It All Took Place in a Southern Hotel in the Year 1915

Who needs a shovel or a map to find hidden treasures?  Every day is a hunt for long lost treasures here at Bayswater – except they come hidden in our used books.  Move over, Captain Blackbeard, and make way for the independent booksellers of Center Harbor, NH!

In our finds this week, we discovered a 1914 book entitled, The Neighborhood Cookbook, published by the Council of Jewish Women in Portland, Oregon, for the Neighborhood House: a non-profit organization which (still today) assists the vulnerable immigrant populations in the city.  The cookbook contains many recipes, including an entire section labeled “Invalid Cookery”.  You know we had to take a peek at that section just for fun.  Upon doing so, we found that the authors insisted that “dishes for invalids should be served in the daintiest and most attractive way,” and the “flesh of young animals” is best to bring, as it is most tender and easy to digest.  Um…ok.

Best of all, however, was what we discovered in the book.  We found a recipe handwritten on a piece of stationary from The Carolina, a majestic hotel in Pinehurst, N.C., that opened in 1901.  In the early 1900s, The Carolina boasted large, glamorous hotel orchestras for dancing in the ballrooms and was known as a premier place to stay in the south.  The stationary states that E.G. Fitzgerald was the manager at that time and upon doing a little research, we found that this was the case in 1915.  This meant that our handwritten recipe on The Carolina’s stationary was most likely from a guest who stayed there around that time.  What an interesting find!

Don’t miss us next week as we uncover new treasures on the used book floor (otherwise known as the alluring open seas for us non-pirate booksellers).  You can also keep track of our finds on our website, bayswaterbooks.com, and our facebook page.