the "dessert spoonful (not heaped)." Various sizes of cups and mugs were used to measure ingredients, al

for dry ingredients. Variations in size were noted in liquid measurements made by the "small wine-glass," "large glass," and "small glass." "Gills" were the unit of measure for both liquid and dry ingredients.

cups and tea cupswere usedmost frequently though (see Ikble I). Glasses were used primarily and tumblers tomeasure liquid ingredients, but also

It seems likelythat liquid measurementscalling fora pint,half-pint, and quartwould have beenmade by usingbottlesof thosesizes (see discussion
below).

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture

139

Plates, soup plates, and pots also were used to denote quantitiesof would be combined with others in a recipe, foodstuffs, usuallyfoods that was to be boiled (see Utble I). of shrimpthat such as a "plateful" mentswere taken, literally, such from the hand of the cook. Ingredients as flour, were and and berries, bread crumbs herbs,smallfruits sugar, hops,
measured Although not evident in the archaeological record, several measure

lb make a fricandeauof veal, one was to "take a piece of a fillet handful." of veal about the thickness of two p. 72). lb make (Rutledge,1979, fingers" the size of thepalm beef steakpie, one was to "cut thebeef in thin pieces, of your hand" (Rutledge,1979,p. 74). Sometimescookswere told to use
ingredients that were "blood warm." In one example, they were told to

by the "handful," "large handful," "small handful," and "half a

with "bloodwarmwater" (Rutledge,1979,p. 25). make cornmuffins ofmeasurementsevident in the nineteenth-century Another category
involves sizes "known by heart." The recipes assume the cook's of various items of food or material culture and uses those items knowledge cookbooks to be "made into small round balls, very little larger than a

meat were

as measurements. Thus, we find that suet dumplingsto be cooked with

one hen's egg" (Bryan,1991,p. 254). lb make a sauce forplum pudding, was to use a piece of butter"halfas big as a hen's egg" (Child, 1833,p. 65). Knowledge of the sizes of other bird eggswas assumed as well, in and robins. cludinggeese, pigeons,partridges,
Various foods were to be made

roons (Bryan, 1991,p. 289), almond cones (Bryan, 1991,p. 290), ratafia balls (Rutledge, 1979,p. 69), biscuits (Rutledge,1979,p. 205), forcemeat one was to and coconut cakes (Child, 1833,p. 119). For picklingshrimps, use "alum and saltpetre each about the size of a nutmeg"(Rutledge,1979, p. 216).
The lb make

the size of a "nutmeg": coconut maca

one was called

(Rutledge,1979,p. 89).When making a dessertcalled anApple Charlotte,

to "strew over it bits of butter about about the size of a hickory-nut" (Child, for "cork burnt to charcoal, as big as a hazel-nut"

sizes of other foodstuffs were used as units of measure as well, a bread sauce, one was to use "a bit of butter the size of a walnut"

and "cholera-morbus" (Rutledge, 1979,p. 118). A remedyfordysentery an emetic tea tocurecroup [a larynx condition 1833,p. 25), and a recipefor
a harsh cough] instructed one to "drop in a piece of alum, a size larger than a pea, and the same quantity of castile soap" (Bryan, 1991, p.

causing

430). Tb dress a calf'shead, one was to "cuthalf thehead intosmallpieces about the size of an oyster"(Rutledge,1979,p. 69). lb make Indiandump 1991,p. 254).
lings, one was to "make it into dumplings the size of a large biscuit" (Bryan,

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140

Scott

The recipesalso assume thatthe cook had access to or knowledgeof various itemsof material culture,especially the sizes of those items, lb make apple butterrolls,the cookwas to "Roll itup intoa scroll, making eight inches long" (Bryan,1991,p. 255). lb make friedfruit pies, one was a as to cut thepaste incircular common "as sized pieces, large pattypan" (Bryan,1991,p. 267). lb make orangewafers,one was to "roll themout as thinas tiffany" gauze of silkor muslin] (Rutledge,1979, [a transparent were to Corn biscuits be made "into cakes about the size of a p. 164). saucer" (Rutledge, 1979,p. 23). The batterforplain pancakes and velvet was to be poured or ladledout on thepan or griddle in cakes [pancakes]
an amount "as the roll about as large in circumference as a large glass tumbler, and about

were tobe made "into small cones?say about double 311). Coconut puffs the size of a thimble"(Rutledge, 1979,p. 212). The sizesof variouscoins also were assumed tobe knownby thecook, the silverdollar. Tb make pumpkinchips, one was to "cut the primarily of a dollar" (Rutledge, 1979,p. 205). slices intochips about the thickness one was to use "a piece of chocolate about lb make a hot chocolatedrink, as big as a dollar" (Child, 1833,p. 83). lb make friedsaltpork and apples, one was to "cut inslices,across the or threetimes whole apple, about twice as thick as a new dollar" (Child, 1833,p. 60).
Other coin sizes were used as well. For

large as a common

desert plate"

