Life Hacks from the Past that Mostly Still Work Today

2. Removing ink stains was a problem born with fountain pens

One reason shirts for decades were worn with disposable cuffs was the staining which occurred when using pens. For similar reasons collars too were of celluloid, making them disposable rather than scrubbing them to remove stains induced from hair tonics and perspiration. With the advent of fountain pens, which were also a status symbol, ink stains from pens which leaked or exploded blotted shirts, and removing the ink was a difficult process. Ink stains are still a common reason for the premature disposal of shirts long before they have passed their prime.

The housewife or laundress of the past had a simple solution for removing ink stains, which worked on some other common stains as well. Although it worked best if the ink was still wet, or the stain was still fairly new, immersion in milk for a few hours saw the stain merged with the fluid, after which the shirt was washed normally. Bear in mind that most shirts of days past, at least dress shirts, were of cotton, linen, or another natural fiber, rather than materials of blended man-made fibers, and there was no such thing as permanent ink, which flows from many marker pens today.

3. Perfectly prepared potatoes were no problem with this tip

There were many cookbooks of the mid-to-late 19^th century which treated potatoes with disdain. Mrs. Beeton, whose cookbook was entitled. Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management regarded potatoes as, “…narcotic, and many are deleterious” (she also found lobster to be unpalatable). But potatoes became a large part of standard diet in the 19^th century, and remain so. One of the primary means of cooking them was boiling and it was also easy to boil them too long with too much salt, or too little, leading to a poorly flavored and mushy result.

A simple tip to prevent such a disaster was to simply add sugar with the salt when the water had come to a boil, which ensured its dissolving quickly and evenly. Once boiled sufficiently the potatoes were drained and returned to the heat and the pot shaken, allowing them to dry evenly, and the wise cook completed the task with perfectly textured potatoes to present at table. Whether they would be succulent enough to alter the opinion expressed by Mrs. Beeton would be anybody’s guess. Most likely they would not.

4. Candles could be easily fitted to a candlestick with a simple act

Candles which don’t fit candle holders because they are either too wide at the base, or too small, have always been frustrating. Though they no longer serve the purpose as the primary source of light during the evenings and on dark days, they still are prevalent in the home, as mood lighting, as a source of scent, and as decoration. In the past, they were primarily for light, and since they were often carried from room to room it was necessary to ensure they were snugly lodged in their holders. Paring down a too-thick base was messy, and often yielded less than satisfactory results.

So did melting some wax in the bottom of the holder and placing a too small candle in the pool, in the hope that it would hold the candle upright once it hardened. A far more reliable solution was to immerse the end of the candle in hot water, softening the wax. Once pliable, the candle end could be molded to the necessary width using the hands, protected by gloves or a towel. They would then be properly and safely fitted into the candleholder, which remained free of lumps of previously melted wax.

5. A use for potatoes of which Mrs. Beeton may have approved

Doing laundry was a bit less convenient for the housewife of the past; it was often set aside for a single day of the week, as were other housekeeping chores. She also had to deal with mud to a greater degree than today; roads and streets were often unpaved and passing carriages sprayed mud from their fender-free wheels. Placing clothes soiled with mud and stains from mud in the wash tub left her to wash water muddy, rendering it useless for the rest of her laundry. Either she could change the water and the expensive soap it contained, or she could devise a means of cleaning mud stains from garments before they entered the tub.

If she chose the latter, she could prepare the clothes for laundering – today it would be called pretreating – by rubbing the mud-stained garments with peeled whole potatoes. The potatoes were raw, and when they became too muddy they were simply rinsed with fresh water. When the potatoes could be rubbed across the stains without extracting any more mud the clothes were ready for immersion in the wash water. The rest of the washing was thus protected from being exposed to the mud, and the potatoes were simply thrown away.

6. Another use for the humble potato was common in smart homes

Gardening was a popular hobby during the Gilded Age among the middle class, though less for the vegetables it yielded to the table and more for the flowers it provided as decorations for the home. Cut flowers were sold by vendors in the streets of cities and in the markets. Vasefuls of flowers not only served as decorations, but as air fresheners in homes which had no circulating heating and cooling systems, other than open windows if the season allowed. But since freshly cut flowers were just as prone to wilting then as they are today, several means of extending their freshness and appeal were practiced.

