Old recipe book shows how business plans can change

by Ken Weyand | Jun 26, 2023 | Traveling with Ken

July 2023

Vintage Discoveries

Old recipe book shows how business plans can change

by Ken Weyand

A comb-bound book was recently unearthed among my old files – a reminder of how far Discover Vintage America has come since my fledgling efforts as a journalist/publisher in the 1970s. “Recipes and Stories of Early-Day Settlers” was a collection of history articles and family recipes that had been published in the old “Discover North” since shortly after its introduction in 1973.

Back then, “family recipes” were a part of the paper’s content. Contributed by readers who were rewarded with free subscriptions, the recipes continued to be published for several years. The “Woodsmoke Series” actually evolved from the original comb-bound book to a softcover version a few years later that focused on “Steamboat Adventures” – some contributed and others that I wrote (or adapted from other sources) – about settlers using steamboats to settle much of the wilderness that would become America.

I remember that the books sold fairly well, and also served as inducements to subscribers. We even rewarded a lady from Alice Springs, Australia, with a subscription – although we lost money on the deal. She had picked up a copy from a relative who flew for Qantas Airlines, and sent us several “outback recipes,” which we published in the early 1970s.

We had no official “test kitchen” for the recipes, although my wife and I tried a few with good results. Obviously, the use of lard and other “natural ingredients” made it impractical to duplicate many of the older ones. Plus, many of the oldest recipes were vague about exact measurements, calling for a pinch of this or that, and “bake immediately in a quick oven.”

Probably the most unusual recipe was submitted by F. Maxine Adams, from Fulton, MO, entitled “How to Cook a Skunk.” Earlier she had gotten the recipe from her grandfather, then 81 and a Civil War vet, and copied it in his own words: “I recall a feller worked for me saying of all the wild meat he ever ate, skunk was the sweetest meat. Now I was willin to take his word for it without proven it. Me, I couldn’t get past the idea to try it. I reckon they aint no reason why skunk meat shouldn’t be as good as any. Skin clean, remove scent glands from under front and hind legs. Put in strong salt water and boil about 20 minutes or so. Boil off this here water add fresh and seasons: pepper, bay leaves, sage. Steam till tender. Larpen’ good eaten! Baked tater and wild greens go good with yer skunk.”

The recipe caught the attention of James L. Fisher, a columnist for the Kansas City Star. His “Midlands” column of Dec. 26, 1988 featured the headline: “Cooked a skunk lately?” Along with the skunk recipe, Fisher also described a few of the other recipes in the book: “vinegar pie, boiled dandelions, dried corn, castor oil cookies, suet pudding, cheap fruitcake, mush biscuits, and a dish called simply “meat substitute,” which asked the reader to “boil a quart of water, add a pint of corn meal, cook until done, then add a can of chopped salmon. Let cool, eat, cook or fry.”

Fisher also described some of the book’s “old settler stories,” including a tall tale about a farmer digging potatoes when a monstrous rattlesnake bit his spade’s wooden handle. The poison swelled the handle, broke the ferrule and kept on going. Finally the handle swelled to a point where it was seven feet thick, 163 feet long, and just right to be sawed up into enough lumber to build a tobacco barn.”

Fisher’s review certainly didn’t hurt sales any, and has been framed and hanging in my house ever since – a reminder of my early attempts at publishing. Although the days of “recipes and stories” are over, they helped start a newspaper that has evolved and served the Midwest collector community for fifty years.

The comb-bound book could be laid flat on a kitchen table for easy reference to the recipes. (Photos by Ken Weyand)

James Fisher’s column ran for several years in the Kansas City Star.

Illustrations relied on clip art, old magazines, and other sources.

Sara Jordan-Heintz is a free-lance writer based in Iowa, writing articles for a variety of newspapers and niche publications, particularly in the antiques, collectibles and jewelry realms, plus business profiles.

Old coloring book recalls WWII

by Ken Weyand | May 31, 2023 | Features, Traveling with Ken

June 2023

Vintage Discoveries

Old coloring book recalls WWII

by Ken Weyand

One of the items I’ve saved from my childhood is a coloring book, and its subject matter makes it a bit special. “Fighting Yanks” measures 11 x 14 inches, with a full-color display of warplanes, an anti-aircraft gun, and a Jeep with armed soldiers (smiling and relaxed as if enjoying a Sunday drive), closely followed by a battle tank on the front and back cover. There’s no publishing date listed, but by the book’s content and my coloring “technique,” I’m guessing very early 1940s.

Published by Saalfield Publishing Co., the book contains 64 pages of military-related subjects, printed on newsprint-quality paper. Many wartime activities are included, including Seabees hacking out roads in jungles, trainees practicing hand-to-hand combat with bayonets, workers assembling bombers, an infantryman using a walkie-talkie, snipers, artillerymen, litter-bearers, and more. One page depicts an “American negro soldier on duty in Liberia.”