(Bryan, 1991, pp. 256,

to "make it intosmallcakes, about thesize incircumference of a half dol some thicker" a lb make fishchowder, lar, though (Bryan,1991,p. 289). one was to use "potatoes sliced as thinas a four-pence"(Child, 1833,p. as a ninepence," thrown into thecoffee while boiling (Child, 1833,p. 83). When making lyesoap,one could tell thatthe lye was strong enoughwhen
itwould 59). lb make coffee clear, one was advised to use "a bit of fish-skin as big

little coconut

cakes, one was

Bryan (1991, p. 274) noted that, for cake-baking, "[s]cales and weights, measures, baking-pans of different sizes and shapes, coarse and fine grater, " sieves and mortars, are all indispensable In both the eighteenth- and the cookbooks, nineteenth-century especially for baking cakes, equivalent are use of some kind of scale. For the weights given, indicating example,

surfaceas big as a ninepence" (Child, 1833,p. 23). were used frequently. Lettice Equivalentweightsof various foodstuffs

"bear up an egg, or a potato,

so that you can see a piece of the

to make little spongecakes,one was to "take the weightof sixeggs in loaf and "the of four in flour" sugar" eggs weight (Bryan, 1991, p. 284); to make Indian Pound Cake, one was to take "theweight of eight eggs in sugar,and theweightof six in cornmeal" (Rutledge,1979,p. 195).

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture Preparation Utensils Materials

141

preparation (see 'Bible II). Spoons were used to do a varietyof tasks; sometimes specific sizes or kinds of spoons were indicated.A "large squirrel,chicken, dumplingbatter intovarious kindsof soups, including
pheasant, partridge, and rabbit soups, and to drop the mixture of maca roons onto a baking sheet. An "iron spoon" was specified for use in frying eggs; a "silver spoon" was to be used to take out boiled oysters, mash spoon" was used to drop friar fritter batter and omelette batter, and to stir the custard for Charlotte Russe. A "dessert-spoon" was used to drop

of various sizes and materials were used in food and beverage

boiled palmetto cabbage, and to use the handle to dip in baked custard to see if itwas done; a "wooden spoon"was used to beat rice pudding and apple pudding,mash boiled palmetto cabbage, and stir strawberry
cream and almond ice.

ar topierceboiled vegetables(parsnips, were used frequently "Fbrks" meats fruits Irish beets, tichokes, potatoes, turnips, onions), (peaches), (pig's feet and ears), and other items(apple dumplings),to see whether York biscuitsand Zephyrinas, and soda biscuits, pull veal meat, and prick
scratch a calf's head before cooking it.A "silver fork" was to be used to theywere done. Fbrks also were used to pierce the tops of tea rusk cakes

prickplums. was used also.One was touse a "verysharpknife" A variety of knives to shave off cabbage tomake "cold slaugh"; a "sharp knife" to scrape was to be the rough spots frompig's feet and ears; a "sharp penknife" cores to and slice and used toextract pear peach chips;a "sharp crab-apple was to to notch, crimp, or be used small knife" penknife sharp-pointed or A serrate the edges of puffpaste dough. "broad-bladedknife" scallop, was done. Simply bladewas dipped ina baked custard pie to seewhetherit
a "knife" was used to make German calf's brains, before serving. Mortars and pestles, sometimes to beat eggs, to ice a cake, and to spread butter on paste dough. "fish-knife" was used to take out boiled peaches, and a "small knife" "crout," scrape potatoes, mark horseradish, cut corn from the cob, core apples, and cut off hooves and

was used A

the

topsof cake dough,mash butter intopaste dough, and break up boiled

specified as marble mortars, were

in these spices we might think of in a twentieth-century context. Recipes cookbooks call for pounding or rubbing in a mortar oysters, currants, al monds, curd, butter, rice cake batter, shrimp, mullet roes, baked beef, tur key meat, boiled potatoes, salsify [a root vegetable], cheese and eggs,

of foodstuffs, in addition to the used to pound and rub a wide variety

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142 cranberries and sugar, "groundnuts," lemon and orange

Scott skins, orange pulp, to use "small smooth"

Cheshire cheese and wine, and many kindsof dough.

