Rare Books and Manuscripts Library 
Call No. TX715 .L77 1900 

"Go forth, oh book, with wishes sped / To home where cooking is a dread; / Bid them turn your pages and find / Help and blessing for womankind." 

Preparing food was and is still often seen as a feminine task. It is a communal activity for women to prepare food for those they love together. With the advent of the Information Age, familial and traditional knowledge became less valued as elderly people struggled to keep up with rapidly changing technology and society. Despite this, a quick Internet search cannot replace knowledge gained and accumulated from years of experience, and an example of a prevailing tradition is the family cookbook. 

Grandma’s Cookbook. A Collection of Tried Recipes by Mrs. Ella Bentley Lloyd is a 200-page cookbook published and signed February 1900 in Portsmouth, OH. Dedicated to her children, the recipes range from soups to waffles, and pastries to poultry. In addition, loose pages of hand-written recipes, recipe cards, and recipes from magazine and pamphlet clippings are folded into the front and back of the book and interspersed throughout. The book is very worn from age and use, nearly falling apart, and throughout there are various stains and splotches. The book is literally overflowing with its experience and falling apart from loyal use.