“We have made several notices of various improvements and inventions for cooking and heating by gas,” read an article in the Baltimore Sun in 1854, “and we have no doubt the result will eventually prove important to the world.” At a fair in Philadelphia, a gas stove made by Andrew Mayer had been used to roast a 14lb piece of beef for two hours. “The meat was partaken by a number of persons,” the Sun wrote, “and highly enjoyed.”
Cooking was an ordeal that required the acquisition of wood or coal to heat a stove. Controlling the heat was a challenge. And the inconveniences affected more than just the cook. The fuel produced ash and smoke. Airborne cinders could cause mass destruction.
But gas stoves didn’t catch on immediately. In many homes, a stove served other functions, like heating the house. Some gas ranges accounted for this, while others did not. For some people, a cozy open hearth or a radiating wood stove were comforting presences. And learning to cook on a new device doesn’t exactly excite people who were tasked with cooking for a family day-in and day-out.
Gas gradually caught on, with the help of celebrity chefs like Alexis Soyer – a French author of popular cookbooks. Stateside, home economists like Sarah Tyson Rorer demonstrated how to cook on the new devices, and extolled the ways gas cooking could save time and money.
By the 1890s, ads ran throughout newspapers and ladies’ magazines advertising not only gas stoves in general, but particular models.
In the early 1900s, gas stoves were a menace and cause for concern – at least in Baltimore. The Sun ran lists of deaths and injuries caused by what they called “the poor man’s fuel.” They ran a list of a dozen deaths that had happened in a year, with an implication that the city should take action. (In the back pages of the paper, they ran ads for gas stoves.)
Many people felt that the onus was on the users to be more careful. In a letter to the paper, one reader pointed out that men used gasoline in cars safely, yet women using gas for stoves experienced these explosions. Maybe it was the women’s fault for not being cautious. Besides, the accidents could have happened with coal stoves anyway. Furthermore, the man pointed out, 30,000 people had been killed in Manchuria. Why was the Sun worrying about a dozen people dying from gas? The writer also mentioned the minor issue that a ban would cost the Standard Oil Company lost profits.
Despite the fact that explosions continued from time to time, gas caught on for cooking.
Starting in 1909, Baltimore began to explore the benefits of natural gas over gasoline. In 1915 the Sun wrote about the possibility of supplying the gas with a series of pipes, conveniently hidden beneath the sidewalks. The gas companies promised savings to consumers over coal or gasoline. Some readers wrote in to express concerns about fumes or explosions.
Ultimately, it seems, the natural gas lines were put in. Once electricity caught on, gas and electricity providers consolidated.
Along the way, there were recipes.
Gas & Electric companies hired home economists to teach homemakers how to use the new devices, often sold by those same companies. Icebox pies in the electric refrigerator, dinner on the stove, and bread in the oven. A machine to wash the laundry for you. You can just imagine the starry eyes of the aspirational housewife. Free time!
Leisure time wasn’t the only fantasy being sold: Back to those icebox pies and gas-cooked dinners. Gas & Electric companies provided the recipes for free. You only needed their appliances in order to try them.
Well after people had learned how to use their stoves, cookbooks remained a standard promotional item for utility companies. Some still produce them to this day.
I have several B.G.E. Cookbooks in my collection and am aware of many more that I don’t personally own. In the 1950s, they sponsored a cooking tv show on W.M.A.R. Each week, viewers received featured recipes in the mail. Many women collected these recipes into binders, and I now own several of these. B.G.E. also produced some fairly quality regional recipe collections, such as the 1985 “Maryland Classics” cookbook which contains Stuffed Ham, Sauerbraten, Maryland Fried Chicken, Peach Cake, and more. In the back, there is a section of microwave recipes – still teaching people to use those new appliances.
I have referred to this cookbook many times for Maryland recipes, but in this case I went searching for something to do with some squash and found this zucchini spice cake. The cookbook also contains a zucchini bread, but the spice cake is a bit more light and elaborately seasoned.
As evidenced on this blog, I have gotten more and more into making cakes in the last year or two. I finally feel like I have the skills to make just about any cake recipe turn out well. Which is why, when I do eventually get rid of my gas oven one day, I will sigh at having to learn a new way. But that’s progress. Maybe not this year, or next year, but it will come for me. Ultimately I know I need only look for the recipes. And be grateful I can try them out safely.
Recipe:
- 3 eggs
- 2 Cup sugar
- 1 Cup oil, vegetable
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Teaspoon cinnamon
- .25 Teaspoon nutmeg
- .25 Teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 Cup sifted, all-purpose flour
- 2 Cup coarsely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
- 1 Cup chopped pecan
- .25 Cup milk
Combine first 10 ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or until well blended. Gradually fold in flour. Gently stir in zucchini, pecans, and milk by hand. Pour into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350°F about 70 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Drizzle with Confectioners Sugar Glaze.
Recipe from Maryland Classics. Baltimore Gas & Electric Company. 1985.