Several pages depict “home-front heroes,” including a woman working in a hayfield, civilian switchboard operators, a worker recycling tires, and others, including domestic factory workers. Women appear frequently in various roles: home-front workers, USO volunteers, front-line nurses and WAAC’s and WAVE’s performing military duties. Other women are shown supporting their military husbands and boyfriends.

Children are depicted in several ways: buying Savings Bonds, collecting scrap iron for the war effort, pledging allegiance to the flag, and Boy Scouts gathering in a tomato crop to help fill in for farm laborers, a scarcity during the war.
According to Wikipedia, the Saalfield Publishing Company, based in Akron, Ohio, specialized in children’s books and operated from 1900 to 1977. The company published the works of several authors, including Louisa May Alcott, Horatio Alger, P.T. Barnum, Daniel Defoe, Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain, Shirley Temple, and several others.

The company made at least one misstep in 1903 when it published the “New Americanized Encyclopedia Britannica.” It was sued for copyright violation. Wikipedia doesn’t reveal the dollar amount or how the suit was settled.

My copy of the coloring book was not extensively used, and what few pages I colored were not improved by my “artistry.” As a lad of 3 or 4, I obviously had not yet mastered the technique of “coloring within the lines.”

Fighting Yanks coloring book

Sara Jordan-Heintz is a free-lance writer based in Iowa, writing articles for a variety of newspapers and niche publications, particularly in the antiques, collectibles and jewelry realms, plus business profiles.

1900 ‘Health Book’ advised rural families what to do before the doctor comes

by Ken Weyand | May 4, 2023 | Features, Vintage Discoveries

May 2023

Vintage Discoveries

1900 ‘Health Book’ advised rural families what to do before the doctor comes

by Ken Weyand

Wealth of healthy living advice in 1900

A small hardbound book, part of my family’s accumulation of “old stuff,” contains a wealth of healthy living advice in 1900 for rural folks who hoped to avoid the expense and bother of a doctor’s visit. It was one of many books written by Jacob Biggle, a Pennsylvania farmer, whose topics included a variety of agricultural subjects, including gardening, fruit orchards, and beekeeping.

The tiny book was truly “pocket-sized,” measuring only about four by five and a half inches in size, and only about a half-inch thick. But its 181 pages were filled with suggestions for keeping one’s family healthy. While not a doctor, Biggle stated in the preface that he had been “kindly prompted by a personal friend who is a physician high up in the ranks of his profession.” He further insisted there was “no quackery whatever” in his work, but hinted that there were similar works published by quacks that while free, are “still more costly if the advice is followed.”

Biggle’s publisher was Wilmer Atkinson, a Quaker farmer near Philadelphia who specialized in rural subjects. In 1877 he began publishing the Farm Journal, a magazine aimed at his rural neighbors in the Philadelphia area. The Biggle book likely was published at least partly as a subscription inducement, which may be how my folks acquired it. As a youngster, I read the Farm Journal, which is still being published.

Although many of Biggle’s advisories still make sense today, one page included a series of warnings for parents hoping to avoid the dreaded doctor visit, including: “don’t box a child’s ears, don’t allow children to eat heavy suppers, don’t lift the child by the head to make fun,” and “don’t allow a child to sniff; every child two years old can blow its nose.”

The book continues, with chapters ranging from “hints for the stout and for the thin,” to the often-cited ailment from that era: “consumption,” which Biggle advised can often be prevented by “spending as much time as possible out-of-doors,” and by “slow, deep breathing.”

Biggle suspected outdoor privies, common at the time, as being the source of many diseases, and listed various ways for keeping them safe. Cisterns that provided drinking water were another problem. His advice also included ways that a “dust bin” should be constructed to keep the house sanitary and its air freshened.

For preventing health problems, Biggle advised keeping remedies on hand, including absorbent cotton, old linen, and sticking plaster for poultices; boric acid and sweet oil for cuts and burns; and lime water for indigestion. He also advised keeping an atomizer, hot water bag, a clinical thermometer, and a fountain syringe handy.

For farm families, who usually saw doctors only in emergencies, the book’s advice undoubtedly proved valuable. The book was published in an era when physicians made house calls – usually when their patient’s medical needs were critical. Often the doctor had been summoned by a “party line” telephone call, overheard by the patient’s neighbors.

Online sites offer the book from $5 to $10, depending on condition. Many other Biggle books also are available from several sources.

Biggle Health Book

The Quack's Victims

The Quack’s Victims

Sara Jordan-Heintz is a free-lance writer based in Iowa, writing articles for a variety of newspapers and niche publications, particularly in the antiques, collectibles and jewelry realms, plus business profiles.