one used a "bunch of bended wires." A

hickoryrods or a bunch of wire, bent in hoops or broken"; towhip hot was used to bake johnnycakes and corn crisps. were used not only for storage, of "Jars" but also in thepreparation variousfoodsand beverages (see TkbleII). One used "jars" to make several fruitsinsidea kettleof boiling kindsof vinegars;forboiling water, tomake to and and make lemon for preserves; bakingpeaches. Vari brandy; jellies ations in thekindof jarwere sometimes noted.A "stone jar"was used to holdwalnuts forseveraldays;picklemullet roes for 10days; boil raspberry vinegar, in a pot of water; and bake beef covered inbrine.An "earthen
days. A "glass jar" was used to make rose brandy and rose cordial as well as brandied plums. An "earthen or queensware jar" was used to boil cher a to of in kettle make ries, boiling water, cherry cordial. "High, small chocolate, "board planed

lb beat eggs, egg whites, and to whip cream, one was

used toholdmushroomsforone day and hold ripe redpeppers forseveral

jar" was used

to cool preserved

lemons, and an "earthen or stone jar" was

the stomach bag of calves and other mammals], which was used to sour milk and to make cheese; to mold cherry, grape, and plum sauces; to

necked jars"were used to hold cream,and a "large jar"was used tomake tomatojelly. Some ceramicvessels oftenassumed by archaeologists to have been used only inbeverage consumption also were used inbaking and boiling foods and other preparation activities (see Tkble II). "Tfeacups" were rennet [thedigestivejuice from used inmaking rice soup; in rendering

tomold stewedgoose boil andmold cranberry dumplings[pudding-like]; berries; to congeal blumonge; and to mold rice cups [custard-like].
"Round-bottom to mix water tea-cups" were used and arrowroot powder. to mold snowball Snowballs [rice] custard and and puff snowballs were

"coarse tea-cups of common size." "Cups" were used to cut biscuits out of dough; to break eggs into when preparing a dish; and bake German cut out cake paste; a "cup or wineglass" was used to cut "Bunn" dough with. "Dishes or cups" were used to bake solid rice custard. "China cups" or a "deep china dish" were used to bake and boil several kinds of cus tards. TWo eighteenth-century recipes in Susannah Carter's upper-class cookbook included a completely unexpected use of "China cups" inmak ing what were called "portable soups." lb make a White Portable Soup, one was to

baked in "small round bottom tea cups;" batter puffswere baked in and Sunderlandpudding.A "small cup" was used to cups [custard-like]

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture Take a legof veal, bone it,and take off all the skin and fat, take likewisetwo or chickensfeet dozen of fowls, washed clean, and chopped to pieces; put all into a largestoving-pot, with three till the water, and let itstovegently, gallonsof soft as to separate.You must keep yourpot tight meat is so tender, covered,and a constantfire duringthe timeof itsstoving;inabout sevenor eighthours, try your with a knife, you cannot cut it jelly in a cup, and when quite cold, if it is so stiff, a sieve,and takeoffall thefatand scum first take itoff,and strainit through with a spoon, and thenwith philtering with paper. ProvideChina cups, and fill them or a largestew-pan of boiling theclear jelly;set themin a gravy-pan water over a as glue.Afterwhich, waterboil yourjelly in thecups, tillit isas thick stove; in this let themstand in thewater till theyare quite cold: Before you turnthemout of your cups, run the edge of a knife round them,to loosen them; then turnthem which will draw out all themoisture gradually. upon a piece of new flannel, (McKibbin, 1976,pp. 73-74)

143

"Pitchers" were used for a variety of food preparations: to boil various inside an oven or pan of water; make egg cream; boil ice cream; make gooseberry preserves; cool almond ice; hold par orange kinds of custard

be broken offand usedwhen needed Pieces of thesedry"cakes" could then or a soupbase. The Brown a to water with broth make boiling bycombining of veal, and followedthesame procedure, PortableSoup used beef instead one could use "China,or well glazed earthencups" tofill with except that the jelly (McKibbin,1976,pp. 74-75).

meat pieces and water forpartridgetea; and hold tamarind water tridge for andmint, sage, and balm teas [used the sick].
As mentioned above, "China cups" or a "deep china dish" was to be tarts as well. One recipe called for using an "earthen pan" to bake beef the same to mix coconut snowballs. An "earthen dish" for baking corn bread and meat pies.

used to bake and boil severalkindsof custard;"China"was used to bake was to be used forbeating egg whites and drying peach jelly. "Tin or
earthen pans" were used do not specify whether coconut and almond be used and another used

Many recipescalled forusingplates,dishes,and bowls forbakingbut

these are ceramic, rather than metal, vessels. In sweet-hearts, to spread pumpkin paste on to dry hard stew-pan to give pear compote a red color. just noted of ceramic tea cups, pitchers, and

some instances therecipesspecify that"tinplates"were tobe used tobake in a warm oven, and to bake philpy [ricebread]; a "pewterplate" was to
to cover a bell-metal given the examples

However,

dishes used to bake and boil foods, it is not unlikelythat many of the
"unspecified" plates and dishes in these recipes also were ceramic. Ceramic vessels were commonly used in baking and other kinds of cooking, as noted

ing the vessels: "Put new earthen ware into cold water, and let it heat cool again. Brown earthen ware, in particular, gradually, until itboils?then may be toughened in this way. A handful of rye, or wheat, bran, thrown

in thehouseholdhintgivenbyLydiaMaria Child (1833,p. 11) forseason

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144

Scott

was to be used to get yellowcoloringfromthe saffron.

