The Woman's Forum of Wichita Falls Cook Book. Compiled and Edited by Mrs. G. D. Anderson [et al.].

Wichita Falls: Published by The Woman's Forum of Wichita Falls, 1932.

Octavo (24 x 16 cm.), [x], 217, [xii] pages. Advertisements. Table of contents. Title on cover and half-title: The Woman's Forum of Wichita Falls, Texas Cook Book. FIRST EDITION. Community cookbook compiled by a social club that rose to prominence during the so-called "Gusher Age – the 1920s oil boom – in the county seat of Wichita County, on the northern border with Oklahoma. Unusual is the attribution of individual compilers and editors at the front of category sections. The first name in the list, and the contributor responsible for vegetables, preserves, and beverages, Mrs. G. D. (Mamie Dillard) Anderson (1877-1960) was a civic leader who served on the commission appointed by the state legislature for the Texas Centennial in 1936. Her Southern Corn Pone (page 60), Squash Souffle (page 74), and Apricot Ice (page 155) figure among entries worthy of attention. Also unusual: a separate category section dedicated to "Foreign Recipes" (pages 183-192). Founded in 1925 by women participating in a Presbyterian study group, the Woman's Forum received as a donation a large meeting house on property owned by a local country club in 1927. There were many such organizations – the Wichita Falls Poetry Society formed in parallel in 1931 – but the Woman's Forum grew quickly, its membership in the hundreds, arranging holiday events, hosting flower shows, bringing speakers, and raising funds for charity. Now incorporated, the club retains its profile – among other things, fostering the southern "debutante" tradition of bringing young ladies into society – and operates out of the same building, today a Texas Historic Landmark. Several pages lightly stained, one perforated but intact; text block solid and otherwise clean. In original mustard-colored cloth, titled in brown on the front panel. Mimeographed errata slip pasted to free front endpaper. [OCLC locates four copies, and one other with a variant title page; also five copies of a revision without publication date; not in Brown or Cagle; White: Sweets & Meats, page 27].

Price: $150.00