THE WHYS OF COOKING

Cincinnati, Ohio: Proctor and Gamble, 1919. Very early printing. Softcover. Very Good. Small (7 in. x 5 in.) gray softcover, lettered, designed and ruled in gilt-trimmed black. Blue endpapers. Minor thumbing. Creasing to rear endpaper. Loaded with lovely color illustrations of breads, cakes, completed meals, table setting, etc. Last page advertises Crisco, available in 1, 1.8, 3, 6, 9 lb. weights, "exclusive of the can". Front hinge slightly separating, but holding. Essentially a Crisco advertisement, and you'll get nothing if not open admission of this from the authors, who write: "...The use of Crisco for frying, for shortening, and for cake making has helped solve so many of them ("Whys of Cooking"), that we frankly acknowledge that this book is published to give greater publicity to the exceptional qualities of Crisco and to show why successful cooking to-day in hundreds of thousands of homes is linked quite naturally with thoughts of this perfected cooking product."

But that said, the format is fascinating, and rather innovative. Each section, following the more general "Cooking" and "Modern Kitchens" sections, (Serving, Frying, Cakes Pastry,Breads, Meats & Vegetables) is introduced, then followed by several pages of question and answer format, which shows that the authors actually thought about what people would want to know -- which specific questions they might desire to be answered; their approach was pro-active, and I can see where this little book could serve to put many a newer homemaker, at considerably greater ease.