Introduction in 'The Johnson Family Treasury: A Collection of Household and Medicinal Receipts, 1741-1848'

Abstract

Compiled over the latter half of the long eighteenth century, the receipts in this collection offer a fascinating glimpse into household technology, domestic medicine, and new foods available to the middle classes in an age of expanding colonialism. Published as facsimile copies alongside transcriptions, this treasury represents the collected knowledge of a coterie of women from at least one family. In the days before women’s magazines became a popular source of information, the span of knowledge here is impressive: recipes include everything from pea soup to more exotic “floating islands,” wines made from sage, damsons, cowslip, ginger, orange, cherries, currants, lemons, and raisins (plus several cures for hangovers). Equally fascinating are the medicinal receipts that cover a wide range of health problems, from “wind in the stomach” to worms, scurvy, and cancer.