One was the addition of a bit of sugar to the water. Aspirin, which is used for the same purpose today, was not readily available. Another means was the removal of the flowers from a vase, snipping the ends of the stems, and wrapping them in hot, moist towels. When returned to the vase they were reinvigorated. Another means was through the use of potatoes to prevent the flowers from wilting, without the use of water. Cut flowers were inserted into holes cut into raw potatoes, allowing them to be arranged, or transported, without water. They were said to last as long as a week when so arranged.

7. Polishing leather shoes and boots

Men used to get their shoes and boots cleaned while going about their daily business, using bootblacks and shoeshine boys. They were often found in or nearby barbershops, for some a daily stop in order to get shaved. But a shine stand wasn’t available at home, for the most part, and no self-respecting housewife would allow her husband to leave for his daily business wearing soiled or scuffed boots or shoes, anymore than she would allow him to appear in public wearing a soiled collar or a ragged and torn coat. Shoes which were marred on the way home, or in the home, needed to be made presentable within the home, one of the many duties of the lady of the house (or the servants).

Scuffed, soiled, or tired looking leather was easily reinvigorated through the use of either vinegar or lemons. Vinegar or olive oil would be used to remove stains and residue from tar or other detritus picked up walking about town. Then the entire boot or shoe was rubbed with a cut lemon, until the lemon was drained of its juice. After the footwear dried it was buffed with a soft towel, giving it a soft luster which was the envy of the boot black. Straw hats, popular in the summer months, were treated in the same manner, keeping them clean and smart in appearance.

8. Removing foreign objects from the eye was a common problem in the past

The air in cities and towns was filled with flying objects detrimental to the eye in the days before the automobile and paved roads. Cinders from fires were common. Dust was raised on dry days by horse drawn wagons, taxis, and carriages. Dust was further added to the air by servants beating rugs and drapes to clean them. There were several kinds of smoke filling the air, wood smoke, coal smoke, tobacco smoke, and ashes from all fires were tossed about by the breeze. Nature added its gifts to the air, such as gnats and midges and other miniscule flying pests.

Foreign objects landing in the eye were common, and likely people were just as susceptible to having an eyelash land there as they are now. Eyedrops were for the most part unknown outside of the balms available from doctors and apothecaries. In the home a simple method of removing a foreign object from the eye was used. A small drop of oil was placed in the corner of the eye near the tear duct, allowed to sit for a moment or two, and then gently wiped away after it flowed down the cheek. The irritating object, whether ash or lash, stuck to the oil and was thus safely removed.

9. The United States Practical Receipt Book

The word receipt was used interchangeably with the word recipe in early cookbooks and household guides until the late nineteenth century or so. In 1844 the publishing firm of Lindsay and Blakiston of Philadelphia, released the United States Practical Receipt Book, which was a collection of lifehacks, to be taken advantage of by the well-informed of the day. Among the hacks were simple instructions on how one could make one’s own condoms out of sheep intestines, readily available from a butcher. “Used to prevent infection or pregnancy”, read the guidebook, in instructions which consisted of a single paragraph.

The book suggested mixing rose oil, castor oil, lavender oil, and a hefty dose of “good Jamaica rum” to create a solution which would then be used to, “occasionally anoint the head” after shaking the bottle vigorously. The solution was intended to invigorate the scalp and restore hair growth. It also recommended a daily washing of the hair and scalp, with “good old Jamaica rum” to prevent the hair from falling out. One cannot help but wonder if the homemade condoms were more effective than the homemade cure for male pattern baldness.

10. Making beer from the shells of peas

The art of shelling peas had all but died out before the foodie craze brought it back, but in the mid-19^th century and the early 21^st the problem of what to do with the discarded pods presents a problem. Particularly for those for whom waste is aberrant. In 1844 a solution was offered. By simmering the shells for three hours and adding wood sage or hops, a liquor was produced and set aside to ferment. “The wood sage is the best substitute for hops, and being free from any anodyne property, is entitled to a preference”, according to the Practical Receipts Book.