Glass vessels, like ceramic ones, were used were used to cut out orange wafers. "small "Tumblers" were

noted. Raspberries were to be mashed in a "glazed or earthen pan." A was to be used to make quince cordial. Mush "China or earthen vessel" rooms were to ferment in a "stone or earthen vessel." An "earthen vessel" not only in measuring

inwhile it is boiling, will preserve the glazing,so that itwill not be de or acid salt." stroyed by were Other uses of ceramicvessels in food and beveragepreparation

but also in food preparation (see Ikble II). "Wine-glasses" ingredients,

used to cut out

tumbler" was used to cut out suet paste and a "wine glass or tumbler" was used to cut out suet dumplings. A "large glass" was used to put boiling water and a portable soup square into, to make a broth. Other items of material culture usually not considered by archaeolo biscuits. A cookbooks. "Needles" was were used to pierce walnuts, cherries. tomatoes, black wal used

and York littlecider cakes; Scotch cake dough; and tea, soda, souffle,

gists to be related to foods and beverages do, in fact,show up in these

"large needle" used to pierce "Pins" were to pierce

nuts, and peaches, often before soaking them in brandyor vinegar; a were ripe enough forpickling, to pin muslin or walnuts to see if they and to pin white paper over a paper on a sieve to be used for straining,
so that it did not get too brown. "Sharp scissors" were piece of roast beef used to cut up raisins. A "hot poker" was used to heat rum and molas ses-sweetened beer, to be put into pancake batter. Less visible archae be the "broomstraw" and "sharp straw" used

ologically would

were done and the piece of boiled citron and peaches to see if they "thread" used to disengage johnnycake and corn crispsfrom theboard on which they were baking.
These cookbooks contain numerous instructions for butchering vari ous animals and preparing particular cuts of meat with knives, cleavers, the most numerous instructions for cutting out certain bones and chopping particular meat cuts. An interesting aspect

to pierce

and saws. Lettice Bryan's The Kentucky Housewife (1991) gives perhaps to cut or saw par (1991, pp. 28, 33, 79) book is thefrequent instruction
and sawing of Bryan's

considerwho was doing the carvingat the table, and who did all the as well as men may have been carvingat the table, somethingsuggested of carving instruc by Lydia Maria Child's (1833, pp. 122-123) inclusion
tions in her book. "work" of carving ahead of time back in the kitchen. Of course, women

tially through the bones in a portion, always from the underside, so that the meat could be carved more easily at the table. One is tempted to

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What Cookbooks Reveal About Material Culture

145

LITTLEGRAVY SERVING VESSELSANDUTENSILS:<& INTHE DISH ANDONIONS INA TEACUP"

ticular vessels and utensils. Glass

This category about the functions of par providedthefewest surprises

and ceramic dishes and bowls were used

to serve fruitsauces, jellies (as in thedessert),and many kindsof trifles, and Custard cups and glasseswere used to serve raw). vegetables(cooked
custards and creams. Tfea and coffee pots, soup and sauce tureens, and chaf

were made as to ingdishes all were used in expectedways.Distinctions covered dessert size (large,small,deep), function dish, dish, plate, (bowl, salad plate, vegetable dish, celeryglasses), and material of manufacture

to serving many kindsof cream, custard, ice cream, syllabub, punch, and alsowere used to servecalf s and pig's feetjellies.Butter mulled cider/wine,
was served on a "sallad dish." One was to use a "plate" to serve firmbutter, raw salad (lettuce, tongue-grass, cress, etc.), plain pancakes, pastry shells, little sponge cakes, leather hoe cakes, Indian muffins, waffles, toasts, bread

(glass, "china"). there were some uses that were unexpected. "Cups" were However, used to serve gravy, jelly, melted butter, mustard, and fine cream. "Tfea raw onions and mustard. "Glasses," in addition cups" were used to serve

cakes and matrimonial cakes. Frozen orange punch and custards were to be served with accompanying "tea-spoons"; a "tea-spoon or butter knife" was to accompany cold sweet sauce at the table.

and butter,and stewedcrabs.A "large plate" was used to servedandy

RETHINKING CONSUMER CHOICE ofGeorge Miller's (1980, 1991) exhaustivestud Since thepublication ies detailing nineteenth-century prices for ceramicsby vessel formand common for historicalarchaeologiststo rely it has become decoration, of particular households. the economic status Although theevidencefrom
these cookbooks most clearly addresses the function of vessels, it also sug ceramic indices when interpreting consumer behavior and

heavily on mean

or baking foods might have been of the older, out-of-fashion styles, how are we to know that from an archaeological context? How might we know which tea cups are really the index of economic status for a household (i.e., what the occupants archaeologists could afford or chose to purchase) and which were

values foran assemblage mightbe af gests someways inwhich the index truethatthetea cups a cook used for While it iscertainly fected. measuring

what

And what ifsome folks used theones kept around foruse in thekitchen?
might call the "good" tea cups for both serving and

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146

Scott

food preparation? Could itbe thatchoiceswere influenced by the need for a particularvessel formratherthanby decoration and price, or that in some purchases and for styleand price people would buy for function in others?

