My modest collection of old cookbooks would be nothing without my parents’ devotion to op-shops and garage sales. The last book for my collection that Dad found was The Complete Practical Confectioner (Chicago: J.Thompson Gill, Manager Confectioner and Baker Publishing Co., 1882). Think Violet Syrup, Tonic Lemonade, Orange Champagne, Orange Chips Preserved, Gum Work, Fig Paste, Currant Ice-Cream, Venetian Ice Souffle and French Almond Rock.
And then, an even greater treasure, a passage my darling father wrote for me a year or so ago, which I’ve just found in my files while looking for something else:
“I was browsing through junk shops in Toowoomba the other day looking for old recipe books for Stephanie’s collection. I found Simpson’s Kitchen Companion (at $1), 32pp., published in Brisbane by Simpson Bros Pty Ltd under the guidance of Miss RP Borrowdale, superintendent, test kitchen. I look forward to Sunglow Pudding, Silver Mint Cake, Honey Fluff Sponge and similar delicacies that “have that novelty and dependability for which Simpson Recipes are famous”. Miss Borrowdale apologises for this, the first post-war Recipe Book, lacking the luxury of pre-war productions, but that is the consequence of the difficulties in importing surfaced paper.
Then I bought Cookery Book – with the Compliments of Clements Tonic, of Rozelle, Sydney. Originally a freebie, I had to pay a rip-off price of $3 for this 31-page booklet. It is “dedicated to the average housewife who prepares three meals a day for 365 days a year – year in and year out”. Alongside recipes for Japanese Fritters, Glaze for Galantine of Fowls, and Hot Spiced Ale, I am informed of the merits of Fletcher’s Pills, to relieve liver and stomach disorders (a shilling a box); and Clement’s Tonic “ which supplies the nourishment needed by the nervous system”; and if they don’t work there is always Elliott’s Essences obtainable at all stores.
Finally I found How to Ice a Cake, where Anne Anson wished me “good luck” in this “fascinating craft”, but urged me to use “Tala” instruments. The instruments displayed guaranteed success in flower making and trellis work.
The last book has nothing to do with recipes. In my browsing I came upon Doctor’s Creek Reunion ($3), all of 19 pages. Now that took my eye because I was once the Head Master of the Doctor’s Creek State School. Well, the only teacher actually. The booklet reminds me that Doctor’s Creek is 64km north of Toowoomba, a distance I regularly traveled in my VW, gleefully sliding it around dusty corners (the bitumen ended at Goombungee). When I didn’t need to go back to town I stayed on the Gersekowski dairy farm, but I passed by the pleasures of rising at 4am to milk the cows. I think it was the Hanneman kids, four of them, who rode their horse to school; just one large horse and four little kids accommodated easily on its broad back.
Apart from being listed as one of the teachers, the booklet honours me by recording my exploits in teaching the kids to swim. The reference is succinct: “In later years Mr Peter Wood arranged for students to have swimming lessons in Kilburnie Creek until the leeches became too troublesome and they were forced to find another pool; they moved to Mr Bertie Hanneman’s dam near Goombungee where instruction continued in peace”. The truth is that I got more disturbed about the leeches than the kids – five minutes in Kilburnie Creek and all of us would have a dozen or more leeches over us. I called it quits first. I didn’t last long in Hanneman’s dam either. There was a foot of mud on the bottom of the dam and we were all in danger of being stuck fast. But, there I am, recorded in history as teaching swimming in a muddy dam, “in peace”.
Then I bought Cookery Book – with the Compliments of Clements Tonic, of Rozelle, Sydney. Originally a freebie, I had to pay a rip-off price of $3 for this 31-page booklet. It is “dedicated to the average housewife who prepares three meals a day for 365 days a year – year in and year out”. Alongside recipes for Japanese Fritters, Glaze for Galantine of Fowls, and Hot Spiced Ale, I am informed of the merits of Fletcher’s Pills, to relieve liver and stomach disorders (a shilling a box); and Clement’s Tonic “ which supplies the nourishment needed by the nervous system”; and if they don’t work there is always Elliott’s Essences obtainable at all stores.
Finally I found How to Ice a Cake, where Anne Anson wished me “good luck” in this “fascinating craft”, but urged me to use “Tala” instruments. The instruments displayed guaranteed success in flower making and trellis work.
The last book has nothing to do with recipes. In my browsing I came upon Doctor’s Creek Reunion ($3), all of 19 pages. Now that took my eye because I was once the Head Master of the Doctor’s Creek State School. Well, the only teacher actually. The booklet reminds me that Doctor’s Creek is 64km north of Toowoomba, a distance I regularly traveled in my VW, gleefully sliding it around dusty corners (the bitumen ended at Goombungee). When I didn’t need to go back to town I stayed on the Gersekowski dairy farm, but I passed by the pleasures of rising at 4am to milk the cows. I think it was the Hanneman kids, four of them, who rode their horse to school; just one large horse and four little kids accommodated easily on its broad back.
Apart from being listed as one of the teachers, the booklet honours me by recording my exploits in teaching the kids to swim. The reference is succinct: “In later years Mr Peter Wood arranged for students to have swimming lessons in Kilburnie Creek until the leeches became too troublesome and they were forced to find another pool; they moved to Mr Bertie Hanneman’s dam near Goombungee where instruction continued in peace”. The truth is that I got more disturbed about the leeches than the kids – five minutes in Kilburnie Creek and all of us would have a dozen or more leeches over us. I called it quits first. I didn’t last long in Hanneman’s dam either. There was a foot of mud on the bottom of the dam and we were all in danger of being stuck fast. But, there I am, recorded in history as teaching swimming in a muddy dam, “in peace”.