Several further hacks are listed in the book, including the means of improving the flavor of coffee (add chicory), mixing drinks using liquors such as whiskey and gin, and a method of preparing a coffee substitute, using a powder made from dried and ground acorns. Since beer made from peas, or more accurately the empty pods, would likely emerge from fermentation with a pronounced green color, it could probably be used as a hack to create one’s own green beer for Saint Patrick’s Day, should one be inclined in celebrating the feast in such a manner.

11. Robinson Crusoe developed a rash of lifehacks

To some, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (the full title is too long to be presented here) is the first true novel written in the English language. Defoe wrote the novel as if it were an autobiography of the protagonist, whose name was Robinson Kreutznaer, and based it according to some on the adventures of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish traveler who survived 4 years marooned on a Pacific Island. The book first appeared in 1719, and has been in print in one form or another ever since. In the story, Crusoe arrives on an island following a shipwreck and aided by some tools he managed to salvage from the vessel is forced to learn to survive.

Crusoe had corn with which to make bread, but lacked all of the tools necessary to complete the processing of grains from plants to steaming fresh bread. He created them all using whatever was at hand. Tree limbs served as threshers, a cutlass saved from the ship served as a scythe. From the wood of a tree, he fashioned a crude mortar and pestle to grind the dried kernels into flour, and the cloth of shirts and neckcloths served to sift it. Throughout his stay on the island, Crusoe used the materials at hand to make his life more bearable, during his many other adventures which kept him on his toes throughout.

12. The Boy Scout Handbook contained numerous tips which would later be called lifehacks

In the United States, the first edition of what is known as the Boy Scout Handbook first appeared in 1910, as the Official Handbook for Boys: A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft. It drew heavily on the earlier British Scouting for Boys by Lord Baden-Powell, though it Americanized much of its predecessor’s British flavor. While many of the hacks it presented were for situations unique to scouting activities, others applied to everyday life, and are still useful today. Some applied to the kitchen in the home as much as when preparing food beside a campfire. One such example is determining if eggs were fresh.

Few things are as detrimental to an appetite for eggs in any form as the revelation that one is rotten. Though clearly stamped use by dates has greatly reduced the probability of encountering a rotten egg in the modern kitchen, the possibility still exists. When in doubt as to the freshness of an egg, the Boy Scouts recommended simply immersing it in water. Fresh eggs sink to the bottom, while those of dubious quality float on their ends. Floating eggs thus identified could be discarded without opening them and revealing the unappetizing mess hidden within the shell.

13. Enhancing the light from a single candle

It is rare to have to fall back on candlelight as a source of illumination nowadays, especially with flashlights part of most smartphones, always at hand, it seems. Temporary losses of electrical power are about the only time candles are resorted to for lighting, and when they are the brightness from a candle can be enhanced through as simple expedient suggested by the Boy Scout Handbook in its 1950 edition. It was especially useful outdoors, when the light from a single candle could both be increased, making it visible at a greater distance in an emergency, while at once protecting the flame from being extinguished by the wind.

A glass jar or bottle, taller than the candle, can be employed as a shroud for the flame. Simply breaking the bottom of the vessel allows it to be slipped over the candle. A bottle with rounded shoulders beneath the neck worked best for the application. The bottle protected the flame from the wind, and the glass acted to enhance the glow emitted by the flame, creating both a signal lantern and a brighter light in the vicinity of the bottle. The simple trick created a more useful lamp in the home, and a more reliable source of light when outdoors, the true milieu of Scouts the world over.

14. Even flattening a nail had a right and wrong way to go about it

Nails driven all the way through wood are common, and a common hazard for some. They were driven all the way through because they were too long for the purpose for which they were employed in the first place. Often the error is compounded by an attempt to pound the protruding sharp end of the nail flat into the wood, which usually leaves the point exposed, ready to snag whatever it encounters. Correcting the first error can be accomplished without performing the second, leaving a hidden sharp point ready to rip through clothing or skin. All that is required is another nail, presuming one has a hammer already in hand.

Before hammering the point flat, the second nail, or other round object such as a piece of wire, is laid horizontally beside the offending nail. The latter is then hammered down towards the wire. This causes the point of the nail to curve over the wire, directing it back toward the wood it has already penetrated. Once the guide wire or nail is removed the point of the nail is then driven down into the wood which it buries itself within, no longer exposed in a position from which it can inflict discomfort or damage to the unwary.

