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Archive: December 2025 (6 Posts)

Photograph of Ruth Wakefield's Toll House cookbooks. One cookbook is open on a book cradle and the other cookbooks are upright surrounding it. In front is a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate morsels.

Ruth Wakefield and Her Chocolate Crunch Cookie

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Prior to 1930’s, the chocolate chip cookie, we know and love today, did not exist. The Library of Congress has a copy of Ruth Wakefield’s 1938 “Toll House Tried and True Recipes” (New York, M. Barrows and Company) that contains what food historians consider the first published chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Posted in: Cookbooks and Food, Science

envelope addressed to Mr. Thomas Price in Champaign City in Champaign Co., Ill that features a flag

Opening the Envelope

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

In December, with Christmas cards and annual family update letters keeping mail carriers busy, it seems like a good time to look at the envelope.

Posted in: Business

Edward Lear illustrations for his nonsense botany. One image is a hand line drawing of Piggiwiggia Pyramadalis that shows and flower with the petals as pigs. The other illustration is a hand line drawing of Bottleforkia Spoonifolia, that shows the petals of the flower made of forks, the center of the flower is a bottle, and the leaves are spoons.

Nonsensical Nomenclature: The Botanical Musings of Edward Lear

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

In trying to make distinct and unique names, the scientific world relies on a system of binomial nomenclature, or two-word names, to bring order and standardization to the naming of species. Still, even in this restrictive world, scientists have found many opportunities for fun. If anyone could take this appearance-of-nonsense and use it to full effect, it would be artist and poet Edward Lear, the grandfather of nonsense. In several of his nonsense books, he created charming sketches of made-up plants, with matching scientific names that were every bit as silly as the drawings.

Posted in: Botany, Science

an advertisement for hair goods that shows eight different kinds of puffs and pompadours half of them displayed on a woman’s head

Hair from Over There: Centuries of Human Hair Trade Data

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

In 1876, human hair imports to the United States were valued at $4.5 million in today’s dollars. Where did all this hair come from and what was it used for? We investigate the hair industry and Library of Congress resources relevant to trade data, including our new research guide on international economics and trade.

Posted in: Business