AND GENDER MATERIAL RETHINKING ASSOCIATIONS CULTURE

The data in these cookbooks tions of gender associations an audience of women also caU into question some interpreta for particular groups of material culture. As

were writtenfor indicatedin theearlierdiscussionof the cookbooks, they

was understood and it artifact category, hand-held thatwomen would be carrying saws, is one that

out the directions given. One

tomen's activities(Scott, archaeologists,including myself, usuallyattribute uses tobe reevaluated In such functional need with 1994). analyses, clearly an eye towarddifferent versus kinds of saws: those used forbutchering we might thoseused forcutting wood or metal.Are thereanydifferences Were hand-heldsaws generalmultipurpose tools discernarchaeologically? as well? If the latteris true,thenperhapsour gender association forsaws (and other "tools") needs to be more flexible. archaeologyhave been those byAnne Yentsch (1987, 1991a-c).Using a
Some of the more thought-provoking studies on gender in historical structuralist approach, she argues for the presence in the seventeenth and

each domain. Arguing thatwomen, who were subordinate in status tomen, prepared foods and beverages using earth-toned ceramic vessels and that guests inmen's public domain, were white-toned, earth tones and men = white tones dualism. The she sets up a women =

of men's (public and private) and women's (private) centuries eighteenth domains, symbolizedin part by thekinds and colors of ceramicsused in food and beverage serving and consumption vessels,used in entertaining

ceramics in food preparation, in the kitchen. China cups and dishes were used not only to serve desserts and beverages, but also to bake puddings

ves cookbooks, however, call both distinctions (preparation vessels and women's into vessels/men's ques sels/consumption vessels) were using some of these white-toned tion. Women "consumption"

drinking tea, but constantly for measuring, and also in cooking, as well as for rendering rennet. And wine glasses were used, in addition to drink dumplings.

and tomake glue-likeportable soup. Tfeacups were used not only for wine or other spirits,for out suet and cutting ing measuring ingredients

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture

147

As

were not,also, setsof fancier, white-toned This isnot to say thatthere male head of household and used forpublic enter dishes owned by the tainingin thathousehold.But how are we to know thisarchaeologically?
discussed earlier, it could be the older, out-of-fashion "consumption" in preparation activities as well. Perhaps was com it

were used in foodpreparation, but italso could be thatpeople vessels that

used the "good china" included odd tea cups, "china" dishes, wine glasses, various sizes of spoons,

mon fora youngwoman to accumulate a set of cookingequipment that to bring to her new household at marriage,althoughI have and so forth,
not seen reference to this in historical documents. vessels went only one way; that is,white-toned

movementbetween thesedomains or setsof Itmightwell be thatthe

consumption vessels were

vessels but earth-toned used in thekitchenin foodpreparation, preparation

usually were not used in serving and consuming foods and beverages. How ever, the fact that there was movement in even one direction suggests that

the clear-cut ceramicsfoundarchaeologically may not signify gendereddi withina household thatsome propose. visions A final aspect brought intoquestion by the cookbooks is thatof the
tea party or ceremony. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, these middle- and upper-class social gatherings, although con ducted by women, included men as well as women and guests as well as

monies

we have seen ample evidence in the cookbooks of tea cups used inmeas uring, baking, and cooking foods, however, itwould be difficult to inter sets are represented, pret tea cup fragments found archaeologically, even if as evidence of such public tea-drinking. This is not to say that tea cere did not occur; we know from documentation that they did. Nor

however, tea parties had become century, family. By themidnineteenth women for and social eventsconducted (Wall, 1994,pp. 122-125).Since by

shown does itmean that sets of tea cups do not suggestsuch activity, socioeco for certain and Wall (1991,1994) Burley (1989) by convincingly nomic and ethnicgroups.The question, again, is how to knowwhich tea a household's set forentertaining, which they used cupsmight represent and whichwas used in the kitchenfor cooking; and it for themselves, could well be that the same set of tea disheswas used in all three (or
ways. consumer choice and public tea Archaeological interpretations about of more are households for difficult poorer economic means. For parties or use used ceramics in working the of secondhand in of light example, class and poor households, ceramic price indices and tea ceremony con siderations seem to have questionable application at best. Yet one wonders prerequisites for public tea-drinking; Were women in working class and

more)

middle and upper classeswere truly if the leisuretimeand wealth of the

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148 Table III. Vessels Used inFood and Beverage Storage Used to store Kind of vessel Bottles Wide-mouthedbottle bottle Long wide-mouthed bottle Small wide-mouthed bottle Large-mouthed Snuffbottle Small bottle Pint bottle Quart bottle Bottle