15. Manage busy lifestyles by adding more time to the day

The modern lifestyle can be and often is hectic and pressure-filled from arising in the morning through retiring at night. It often seems that the myriad of devices designed for the purpose of making daily life more manageable, and creating more leisure time, in fact, do the opposite. Communication is constant, and the pressure to respond to every message, whatever the source, eats into all other activities. Nearly all devices are thought necessary to clean the home, do the laundry, cook the meals, balance the books, go to work, meet deadlines, complete projects, and schedule time off, require someone to operate them, and the pressures on time are enormous. Relatively few have household servants today.

Mrs. Beeton was not aware of virtually any of the pressures of modern time, beyond those necessary to maintain a home and have meals prepared on schedule. Still, she listed many pressures during her day too, and suggested that they could be dealt with successfully through two simple means. First was the preparation of daily schedules in the form of lists, with each task checked off when accomplished, as a measure of success and a source of further motivation. She also suggested that those unable to complete their lists successfully because there wasn’t enough time in the day could easily remedy the problem. She suggested simply getting started earlier through the expedient of getting up earlier.

16. Life hacks were Benjamin Franklin’s stock in trade in his Almanacks

Benjamin Franklin began printing his famous work Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1732, using the pen name Richard Saunders. It was published every year through 1758, and was one of the most widely read publications in colonial America. Besides including weather forecasts for the coming seasons, astronomical observations, puzzles and riddles and other fare, it included tips in the form of practical suggestions for the use of various items, and the pithy sayings of Poor Richard, many of which were what today would be considered lifehacks, in all matters of daily living and human interaction.

Franklin is not generally regarded today as a man who practiced a life of moderation, though in truth he was for his day and age. He particularly recommended that life could be more productive and pleasant by being moderate in consumption of food. “A full belly makes a dull brain” he exhorted his readers, pointing out senses numbed through overindulgence at meals. In a later edition, he was more forceful writing, “A full belly is the mother of all evil”. There are those who believe that Franklin, the inventor of bifocals, the Franklin stove, the armonica, and the lightning rod, among many others, was also the inventor of tips and practices now called lifehacks.

17. There are lifehacks present in the works of Mark Twain

Those who for whatever reason deem it necessary to disguise themselves as members of the opposite sex will find a tip in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which, if followed, will lend an air of authenticity to their disguise. When Huck disguises himself as a girl to see what he can learn about the townspeople’s thoughts on his disappearance and presumed murder he visits a local widow. As they talked, she grew suspicious over his appearance, and after suggesting that she was unable to hit nearby rats with a lump of metal, asked Huck to attempt the throw for her. She dropped the lump of metal into his lap, and his reaction confirmed her suspicion that he was a boy disguised as a girl.

Therein lies the tip. She later explains to Huck that a girl, when something is dropped into her lap, would open her legs to receive it, catching it in the folds of her skirt, whereas a male (programmed by nature to protect what he holds most dear) would react as Huck had, clamping the legs together in response to the sudden intrusion of the object. Coupled with the fact that Huck had forgotten the name he originally gave her, substituting another, and didn’t throw like a girl, she deduced that he was a male in disguise. Useful information for impersonators, and indicative of the fact lifehacks from the past can be found in many diverse sources.

18. Preserving fresh eggs without refrigeration

Until the advent of commercial refrigeration, eggs were seldom purchased in amounts which exceeded what was desired for immediate consumption. Many households raised their own chickens and produced their own eggs. In the absence of springhouses and other means of keeping them cool, many ideas about the preservation of eggs, which were checked for freshness by a process known as candling, were offered to consumers (candling was the process of observing the content within an egg using the light of a candle behind it). Most agreed that sealing the shell from being exposed to air lengthened the time an egg would remain fresh.

One method described in the first decade of the twentieth century sealed the eggs by burying them in table salt. The process required eggs to be freshly laid, and completely inserted into a box or tin filled with salt, which was then also sealed and stored where they would be kept dry, and as cool as possible. It was important that the entire egg was completely immersed in the salt, with no part of the shell exposed to the air. The cool and dry component of the process likely had more to do with the eggs remaining fresh for an extended period, if in fact, they did so at all.