One of my Dad’s treasures was unique ‘Chatterbox’ book

by Ken Weyand | Mar 26, 2023 | Features, Traveling with Ken

April 2023

Vintage Discoveries

One of my Dad’s treasures was unique ‘Chatterbox’ book

by Ken Weyand

Childhood Books

As an impoverished orphan in 1900, my dad had few possessions. Luckily, his older sisters supplied him with a few books and other items that helped him survive his childhood.

One of the books that found its way to my attic was ‘Chatterbox,’ a hardback of more than 400 pages. Published annually in the U.S. by Dana Estes and Charles E. Lauriat in Boston, and edited by J. Erskine Clarke, my book was released in 1893, the year of my dad’s birth. Florence, oldest of the eight orphans, gifted it to my dad and Grace, another sister.

My book is well-worn, its hard cover barely connected to crumbling spine by a few threads. Several pages are torn, with two or three missing. Still, it’s a fascinating look at children’s literature of that era.

Etsy, an online retailer, states that ‘Chatterbox’ began as a weekly publication for children in the U.K. by Clarke, a British clergyman who had published the first parish newspaper. Featuring children’s stories, it was also printed in book form, in both U.K. and U.S. editions, the first published in 1866. According to Wikipedia, Clarke established churches, schools and hospitals in the U.K. and was made honorary chaplain to Queen Victoria and later to King Edward VII.

“Scrimmage” made present-day backyard football look tame.

Chatterbox Books

‘Chatterbox’ was a popular book for children on two continents. (Ken Weyand collection)

Two versions of the book were offered: one with ads and one without. My book has ads, but only on the inside covers and back cover. One of the ads promotes “Crosby’s Vitalized Phosphites, a brain food … invaluable to the nursing mother, weakly women, pale undeveloped girls, and the aged.”

Typical of books of its day originating in Europe, ‘Chatterbox’ depicts black people as savages, describing them in terms that are considered racist by today’s standards. A long article, “Amongst the Caffres,” begins on page 3 and continues throughout most of the book. It refers to what most white settlers in South Africa called blacks in the late 1800s.

Sara Jordan-Heintz is a free-lance writer based in Iowa, writing articles for a variety of newspapers and niche publications, particularly in the antiques, collectibles and jewelry realms, plus business profiles.

Old tennis racket shows how much sport has changed

by Ken Weyand | Mar 3, 2023 | Features, Traveling with Ken

March 2023

Vintage Discoveries

Old tennis racket shows how much sport has changed

by Ken Weyand

Old tennis racket

Since I was a youngster, an old tennis racket has been part of our family’s collection of “never thrown-away treasures.” One of the few sporting items owned by my dad, it was made by Norvell, and sold through Shapleigh Hardware.

In 1910, my dad (orphaned a decade earlier and taken in by an uncle), struggled to put himself through three years of college at what was then known as Kirksville Normal School in Kirksville, MO. Few items survive from those days, including the certificate he received authorizing him to teach “in rural schools,” and a few faded photographs. The tennis racket is the one exception.

Made of several woods, including cedar, ash and mahogany, the racket was the least expensive of three models the company listed in a 1910 Shapleigh Hardware catalog, at $13.00. It was said to have been “strung with the Best Grade White English Gut,” and available in weights of 13, 13 ½, 14, 14 ½, and 15 ounces.

Early day wooden tennis racket, marketed through Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Co. in St. Louis, was made sometime before 1910. (Ken Weyand collection)

My Father

Elmer J. Weyand, the writer’s father, age 18, in a 1910 college photo.

In its ad copy, the company stressed the need to keep its rackets in a cool, dry place. “Moisture will either cause the strings could break or the frame to warp.” The company refused to be held responsible for any resulting damage.
The Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Co. in St. Louis took its name from Saunders Norvell, who became president of A. F. Shapleigh Hardware when its founder, Augustus Shapleigh, retired in 1900. Norvell continued as president for 10 years, and his name was attached to the company until 1918, when the company name reverted to Shapleigh Hardware Co. The company closed in the early 1960s.
In 1949, when I left home for a summer boys’ choir camp in New Mexico at the age of 12, my mother dutifully stamped my name on the end of the racket handle, and included the artifact in my luggage. I don’t remember using the racket at camp, but a portion of my name is still visible on the handle.
Nearly identical rackets from the same time period have been offered online, priced at $200 or more. Mine is nearly in its original condition, except for the string being broken in a couple of places. My racket probably will join other items I have donated to the Clay County Historical Museum in Liberty, MO.

Sara Jordan-Heintz is a free-lance writer based in Iowa, writing articles for a variety of newspapers and niche publications, particularly in the antiques, collectibles and jewelry realms, plus business profiles.