It’s a Wrap: A Look Back at a Selection of U.S. Cookbooks Digitized in 2025

This post was written with the assistance of Claire D’Mura, a research and reference specialist in the Library’s Science Section.

Each year, to make our collections more accessible to people around the world and to help preserve the material for future generations, the Library of Congress digitizes millions of items from our paper, audio, and film collections. Among these newly digitized manuscripts, maps, photographs, newspapers, microfilm and other materials is a small set of historical U.S. cookbooks.

For the past couple of years, I have been selecting a set of cookbooks to digitize, from among those that are no longer protected by copyright. Many of these selections support a project, started in 2009, that digitizes historical charity and community cookbooks from across the United States. Other selections highlight different flavors of cookbooks published in the U.S., such as those focused on regional cuisines, specific foods (e.g. confectionery) or vegetarian recipes. And sometimes, I find unique works held only by the Library of Congress.

As we close out 2025, I have looked back at the last year’s newly digitized cookbooks and chosen five representative titles to highlight our efforts to share these materials.

The front cover of Kettles and Campfires Girl Scout Cookbook. The cover is green with a black silhouette of two kids in the woods sipping something in spoon. There is a large kettle cooking over a fire next to them. — Front cover of *Kettles and Campfires*, 1928

Kettles and Campfires; the Girl Scout Camp and Trail Cookbook (1928) is a camp cookbook from Girl Scouts of the United States of America. This is so much more than a cookbook. There are around 30 pages of recipes, but the bulk of the work goes into helpful tips on various aspects of scouting and camping, with guidance on topics ranging from nutrition, budgeting, planning and logistics to setting up a campsite. To all the Girl Scouts out there, past and present, this one is for you!

The front cover of the Elite Cook Book. The is simple and contain the title, authors, and plat of publication. At the bottom of the page there is a large quote that reads "The fate of nations depend on how they are fed." — Front cover of the *Elite Cook Book* (Shattuck, OK, 1911).

The Elite Cook Book (1911) was compiled and published by the Ladies’ Missionary Society of the First Baptist Church of Shattuck, Oklahoma. Shattuck is a small town with a population of just over a thousand. It sits in Ellis County, just to the east of the northeastern corner of the Texas panhandle. Early 20^th century community cookbooks from Oklahoma are quite scarce and, as far as we are aware, the Library of Congress is the only library which holds a copy, making the Elite Cook Book a unique and special title. To date, the Library has digitized two community cookbooks from Oklahoma, the other being a 1907 title from Woodward, a town in the county of the same name, east of Ellis. The Library purchased its copy of the Elite Cook Book a few years ago and it contains hand-written notes in the back of the book for angel food cake, burnt sugar cake, mock cherry pie, tomato soup, snow ball cake, Waldorf salad, and other recipes.

A photograph of the community church and first school in Fredericksburg, Texas. The school is octagonal with two stories and a weather vane on the top level. — A photograph of community church and first school in Fredericksburg, TX. The photograph appears opposite of the title page of *The Fredericksburg Home Kitchen Cook Book* (3^rd ed, 1927).

The Fredericksburg Home Kitchen Cook Book (3^rd ed, 1927) was compiled and published by the Public School Auxiliary of Fredericksburg, Texas, to raise money for the city’s public schools. Fredericksburg is located near the center of Texas and was founded in 1846 by German immigrants. The cookbook contains an array of recipes for German cookies, like Lebkuchen, Zimmetsterne and Pfeffernüsse, as well as for a handful of German dishes, such as Kartoffelklöße (potato dumplings). This cookbook was incredibly successful, with 13 editions published between 1916 and 1996. With the digitization of the 1927 edition, the Library now has the first three editions, 1916, 1921 and 1927, available online, so researchers can view how the cookbook, and the city, evolved over a ten year span that included World War I.

Front paper cover of the Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book that has a ornate border that surrounds the title,. The title is in English and Chinese characters. At the bottom of the cover it reads "Recipes for a variety of savory, delicious, and wholesome genuine Chinese dishes." The very bottom of the page reads Price One Dollar - Worth a Hundred. — Front paper cover of the Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book, 1928.

Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book was published in 1928 by the Pacific Trading Company. It is an early Chinese-American cookbook, one of just a few English-language cookbooks of Chinese cookery from the 1920s. It features several “Chop Suey” recipes, as well as a few variations on chow mein, egg foo young, and fried rice.

Paper cover of the Women's World 1923 Candy Calendar. At the top of the cover are two women wearing aprons and head bands in their hair making candy next to a checkerboard counter. — Paper cover of the *Women’s World* 1923 *Candy Calendar*.

The Candy Calendar (1923) was published by Woman’s World magazine and boosts of “150 pure candy recipes.” This colorful candy-making cookbook is for the home candy maker who wants to “sweeten the whole year” with recipes for each month. Of course, January includes “Candies for the New Year” and December has “Candies for Christmas Gifts.” But there are also “Candies for Hammocks” in August and “Candies for Sewing Circles” in February. Unfortunately, the monthly chapters don’t specify which recipes are meant for hammock lounging or sewing circles, though. Among the January recipes is one for chocolate chips but these are not the chocolate chips or morsels we know today. These chips were a confectionery treat that contained a molasses base covered in chocolate.

1923 chocolate chip recipe from Women's World Candy Calendar. 1 cup of dark molasses, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, heaping teaspoon butter, coating chocolate. Boil without stirring sugar, molasses, vinegar, and butter to brittle or hard ball. Take from fire, add vanilla. Turn into a buttered tin. When cool enough pull into long thin strips, and cut into inch and half pieces, using buttered shears. When cold dip each piece in melted chocolate, lay on waxed paper to harden. — Chocolate chip recipe from *Women’s World* 1923 *Candy Calendar*, pg. 8

Once we arrive in 2026, those cookbooks published in 1930 will come into the public domain. I already have a stack of cookbooks in my office ready to deliver to the Library’s Scan Center specialists and I cannot wait to share them with you next year.

If you are interested in more Business and Science topics, then subscribe to Inside Adams — it’s free!

Add a Comment Cancel reply