19. Homemade fire extinguishers that resembled Molotov cocktails in reverse

Fire extinguishers for the home and especially for the kitchen are readily available commercially (and highly recommended by experts) but for those who prefer to make their own, there was a formula used in the early twentieth century. They contained water, salt, and salammoniac. It was possible, and somewhat common, to substitute sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, for the latter. A half-pound of salt, quarter-pound of baking soda, and a quart of water were mixed into quart bottles, preferably made of fragile glass, and stored in a handy spot.

If a fire broke out in the kitchen, or elsewhere in the home, the intent was to throw the bottle into the center of the conflagration with enough force to shatter the bottle, allowing its contents to smother the flames. Depending upon the type of fire, such a device would be as likely to ignite flammables in other areas due to the dispersal effect of the bottle hitting the flames (a grease fire, for example, could splatter all over the room). In such a case the fire could require multiple bottles, thrown at the multiple fires which would be a likely result of the use of such an extinguisher.

20. Stopping a “mad dog” was evidently a needed social skill in the past

There were several methods of safely fending off the unwanted attentions of a mad dog in days past, with the Handbook for Boys describing one, which was repeated in several other publications and collections of tips for dealing with life successfully. It presumed that whenever out in public, a Scout would be equipped with a walking staff or stick, as well as the neckerchief which was part of the Scout’s uniform, and the wide-brimmed hat. Any could be used to fend off the dog, which would turn to disabling the defenses before striking at the defender, mad dogs being mad, but presumably not stupid.

By distracting the dog by proffering the hat or neckerchief on the end of the stick, or simply the end of the stick itself, the animal could be maneuvered into a position favorable for “giving you the opportunity of disabling him with a kick”. However this method, as noted, was entirely dependent on being properly equipped with a distracting device and a stout stick when the dog chose its time for attack, and unless one was (the Boy Scout motto was Be Prepared), one was more likely to have to rapidly arrive at another method of dealing with a mad dog.

21. Dealing with people who won’t shut up

Encountering someone who simply won’t stop talking is a hazard to life and has been since ancient times, as history recounts. In daily life, it is common to encounter someone who simply cannot give it a rest, whether the subject being of some importance or simply trivial inanity. It can be a friend temporarily annoying, a complete stranger standing in a seemingly endless line not moving, or someone seated beside on a public conveyance. The modern defense of inserting earbuds may be resorted too, but sometimes the desired atmosphere is simply one of peace and quiet. There were lifehacks in the past which could be called upon.

One is to quote Shakespeare, though this defense comes with some risk. It may encourage the talker to simply enter into a discussion of Shakespeare, unless delivered with the proper scorn. “Give thy thoughts no tongue” (Hamlet Act 1, Scene 3) might bring about the desired silence, though woe unto them who utter it unknowingly to a Shakespeare fan. One might also quote Poor Richard, delivered with a sigh, “Teach your child to hold his tongue, he’ll learn fast enough to speak”. But it may be best to observe self-consolation, from Poor Richard, “Since I cannot govern my own tongue, tho’ within my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongues of others?”

22. Returning to cooking at home opens the way to return to old cooking tips

In the late 1990s, a trend began which continues, that of preparing meals at home, using fresh locally produced ingredients whenever and wherever possible. Prepackaged, “complete” meals are delivered to the door, grocery stores reintroduced the delivery of foods to the home, and cooking returned to a place from which it had temporarily been exiled. With it comes the need for old tips which made the chore easier to be reinstated. Few are new, though some seem to think they are. Most are skills and ideas developed over centuries by cooks to ease their task.

One such is the use of an inverted clear pie plate, or casserole dish, or glass baking pan, over the recipe card or cookbook page being referenced while preparing a meal. The glass protects the page from being soiled from the efforts of the cook, and at the same time acts to enlarge the print and images on the page. As household cooks learned to use this technique, which goes back decades, they also found that the weight of the dish prevented the pages of the cookbook from flapping.

23. Many of the techniques of kitchens past apply to the modern equipment in kitchens today

The 1940s housewife would often grind meat in her own kitchen for the preparation of sausages, meatloaves, or other preparations rather than purchase it already ground from a butcher. As the foodie trend developed in the late 20^th century, home cooks began taking advantage of new meat grinders and attachments for other kitchen appliances to do the same thing. They then blended the meat with bread crumbs, to stretch it and to use as a binder. But it isn’t necessary to use previously prepared bread crumbs, as is so often done.

