Self published by the founder of the New York Cooking School, this forty-page leaflet was designed to educate new immigrant families with low incomes about preparing good, healthy meals. As the industrial revolution gathered steam and reformers focused on living conditions of the poor and disadvantaged, economical themes began to appear in cookbooks, and Corson’s pamphlet was extremely popular. In addition to numerous recipes and food preparation techniques, the book contains a “Daily Bill of Fare for One Week”—seven days of menus that cost $2.53 in total leaving a balance of $.62 for extra bread, milk, and butter. The little volume also contains favorable reviews of the book from contemporary publications, and an “ad” for six other books by Corson. The title page contains the following quote from the author: “This little book may not be a welcome guest in the home of the man who fares abundantly every day; it is not written for him; but to the working man, who wants to make the best of his wages, I pray it may bring help and comfort.” This facsimile edition of Juliet Corson’s Fifteen Cent Dinners for Families of Six was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.

While retail prices may have increased since Juliet Corson published her "Twenty-Five Cent Dinners For Families of Six" in 1879, what has not changed is the homemaker's interest in creating interesting, economical meals for the family. Corson, a noted teacher of cookery and advocate for the poor based her philosophy upon four ideals: 1) Utlizing every part of a food source, thus eliminating waste; 2) Serving several inexpensive dishes rather than one expensive one; 3) Using homegrown herbs and inexpensive spices to embellish dishes; and 4) Using lentils, peas, and macaroni as alternative, inexpensive sources of protein. Corson's philosophy of thrift will resonate with the modern family, while the recipes she provides will also serve the modern family with delicious, inexpensive meal ideas.

In an era when food insecurity was rampant and many families struggled to make ends meet, Juliet Corson's Fifteen Cent Dinners offered a lifeline to countless households. Filled with practical tips, simple recipes, and nutritional advice, this book is a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of American cooks. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In an era when food insecurity was rampant and many families struggled to make ends meet, Juliet Corson's Fifteen Cent Dinners offered a lifeline to countless households. Filled with practical tips, simple recipes, and nutritional advice, this book is a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of American cooks. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Fifteen Cent Dinners for Families of Six In planning how-to make the wages of the working man provide his family with the necessaries Of life, the first point-to be considered, is the daily supply of food. If this little book shows the laborer's wife how to' feed her husband and-children upon one half, or one third, or even, in times of great distress, upon the whole of his scanty wages, its object will be accomplished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.