Cookery Collection - Church and Charity

Church and Charity cookbooks date their beginnings back to the Civil War. A uniquely American invention, these cookbooks were published inexpensively by churches and charitable organizations to help fund every conceivable cause. Whether a recipe for "Ida's London Pie" or "Jean's Jello Supreme", they provide the researcher with mountains of information on what the vast majority of Americans ate at a particular time and place. Church and Charity cookbooks in MSU's collection are primarily from Michigan, although other states, regions, and even countries are represented.

Special Collections Division

Michigan State University Libraries .