The 1940s cook would use bread crusts in the same grinder in which the meat had been ground, which had the function of cleaning the remaining meat from the grinder and producing the filler to be added to the meat, once blended with the desired flavorings. The method eliminated the wasteful throwing out of bread just past its peak freshness, made cleaning up easier, and helped stretch the household budget for food. It had the additional benefit of freeing cabinet space otherwise occupied by cartons of breadcrumbs. It was just one of many kitchen hacks which found a resurgence as cooking became once again a favorable home activity.

24. Cleaning methods from the 1940s can replace many household cleaners

In the 1940s, salt and vinegar were used for many of the applications later supplanted by expensive chemical cleaners. When items boiled over on the stove, salt was liberally applied to the overflow on the stove’s surface, soaking it up and preventing it from burning and smoking heavily. Later it was wiped away. Salt was used to perform the same function on the floor of the oven. A mixture of salt dissolved in vinegar was used to remove tea stains from china cups and saucers. Vinegar was also used to remove a dull finish in aluminum pans, or apple peels were boiled within, accomplishing the same purpose.

Cast iron skillets and pans, once properly seasoned, seldom had bits leftover which required scouring (which ruins the seasoning of the pan) but when they did 1940s cooks used the trick of adding a bit of salt in vinegar and bringing it to a boil, lifting the burnt-on bits from the surface. Cider vinegar was used to wash hands to remove the smell of onions, fish, and other undesirable odors. Stains on the hands from chopping vegetables such as beets were removed by rubbing them with a raw potato. And long before a box of baking soda was marketed for the purpose of deodorizing refrigerators, containers of vinegar occupied the appliance for similar reasons.

25. Hacks from the 1940s are still pertinent in the 21^st century

During the 1940s and 1950s Popular Mechanics offered an annual book to its readers called Home Kinks. The kinks, which correspond to the more modern hacks, were for the most part submitted by readers and selected by the magazine’s editors. Many are available online. In one issue, seven plywood trays were attached to a wooden stake by the stake penetrating a hole in their corners. Each was separated from the preceding by a wooden collar. When the stake was driven into the ground, each tray could be rotated outwards in a manner that resembled a hand of playing cards, creating a portable picnic table for several picnickers.

Another brilliant and still useful idea appeared in 1946. When painting by dipping brush into can, the can quickly became covered with paint from scraping excess from the brush. A reader suggested taking the lid from an empty can and cutting away the center portion, leaving intact the rim which attached to the can and a lip wide enough to accommodate a paintbrush. When opening a new can of paint, this lid replaced the one removed and the lip is used to clean the side of the brush of excess paint. When the job was finished, the scraper lid was removed and the remaining paint could be resealed with its original lid, with both lid and can free from excessive paint blocking a seal.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“How well do 100-Year-Old Lifehacks Hold Up?” Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics. May 16, 2017

“How to Remove Ink Stains: 12 Household Solutions”. Editors, Readers Digest. Online

“The Book of Household Management”. Isabella Beeton, 1861 edition. Project Gutenberg. Online

“Housekeeping in Old Virginia”. Marion Cabell Tyree. 1879. Online

“Cassell’s Household Guide”. Cassell, Petter and Galpin, editors and publishers. 1869 edition. Online

“The Skillful Housewife’s Book”. L. G. Abell. 1853. Online

“How to make condoms, 19^th century style…” Sarah Griffiths, Daily Mail. September 16, 2015

“The United States Practical Receipt Book”. Lindsay & Blakiston. 1844. Digitized online at Internet Archive

“The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”. Daniel Defoe. 1719

“Boy Scouts’ Handbook, 1911 Edition”. Boy Scouts of America. Project Gutenberg. Online

“Poor Richard’s Almanack”. Benjamin Franklin. Compilation edition, 1914. Internet Archive

“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Companion)”. Mark Twain. 1885 edition. Project Gutenberg. Online

“Cigarette Cards: The Lifehacks of 100 Years Ago”. Therese O’Neill, The Week. July 9, 2013. Online

“James Beard’s American Cookery”. James Beard. 1972