Foods and Household Management: A Textbook of the Household Arts

About this book

This textbook, authored by Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley, is a comprehensive guide to the household arts as taught in early‑twentieth‑century high schools and normal schools. It opens with a detailed preface that explains the work’s dual purpose: to serve as a classroom resource for courses in food, nutrition, and home management, and to provide practical assistance for everyday housewives. The authors outline a curriculum that moves from the chemistry of foodstuffs and kitchen furnishings through cooking techniques, preservation, budgeting, and sanitation, culminating in chapters on cost analysis, menu planning, and household accounting. The introductory passage frames the “food problem” of the modern era, contrasting historic simplicity with the complexities introduced by global trade, canned goods, and emerging pure‑food legislation, and sets the stage for a systematic study of what food is, how it is produced, and how it should be selected and prepared.

Written in a formal, didactic style typical of 1910s educational manuals, the text combines scholarly references with practical exercises, including 160 tested recipes and experimental cooking projects. Its tone is instructional yet conversational, addressing teachers, students, and home makers alike. Readers who appreciate historical perspectives on nutrition, the evolution of domestic science, or the meticulous organization of early home‑economics curricula will find this volume engaging. It is especially suited to those interested in the intersection of science, economics, and everyday household practice during the Progressive Era.