Historic Pie Recipes

Historic Pie Recipes

Vintage pie recipes, true to the pioneer and Victorian era experience, look a lot different than modern recipes. In this article, I share recipes from vintage newspapers and Prairie Farmer magazine (1841-1900). One includes “Pie Plant”, an ingredient I remember from the Little House on the Prairie series, but never knew what it actually was!

The Spinster Book (1901)

The Spinster Book (1901)

A cross between guidebook and social commentary, The Spinster Book gives clever and humorous insights on topics such as courting, handling men and women, love letters, marriage and spinsterhood.” I share one of the book’s vignettes on men; how they compare to cats…and a most successful way (for a Victorian lady, at least) to win a man’s heart, an invitation to a live theater or opera production, and his undying adoration. The book was published in 1901. The author (Myrtle Reed)’s sense of humor shines through, and sheds more than a little light on Victorian attitudes about courtship.