ArbyCard Novelties

Front Cover

Back Cover

Synopsis

In 1889 the <b>ARBUCKLE BROTHERS COFFEE COMPANY</b> produced a series of advertising cards, commonly referred to as "trade" cards, consisting of 50 different <i>Subjects on Cooking</i>. One 3" x 5" card was inserted into each 1-lb. bag of Arbuckles ARIOSA brand coffee as a special reward for loyal consumers who chose ARIOSA over one of those other, <i>inferior</i>, brands of coffee. <p>The recipes gleaned from these cards are at once fascinating, simplistic, challenging and, in many cases, not for the faint of heart! In Victorian times, preparing a meal was a far more demanding and time-consuming chore than that faced by the "cooks" ruling over todays kitchens. The old hearth or the "modern" cast iron stove are but distant ancestors to our now essential microwave or convection ovens. Back then, "starting from scratch" really meant just that. Seldom these days do you run across a recipe that calls for you to "wash half a pound of butter till all the salt is extracted" or "fry to a good brown color in boiling lard"! <p>In that spirit, I present this cookbook as more of a historical curiosity than as a likely blueprint for tonight's dinner.