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Subject: [RHEA] Advice Books, Cookbooks, Fashion Books, etc & Newspapers
Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 18:50:47 EDT

Advice Books, Cookbooks, Fashion Books, etc.Printed sources from the time
period in which your ancestor lived can be a great source of insight into the
social history of the era. Consulting period cookbooks to gain a small
understanding of what life was like for women in various time periods is a
favorite research technique of mine. The descriptions sometimes are more
about what the author thinks women should be doing if they were more informed
or organized, but even such assumptions about what women are really doing can
provide helpful insight. For instance, The Art of Cooking by Mrs. Glasse,
printed in 1805 and available in a reproduction edition, paints a very vivid
picture of life at the beginning of the 19th century when you read her
instructions for "how to remove the putrid smell which meat acquires during
hot weather." It may not be a pleasant image of life at that time, but
definitely provides a more complete picture of the very different challenges
our ancestors faced. Similarly, advice and fashion books, as well as articles
and magazines written for women lend a fascinating perspective. Reproduction
editions of many of these are available; the Internet is also a source for
finding excerpts and, on occasion, whole volumes of such information.For more
information on finding period books:Finding Out-Of-Print Books
http://www.everton.com/learn/showcontent.php?id=249 Household Words - How
19th Century Women's Recipe Books Shed Light on the Details of Their Lives
http://www.library.upenn.edu/special/gallery/aresty/aresty1.html Good
Housekeeping - Different Role Expectations for Women
http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/millennium/m2/atwood.html Food and
Culinary History Links
http://www.foodbooks.com/foodlink.htm
NewspapersAdvertisements of popular products, 'gossip' columns, notices of
births, deaths and marriages, long-forgotten news items pertinent to the day
and even editorial comments reflecting the area's sentiments provide another
neat source for insight into the lives of your female ancestors. Newspapers
are truly 'history in context,' with local area newspapers commonly listing
more biographical data than newspapers in large cities. Historic newspapers
have been preserved in many areas around the world. If the newspaper is still
in print you can sometimes find success by contacting them directly.
Newspaper collections are also available in libraries, universities, archives
and other repositories - primarily on microfilm.For more information on
tracking down historic newspapers:Add a Little Spice to Your Ancestors’ Lives
with Newspaper Research
http://www.everton.com/learn/showcontent.php?id=1815 Using Hometown
Newspapers to Gather Little Known Facts
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1117.asp Broken Axles and
Tea with the Neighbors: Gleaning Old Newspapers
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1241.asp Sources for
Online Newspapers Around the World
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/newspapers/
http://www.cyndislist.com/newspapr.htm




Patricia L. Hall






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