Summer Recipes From 1910

Are you into pickling or canning? Try out these historical recipes from 1910 this summer.

By Liz Dommasch, Archivist

One of the best parts of living in Southern Ontario is the abundance of local produce that is available over the summer months. We were recently fortunate to receive a donation of records from the Fanshawe Pioneer Village that included a cookbook entitled “The Art of Cooking Made Easy” published by W.A. Karn, Druggist, of Woodstock around 1910. A number of editions of this cookbook were produced by Pharmacies around the area during the early 1900s. This version is a delight to read with a large number of recipes, using locally available ingredients, and advertisements related to local businesses. I thought I’d share a few such recipes below:

Spiced Peaches

Pare, and if very large, halve one peck [13-15 lbs.] fine Crawford peaches; to one pint vinegar allow three pounds white sugar, and of this make a rich syrup; drop into the syrup a small handful of broken cinnamon, a very little cloves and mace, and a few pieces of ginger root; when boiling add as many peaches as the syrup will cover, and let them simmer about ten minutes; then take out carefully with a spoon, put into jars, then cook more peaches in the same syrup; when all are cooked, make fresh syrup and pour over them in the jars.

Grape Ketchup

Three pounds grapes; one and three-quarter pounds sugar; half pint vinegar; one tablespoonful ground cinnamon; one tablespoonful ground cloves; one tablespoonful black pepper; take the grapes from the stems, bring them to a boil, strain through a colander, then add sugar, vinegar and spices; boil twenty minutes.

Canned Strawberries

Fill glass jars with free strawberries, sprinkled with sugar, allowing a little over one-quarter pound of sugar to one pound of berries; set the jars in a boiler, with a little hay laid in the bottom to prevent the jars from breaking, filled with cold water to within an inch or two of the top of the jars; let them boil fifteen minutes; then move back and wrap the hand in a towel; and take out the jars; fill the jars to the top before sealing, using one or more jars for the purpose.

Stewed Cucumbers 

Six cucumbers, one small onion, one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoon of flour; half-pint of stock or water; salt and pepper to taste. Pare the cucumbers, cut them in quarters; remove the seeds. Put the butter in a frying pan; add to it the onion, cut in slices; fry until brown, then add the cucumbers, and fry carefully until a light golden brown; take them out with a slice; add the flour to the butter remaining in the pan; mix until smooth; add the stock; stir continually until it boils; add the salt and pepper, then the cucumbers and stew gently for twenty minutes. Serve on squares of toasted bread.

Pickled Tomatoes

Take small smooth tomatoes, not very ripe, scald them until the skin will slip off easily, and sprinkle salt over them; after they have stood twenty-four hours, drain off the juice and pour on a boiling hot pickle composed of one pound of sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon, and two teaspoons of cloves to every quart of vinegar; drain off the liquid, scald it and pour on them again, every other day for a week; they will require no further care. This is excellent.

W.A. Karn was born in West Oxford Township and began his pharmacy business in Woodstock in 1881. His store carried a large collection of drugs, patented medicines, perfumery, brushes, and other finely selected sundries. He was well known for preparing physicians’ prescriptions and family recipes including his own Karn’s Baking Powder which was popular across the province.

He served as President of the Ontario College of Pharmacy, being first elected in 1899. Locally he would serve on the Woodstock Town Council for several years and was the Chairman of the Fire, Water, and Light Committee when the Woodstock Fire Hall was built in 1899.

Image credits:

Advertisement for W.A. Karn’s Drug Store. The Art of Cooking Made Easy. Woodstock, Ontario, ca. 1910.

COA Kay McMullen Family fonds Subseries 2B: Correspondence – Postcards: Postcard depicting a farmer beside a cart of gigantic cucumbers, copyrighted 1910 by the Canadian Post Card Co., Toronto.