A not-so-guilty pleasure: Community cookbooks

The Salt has a nostalgia-inducing article about community cookbooks that we thought would appeal to our members – we dare say many might have a few in their cookbook collection. And while some of these cookbooks have achieved nation-wide fame – certainly the Junior League books are widely known – perhaps the best loved are those from local churches, schools, and other fund-raising organizations. And even in today’s technology intensive world, we think these books still have a crucial purpose – providing a great way to continue to pass down well-loved recipes.

We were surprised, although we shouldn’t have been, that some of the earlier cookbooks were designed to raise money for suffragettes. And we loved the title of a cookbook designed to raise money to help money for Civil War soldiers, A Poetical Cookbook. Check out this short history lesson – and if you have any treasured community cookbooks in your collection, let us know about them. 

In the EYB Library we have almost 350 community cookbooks from the Junior Leagues around America.