Scott

White buUace (plumsor muscadines),pickled mushrooms, pears,plums,damsons, brandy peaches,Frenchmustard Peaches, peaches in sugar and brandy Lobster catsup with lemon Brandy flavored peel,orangepeel, rose leaves, peach leaves orange Many kindsof catsup, lemon pickle, lemonsyrup, shrub juice, cayennepepper,cherry Lemon juice Currant syrup, crabapple shrub Kitchen pepper,many kindsof catsups,vinegars,yeasts,
cordials, Damsons

whole

cream; punch; dryherbs; fishsauce; cooked tomatoes; seeds; sweetoil; curry soy;picklednasturtium powders; flour; damsons; peaches; plums; green peas; pickled
gooseberries, grapes, and green currants; brown salt-and-vinegar remedy; Balm-of-Gilead

syrups,

shrubs, wines,

beers,

and

brandies;

Stone bottle
Jars

buds inNew England rum Gingerwine, gingerbeer

Coarse mincemeat, suet

mushrooms;

Stone jar Stone or earthenjar

ware jar

Queen's

butter fine mincemeat, cabbage, Dried cherries, currants, apple marmalade,

Pickled cucumbers, pickled asparagus, pickled red

pear cheese,

LittleQueen's ware jar Glass jar Small glass jar Small jars or glasses Glasses or jars
Jar

pear butter, jam quince cheese, cherry Almond paste Pickled cherries, pickled plums, candied citrons, Orange marmalade, grape jelly, gooseberry jam and preserves,peach jelly,cherryjelly, lemonmarmalade, currantjelly, whole quinces Pear jelly Calf s footjelly vegetablesand nuts;many Many kindsof pickled fruits, kinds of fruitmarmalades, jellies and preserves; and vegetables;buttermilk, beef whole fruits preserved
Whole watermelon sweetmeats

Large jar Small jar

Dry plums
[plums],

and oyster sausages; cherries,

mincemeat

peach marmalade, quince jelly,preservedgreen gages

tomato jelly, tomato marmalade

cherry butter, preserve

whole

peaches,

poor households

even ifthey could vessels other than tea cups ("buyinginto" the ideology not affordthematerial culture)?And, again, how mightwe discern this archaeologically?

also drinking tea together in the afternoons, but using

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What CookbooksReveal AboutMaterial Culture

149

VESSELS: "TOKEEP GREENPEASETILL STORAGE

CHRISTMAS_HAVE YOUR BOTTLES READY" and storageof The cookbooksexaminedhere detail thepreservation
foods and beverages in ceramic and glass jars, glass bottles, and in historical ar some of the accepted wisdom

various

kegs and casks (Tkble III). This use of variouskindsof bottlesand jars,
however, calls into question chaeology.

to contain. However, we need not assume that they were manufactured for these bottles, i.e., wine, rum, gin, the beverages intended initially were brandy, beer, etc., actually in them at the time they were used and "wine" bottles "were probably multipurpose containers used to contain any

bottlesand bottleglassby the Historical archaeologists usually identify as well as by the liquid the date and and of manufacture, country style

discarded.Olive Jones and Ann Smith (198S, p. 13) note thatEnglish of the alcoholic or nonalcoholicbeverages as well as other itemssuch as vinegar, linseedoil, or any substancesold in quantitiesover a pint and

and beverages(Jones,1993).The bot foodstuffs manykindsof commercial or refilling" were reusableand "wereoftensoldor returned forrefunds tles (Jones and Smith, 1985,p. 14; Busch, 1987,pp. 67-68). The cookbooks of reveal thatbottles also were reusedwithin the household in a variety
ways.

under a gallon." Bottles held, as did ceramic, metal, and woven

containers,

of the cookbook authors in LydiaMaria Child was themost explicit and reuseof vials and bottles.She advised about thesaving her instructions
the reader to "save vials and bottles. Apothecaries and grocers will give

will always for them.If thebottlesare of good thick glass, they something Frenchglass, like be useful forbottling cideror beer; but if theyare thin will not answer" (1833, p. 14).As for theirreuse, she claretbottles, they wash and scald yourbottleclean after thehousekeeperto "always instructs ithas containedsouryeast" (1833,p. 80) and that"bottlesthathave been used for rose-water, shouldbe used fornothingelse" (1833, p. 14). She had heldmedicine "shouldbe put intocold ashes also noted thatvials that to cool before theyare rinsed" (1833, p. and water, boiled, and suffered 17).
The other cookbook authors recommend the reuse of bottles as well, referring to the use of "junk bottles perfectly clean and dry," "dry bottles and corks," "small bottles washed clean, and dried," and "pint bottles that are clean and dry" to hold various fruits, spices, and liquids. The recipes

contents and which kindsof bottles to use forparticular specify frequently were to have (cork,cork tieddownwith leather what kindof coveringthey

