In my grandmother's home, my parents' kitchen, and my sister's bookshelf, you will find the same book: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. While each book is a different edition and has a unique patina of stains, they are the most-used cookbook in each of these households. Before Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, there was Fannie Farmer. Her eponymous work has been part of New England cookery for 130 years (and counting).
Fannie Merritt Farmer was born in 1857 to a respected family in Massachusetts. Her parents supported her education, but at 16 years old, Farmer suffered a stroke which led to paralysis of her lower body. She left school to recover and eventually began working as a nanny for a family friend. Farmer enjoyed cooking meals for the family and enrolled in the Boston Cooking School at the age of 29.
The Boston Cooking School's goal was to prepare working-class women to work as cooks and servants in upper- and middle-class homes. The cooking courses met several hours a week, teaching women the culinary arts and domestic sciences. A stellar student, Farmer graduated in 1889 and was immediately hired as the school's Assistant Director. Five years later she became the Head of School.
Fannie Farmer published her first book, The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, in 1896. A robust 39 chapters, the cookbook began with basic cooking skills and built up to "fancy cakes and confections." Farmer understood that cooking was an essential pathway to good health. She emphasized the importance of nutrition. Farmer believed that with the right knowledge, women would be a huge asset to the nation’s wellbeing.
The scientific cookbook also promoted the use of standardized measurements. Farmer wrote that “correct measurements are absolutely necessary to insure [sic] the best results. Good judgement, with experience, has taught some to measure by sight; but the majority need definite guides.” In the “Cookery” chapter, readers found these beginner skills spelled out for them, including definitions of cooking terms and a how-to guide on preparing a fire. Straightforward and rooted in science, Farmer’s recipes were easy for novice cooks to follow.
Farmer struggled to find publishers to accept her cookbook, so she paid for the first printing and kept the copyright. The first printing of 3,000 copies quickly sold out. In her lifetime, Farmer saw two more editions published. The money she gained allowed her to open her own school, Miss Farmers Cooking School in 1902. The popularity of her book skyrocketed Farmer into the public eye.
Farmer was invited to lecture on cooking and nutrition across New England. She was one of the first female lecturers at Harvard Medical School. Her lectures were published weekly in The Boston Evening Transcript, and she wrote a regular column in Women’s Home Companion. Both had a nationwide audience.
Compared to the average woman who read her columns, Farmer led a unique life. She never married and had a thriving career. Between the profits from her books and her school, Farmer was able to buy a house and support her family. She did all this and more while managing her chronic illness. In the last decade of her life, she required the use of a wheelchair. It helped her continue to travel and speak across the country until she passed away in 1915.
Farmer's passion for cooking lives on. There have been 13 editions of the retitled The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. As of 2018, it has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Farmer is best known for creating the modern recipe and defining early 20th-century American cuisine. She was also part of a larger progressive movement. Across the country, women were repositioning homemaking as a profession that, like any profession, required training. First coined “domestic science,” these classes are now taught in school as “home economics.” If you know how to follow a recipe, boil an egg, or make a healthy meal for your family, you have Boston pioneer Fannie Farmer to thank.
Books
The Secret History of Home Economics
Rare Books & Manuscripts
The Boston Cooking-school Cook Book
The American Woman's Home (First Edition)
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