Periodicals: Home Economics: The Education of the American Housewife

The same year that the National Food Magazine appeared, the Boston Cooking School Magazine made its debut. The editor, Fannie Farmer, Boston’s well-known cooking-school director, had revolutionized home cooking by standardizing measurements; no longer did the housewife need to rely on “a teacup” of flour or “a heaping dessert spoon” of sugar. In addition to advice on food preparation, her magazine was filled with solid information on stoves and sinks, servant problems, health, nutrition, and sports. The name was later changed to American Cookery: Formerly the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economies. The latter magazine, edited by Janet McKenzie Hill, was a useful compendium of menus, recipes, and essays on laundry work, table etiquette, and the joys of a well-run home; during World War II it published articles on meat rationing, refrigeration and home freezing, the nutritional value of grain, and “Breakfast for Victory,” and it helped home cooks cope with wartime shortages. American Cookery ceased publication in 1947, its legacy a remarkable record of the changes in American society and in women’s lives over half a century.