Antique Handwritten Recipe Books [History & Values] • Adirondack Girl @ Heart (2024)

[orig. pub. March 2016, substantially revised May 2021]
Hi there! Vintage and antique cook books sell really well for me; how about for you? I sell more common varieties in the $8-12 range from my antique booth and rarer, more valuable examples on eBay.

Today I want to talk about the historical origins of cook books. We’ll take a look at three antique handwritten recipe books that I came across in my vintage wanderings. I think you’ll find them fascinating. I certainly did!

Do youhave a favorite recipe or “go-to”cookbook? I bet youdo. Maybe it’sthe latest put out by a famous Food Network chef, or perhaps it’s onehanded down to youfrom your mother or grandmother.

I can still remember the heavenly aromaof Milky Waycakefilling our ranch-style house as a kid. I thought my sweet mother had special powers, that cake tasted so good.

I’ve baked itmanytimes over theyears, and each time it evokes special memories for me. [You can find the complete, printable recipe here.]

Food and relationships are closely intertwined, aren’t they? The family table is a special place, filled with “family” foods, where we break bread together and share the day’s events.

We prepare some of those dishes using recipes handwritten by dear friends and family. Others are typed up in special “cook books” published by groups we may have belonged to, and still others can be found in our personal cook book collection.

Wherever the recipes come from, they are reminders of special times spent with special people.

Early History of Cook Books

I’ve read that the oldest “recipe” can be found written on the tomb of Senet, an Egyptian woman, who apparently had a passion for flat bread.

Through the centuries, however, the instructions for food preparation would have typically been passed down by word of mouth within communities over shared hearths, from mother to daughter.

With the advent of paper and more leisure time, some cooks began to write down their instructions. Some printed medieval books, which chronicled home-keeping methods in general, included food preparation as well. But the average housewife would not have had access to such costly books.

Handwritten Recipe Books or Journals

Typically, a woman would have had in her possession an handwritten recipe book, sometimes more of a journal, handed down to her by her mother.

It would be filled with written instructions for various meals, as well as many other aspects of housekeeping, like recipes for herbal remedies, cleaning methods, or sewing notations.

Above is just such a journal that I discovered at an estate sale a few years ago. Missing its cover, it was clearly well-loved by the women who used it. It journals some of the food, medicinal, and spiritual history of the family, giving us a glimpse into their way of life.

The author, a devout woman named Lottie Ells, lived at 51 Dubois Street, Newburgh (NY) and wrote many of the “receipts” beginning in 1889.

On the first page we find a “receipt” for constipation, written in pen and ink. Receipt is an old-timey word for recipe.

This “Receipt for Drunkeness” appears later in the journal. Curiously the “s” in Drunkeness is written like an “f,” as it would have been in the 1700’s. Apparently some old fashioned cursive writers hung on to this style well into the 1800’s.

Prior to 1700, the term recipe and its cousin receipt (derived from the Latin recipere, which means to receive) were used to refer to medicines. After that it became common to use these terms when referring to food preparation.

Until about the 1960’s, cooks continued to use both terms receipt and recipeinterchangeably, but receipt is now considered quite old fashioned, and most people would not even know what it means in relation to food. Did you?

Later in the journal, Lottie wrote some prayers; you can see her signature in the bottom right corner of the page on the left. If her prayers are any indication, she had a strong Christian faith.

Mixed in with the prayers and remedies, we at last find some recipes: Jenny Lind Cake, Plain Cake, Apple Omelet (hmm), and Chocolate Filling for Cake.

You can purchase this recipe book in my Etsy shop. SOLD June 1, 2021 for $28.99.

I have in my possession a second “receipt” book, which you can tell from the letter tabs on the lower right, was intended as an address book.

It’s quite common to see recipe books in unusual formats, like this address book. You can also find them in composition books, accounting books, and spiral notebooks (see below).

In very rough condition, this one contains only recipes for food, and like the previous manuscript, it has been clearly well-loved over the years.

It’s browned with age and filled with grease and batter spots. I would date it to about the same period as the previous example (late 1800’s). This recipe for Crullersis written in wonderful old-fashioned handwriting.

Notice how “tea spoonful” is two words, and how the author adds recipe changes in parenthesis. And as was often the case, the measurement for the last ingredient–flour–is enough to make dough to roll out. Quite non-specific!

Keep in mind that mothers would not have simply pass down these recipe books to their daughters, but would rather have cooked side-by-side with their girls. Daughters would watch their mother add “enough” flour over and over again until they knew by sight and feel how much to add.

Credit is often given to Fanny Farmer, the famous cook book author from Boston, for systematizing measurements for cooking and baking, to making the process fool-proof for cooks of all abilities. Thank goodness!

You can find this recipe journal in my Etsy shop. SOLD June 2, 2021 on Etsy for $26.99.

Here is the third example of an handwritten recipe book that I have to share with you. Unlike the previous two, it’s filled with both handwritten and typed recipes (see photo below).

It also holds scraps of paper with hastily jotted recipes.

Guys, get 5 printable pages from this recipe book in my
Member Library when you SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Find them under “Vintage Printables” when you scroll to the end 🙂

Antique Handwritten Recipe Book Values

Handwritten recipe journals, along with more diary-oriented journals, are highly collectible. Collectors enjoy the historical nature of these documents, using them to learn about the culture of the period.

Artists like to incorporate the pages into mixed media artwork–such a special way to display these remarkable pieces of history.

Since each example is highly unique, it’s difficult to attach a specific dollar value. The best approach is to be aware of the price range by checking eBay sold prices and Etsy listed prices and go from there.

Start out by listing your pieces on the higher end and then lower them if they’re not selling. Based on my research, the two older books I’ve shown you are worth between $20-30 (due to poor condition), while the newer, three-ring binder may be worth $30-35.

Recipes in Women’s Magazines & Newspapers

About the turn of the last century, ladies began to enjoy women’s magazines, which quite often contained recipes to be clipped and stored away for future use. The same is true of newspapers, which to this day often offer a food section at least once per week

I often find these clippings inserted in the handwritten recipe books, as well as in recipe boxes (see below), and in more modern cook books.

I found several such clippings inside the handwritten/typed recipe book.

Vintage Recipe Cards & Recipe Boxes

Sometime in the 1940’s, recipe boxes like these, which held 3″ x 5″ index cards, became the popular way to organize one’s recipes.

Though I get many of my recipes off the internet these days, I still have many favorites stored away, like these I’ve clipped from the Albany Times Union over the years.

I also have many handwritten cards in my stash, some almost illegible from frequent use (and messy habits).

Here’s a selection of handwritten recipe cards I recently picked up at a sale for a quarter.

You can find a set of blank cards like the blue one above with the cast iron stove, along with protective sleeves, in my Etsy shop.

The third recipe book (seen above) also contains several handwritten recipe cards tucked inside.

I frequently come across nice old, oak recipe boxes like this one. They typically sell for about $10-12.

But just recently, sometimes these boxes came filled with printed recipe cards. I purchased this set of Gold Medal Flour cards at a sale and one of the cards, which you see on top, shows the cards inside a very similar oak box. Interesting, right?

These cards date to c.1929 and are available in my Etsy shop.

But the recipe card that’s closest to my heart, is the one written by my mother’s own hand.

I hope you enjoyed reading about antique recipe books and cards. Do you have a similar book or set of cards that you cherish? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below 🙂

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Additional Reading:

History of Cookbooks
The Rise and Fall of the Recipe Card