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150

Scott

or bladder, cork and the necks dipped inmelted rosin,or white paper dipped inbrandy). whole (and some The usual method of preserving vegetablesor fruit was to or them into thebottles,cork otherwisestop them timesdry) put water reaching up, and thenput thebottles intoa kettleofwater,with the were boiled fora certain wherein they up the necksbut not to thecorks, amountof time. In some of the recipes, theboilingoccurredbefore the
corks were inserted. Additional uses of bottles were noted. In a "common sized bottle" one was to keep on hand a mixture of brandy or New England rum with herbs and spices, as a remedy for digestive ailments. One could always make "a

are much better thanearthenforpreserves;they Child noted that"glass is not half as apt to ferment" (1833,p. 81), but "suet and lardkeep better in tin than inearthen" (1833,p. 15).
Vials were used to hold various homemade medicines, food colorings, and cologne waters. Barrels, kegs, and casks were used to make and store a wide array of homemade wines, beers, and other spiritous beverages.

Such items as plums, raspberries, currants, and pickled barberries were stored in "glasses." In "glass vessels, well corked" were kept those portable soup squares, until theywere needed to make broth or soup. Lydia Maria

sortof cold custard"on shortnotice "provided you keep a piece of calf's rennetreadyprepared soaking ina bottleofwine" (Child, 1833,p. 62).

MISCELLANEOUS

RECIPES AND MATERIAL CULTURE

remedies, hair care, dyestuffs, insecticides, and other household here of those that mention

with recipes for These cookbooksusually includea section medicinal

commodi

items of material culture, most of which are recovered by archaeologists. A "large shallow plate" was used to make thin sheets of wax from melted beeswax, to be used in making molded candles and wax flowers (Bryan, 1991, pp. 444-445). A "large deep plate" was used to hold a mix ture of poke-root, water, and molasses, which was to be set around the kitchen, pantry, etc., to kill cockroaches (Child, 1833, p. 19). lb get rid of red ants, one was to place a dish of cracked shagbarks [probably referring when the ants climbed onto it, one was to brush the contents into the fire;

ties, in addition to the recipes for foods and beverages. I give examples

either to thebark or thenutsof the shagbark hickorytree] in the closet; thenput "corrosivesublimate"ina cup and with a feather brush iton all which the ants had come; "bottles the cracks from which have contained

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What Cookbooks Reveal AboutMaterial Culture

151

shouldbe broken,and buried;and thecup shouldbe [corrosive sublimate] boiled out in ashes and water" (Child, 1833,p. 21). Recipes are includedforcement to repairbrokenglass and uchina." One calls foran eggwhite and unslaked lime tomake a paste; another"a boiled in spirits ofwhite rum" (Bryan,1991, bit of Russian gum isinglass, and another dissolved ingin,or boiled in spirits for calls p. 441); "isinglass was said tomend broken ofwine" (Child, 1833,p. 19). The latterrecipe
erages other than archaeologists injures the hair. Thorough "glass, china, and sea-shells." Recipes for good care of the hair also commonly assume, involve uses of alcoholic as well as some in suds, or N.E. bev indi

use of an ivory cation of use of combs and brushes: "Tbo frequent comb
combing, washing rum, and

will keep it inorder; and the brushing, thorough washing does not injure thehair, as is generallysupposed" (Child, 1833,p. 88). Child noted else used towash thehair,keeps it where that"New England rum,constantly more than to the rootsof the Macassar oil. Brandy is verystrengthening whichN.E. rumhas not" (1833,p. hair;but ithas a hot,dryingtendency, 12).
should wash Lettice Bryan recommended that,when cleaning knives and forks, one them clean in hot water and wipe them dry with a cloth, very clean, and free from disease, and promotes its growth a great deal

a sieve" (1991,p. 442). Another use for"softbrick,thathas been through a sieve"was tomix it with sour milk and use pounded and passed through
it as "a very neat and inexpensive way to clean brick hearths" (Bryan, 1991, Several items were used in making dyestuffs, including some "non

loose, and many times come off;" one was then to "rub them bright with rotten stone," or "with soft brick, that has been pounded and passed

will become awhile,they using them wettingthehandles,or after "avoiding

pp. 443-444).

natural"materials.LydiaMaria Child suggestedthat "the purple paper, with a smallbit of boiled in cider,or vinegar, which comes on loaf sugar,
alum, makes a fine purple slate color" (1833, p. 39) and that "rusty nails, or any rusty iron, boiled in vinegar, with a small bit of copperas, makes a

good black [dye]" (1833,p. 40). Anotheruse fora "pin" is foundina householdhintfrom Child, about One was to "pass the how to tellwhether a goose at market is tender.
head of a pin along was not good was

will rip, likefinepaper undera knife"(1833,p. 53). A sign thatpork skin fresh in may be preserved (1833, p. 122). Child also noted that"flowers
the presence of "little kernels, like nail-shot, in the fat"

the breast, or sides, and

if the goose

be young, the

tumblers or vases by putting a handful of salt in the water, to increase its coldness" (1833, p. 115). Finally, she advised her readers to "keep a bag

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152 or box for old buttons, so that you may know where

Scott to go when you want

one" (1833,p. 19).

