ԹϴӪ’s Cookery and Foodways Collection Whets the Appetite for Discovery
Author(s)
Lorne Fultonberg
Writer
This article originally appeared as a feature in the Summer 2021 issue of University ofDenver Magazine. Visit thefor bonus content and to read the article in its original format.
In the mood for Italian?Chinese?Something from the grill? Or maybe a salad?What about something battered in Budweiser?
In the basement ofԹϴӪ’sAnderson Academic Commons, can fulfill just about any order.The shelves oftheare stocked with all the ingredients requiredto prepare an eclectic full-courseeducationalmeal.
The collectionnow contains more than 11,000 titles, the bulk of which were donatedin 1985by MargaretHusted, who picked up cookbooks wherever she could find them, be it on a vacation abroad orin her local community.
“She was really trying to collect with both depth and breadth,”says Crowe,curator of Special Collections and Archives.“She ended up with some really rare cookbooks.We’ve had researchers reach out to us because we’re one of two or maybe three institutions that have them.She really did try to collect a wide variety of popular and less available [books].”
Generally speaking,the Husted Collection sticks toAmerican-published cookbooks from the 19th and 20th centuries, but the variationwithin that genre feels limitless.Cuisine couldbe classified geographically, ethnicallyorreligiously.Someworksare cultural (“A Skier’s Cookbook”) while others are corporate (“Pillsbury Party Time Recipes”).Some originate with national organizations like the American Red Cross, while others come from the community,such asa title from the Ladies Auxiliary of Arvada,created to raise funds for a church.
“It’s not just large publishing houses and what they put out,”Crowe says.“[Husted] really did make an effort to collect things that were special—small community stuff or random ephemeral commercial stuff—which is hard to find because people usually just toss it.”
The Cookery and Foodways Collection also featurescookbooks and archival papers from local food luminaries HelenDollaghan, who served as the Denver Post’s food editor from 1958-1993, and Katie Stapleton, aphilanthropist and radio cooking show host.Betty Carey, a former University Libraries Association president andgourmet cook, donated the books she amassedin her lifetime. WalterScheibIII, who served as executive cheftoPresidentsBillClinton andGeorge W.Bush,bequeathed some of his papers as well, including menus frompast state dinners.
A tantalizing spread for scholars
Both scholars and students havefeasted on thearchivalriches, and not just for culinary inspiration.AuthorAdrian Millerdrewupon some of the materialfor his James Beard Award-winning book on the and another volume on .Miller’s mention of ԹϴӪ’s collection to the Scheib family inspired their donation.
Students in history classes haveconsulted therecipesas they study everythingfromgender roles to the economy to social norms.
“There’s all kinds of cultural aspects you can read into when you look at cookbooks,”saysHelstosky,an associate professor.“It offers suggestions or an idea of how you might want to prepare food or live your life.”
In“Cooking for the Liberated Man,”for example, students can examinewhat society deemed acceptable for men to cook, in contrast to a bookaimed at women who are becoming brides.
Politics and food intersecttoo,especially duringtimes of conflict.During World War I, American recipes focused on thriftiness to accommodate shortages and rations.Years later, when Prime Minister Benito Mussolini mandatedhis citizensbuyonlyItalian goods, cookbooks compensated. How, for example, can one make coffee without using coffee?What about cake without flour?
Other students have focused their research on the history of vegetarianism, the commercialization of breast milk,the popularization of body building and the prevalence of food allergies, to name a few.
In one way or another,Crowesays, just about every cookbookfunctionsas a historical record.
Nearly everything in the collection must be accessed in-person—not via the internet. That,Helstoskysays,has made traditional academic research a hands-on experience.
“It just naturally is exciting to deal with, analyze, grapple with primary sources,”she says.“Sometimes in the cookbooks you’ll see food stains on the pages or something. Or you might see margin notes or a newspaper clipping on pages.It’sthat sense of really coming to terms with:‘Wow, this belonged to someone and someone used it,and it had a real material or pragmatic practical purpose in someone’s life.’ That is always super exciting for students.”
Often, Crowe has found, that excitement in the process leads tobetter, moresatiatingresearch.
“They can really dig in and ask original questions that they developed based on actually spending time with the resources itself, rather than questions that are handed to them,”she says.“I really try to encourage openness and curiosity,because you really don’t know what you’re going to find.”