Like many local history enthusiasts, I follow the social media of Evan Woodward, a.k.a. SalvageArc, who digs into forgotten privies in Baltimore and beyond, unearthing the pottery shards, bones, bottles, and other non-biodegradable relics that people once threw into their privies. (The you-know-what and any other gross organic matter have all turned into dirt at this point.) I really regret that I didn’t know about his work when I lived in a c.1880s rowhouse!
A while back, one of the items Woodward unearthed was an intact bottle with the name “A. Vogeler” on the side. I immediately recognized a connection with a cookbook in my digital collection, “The Chas. A. Vogeler Co’s Cookery Book And Book of Comfort & Health,” printed in Baltimore in 1896.
I’m sure I have mentioned here before, but older cookbooks often contain medical remedies. In the times before over-the-counter medicine was commonly available, it fell on the lady of the house to manage any poultice or formula needed to cure the ailments of the members of her household. Remedies found in my collection span the gamut from “Recipe for Hair Tonic” to “Cure for Cancer.”
I can’t imagine how stressful this must have been. It’s no wonder that people were all-too-happy to turn from home remedies to sometimes equally questionable tonics, salves, and cure-alls peddled by pharmacists and “snake oil salesmen.”
Continue reading “Cocoanut Cake from The Chas. A. Vogeler Co’s Cookery Book”