RETHINKING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

discussion reveals, the data from these cookbooks interpretations of bottle glass implications for archaeological found on sites. How can we know whether the bottles represented at a site As have the preceding resulted from alcohol consumption; from stored foods, beverages, spices,

also

broader than archaeologists usually allow. Rum and brandy clearly not only were consumed as spiritous liquors, but also were used in cooking and in medicinal remedies, and "constantly used to wash the hair" (Child, 1833,

or from ormedicines (either "corrosive homemadeor commercial); storing brokenand buried?Even ifthebottles sublimate"and being intentionally contained alcohol, these cookbooks indicatethat the uses of alcohol are

more

p. 12). One wonderswhether those liquorbottles so often found in privy or ifthey mightbe justone surreptitious drinking deposits reallyrepresent
category of household refuse.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE COOKBOOK DATA were noted between theeighteenth-century and Very fewdistinctions

but the culture. A larger distinctions, might allowdetectionof finer sample as uses items is 1847 in cookbook of these prevalent Rutledge's multiple as it is inCarter's book of 1772. It is likelythatthis multiple use of items
diminished standardized cooking equipment. Perhaps, then, func tional categories for late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century archae ological assemblages, especially ceramics and glassware, would not need to be modified to the same degree as those for earlier assemblages. However, for by the evidence from these cookbooks.

the nineteenth-century books regarding functional uses of items of material

of latercookbooks (e.g.,Farmer,1896; examination Wallace, 1918) suggests

a shift toward more

during the last quarter of the nineteenth

century. A

cursory

of functional ingeneral is called italso seems thatreassessment typologies

The cookbooks clearly illustrate that archaeologists' functional catego ries must be made more flexible to allow for multipurpose artifacts. The or we Do is to this. doublehow do question triple-count artifacts that could have been used for more than one function, e.g., counting tea cups as preparation, serving, and consumption vessels? How do we treat artifacts that cross even the broader category boundaries, e.g., iron nails, which

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What CookbooksReveal AboutMaterial Culture

153

could have been used tomake black dye as well as in some sortof archi or pins, needles, and scissorsused in food preparation tecturalfunction; as well as sewing; or largeplates used in food-related as well as activities to hold insecticide? since functional Furthermore, typologieshave been called intoques tion forAnglo-Americanhouseholds,we should be even more cautious to artifacts from householdsof other ethnicand when assigningfunction of racialgroups. It is clear thatestablished methodologies, interpretations
vessel use, status studies, and analyses of gendered thoughtful, critical reconsideration.2 labor roles all need

ANDARCHAEOLOGY SERENDIPITY
I would like tobe able to say thatthisinvestigation beganwith a form of thepast through of cultural theartifacts Marxism, seekinginterpretation as they do an underlying of daily lifeand labor,reflecting and all ideology
Nor

visibleor to apply feminist approaches to archaeology. I went to thesecookbooksoriginally with zooarchaeologicalquestions BritishcolonialNorthAmerica. I just happenedupon eighteenth-century while readingrecipes in the material cultureinformation Amelia Simmons' and SusannahCarter's books.Later,when I acquired thebooks byLettice Horry, and Sarah Rutledge, I continued this Bryan,Lydia Child, Harriott in thesecookbooksalmostbegged tobe heard by archae the information
inmind, hoping to ascertain the economic ranking of various meat cuts in

sorts of economic and social forces at work. However, that is not the case. can I say that this study began as an attempt to make women more

in mind. questions analysis with material culture and zooarchaeological far from being a "representative" sample or an exhaustive survey, While ologists. I do not want merely to sound another cautionary note about archae ologists' imposition of functional, economic, or gender categories onto ar tifacts of past societies. In spite of the rather serendipitous way it was

discovered, the evidence from these cookbooks strongly suggests that we have to reconsider our interpretive strategies in light of information from the people who used the material culture we recover, lb disregard such evidence, even if it complicates an already convoluted methodology, would 2A lively, engaged debate about the issues raised here would be most productive.Perhaps and suggestionscould utilize the "Views and readerswith ideas, comments,criticisms,
Commentary" section of this journal to conduct a dialogue on the topic.

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154 be to claim a twentieth-century "scientific" privilege and arrogance

Scott that

was lived. has little basis in thepast as it

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Portionsof thisarticlewere presented in a paper entitled "A Little and Gravy in theDish andOnions ina Tfea Cup: Cookbooks, Subsistence, HistoricalArchaeology confer Material Culture," at the 1995 Society for
ence inWashington, DC. I want to thank Janet D. Spector, Donald P. Held man, Paul Mullins, and Charles E. Orser, Jr., for insightful comments and encouragement on earlier versions of this paper. Any omissions, errors, or

my own responsibility. lapses in logicare, of course,

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