Florence Abigail Cowles (April 7, 1878 - August 22, 1958) was an American journalist and cookbook author. She worked on the editorial staff of Cleveland's daily newspaper, ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'', from 1917 until her retirement in 1944. Her 1928 publication, ''Seven Hundred Sandwiches'', along with its later revisions, is a frequently cited source regarding the early development of American

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

varieties that are now widely prepared and eaten.

Early life

Florence A. Cowles was born in

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles ...

, to Gustavus and Evelyn (Gridley) Cowles: she was the first of their four children. By 1900, she had found work as a local schoolteacher, according to the census records, and her obituary notes that "around the turn of the century Miss Cowles taught school at Scott Swamp and Cidar Creek."

Journalism career

Cowles began her career at ''The Plain Dealer'' in 1917—an article in her hometown newspaper recorded that she was given a position as "editor of the fancy work department" as well as serving as "private secretary for the general manager". An article in the same newspaper in 1928 noted that Cowles remained with ''The Plain Dealer'' where she had been "conducting different departments. She has been graphology editor for six years and has written many editorials." She retired from the newspaper in 1944, and was described in her obituary as a "feature and magazine writer" for ''The Plain Dealer''.

Writing career

Prior to her publishing career in cookbooks, Cowles produced a single dramatic work, ''Where the Lane Turned: A Rural Comedy Drama in Four Acts'', which was published in 1912 by the New York publisher, Dick & Fitzgerald. Her next published book was ''Seven Hundred Sandwiches'', a recipe book published by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

in 1928. (An abridged edition, entitled ''Five Hundred Sandwiches'', was published in London by Chatto & Windus in 1929; a revised and enlarged edition, entitled ''1001 Sandwiches'', was published by Little, Brown and Company in 1936.) These books were well received in their era—''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'', in reviewing ''Seven Hundred Sandwiches'' in March 1929, names the cookbook in a problem-solving column, calling it "helpful" and praising its "multitude of suggestions", while Washington, D.C.'s ''Evening Star'' reviewed ''1001 Sandwiches'' equally glowingly in 1936, lauding Cowles for placing "the gems of her collection at the disposal of the public" and commenting favorably on the book's "almost limitless variety". Since that time, Cowles has remained an important source of information regarding sandwich-making in this era: her work is cited multiple times in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America'', and her recipes appear in less formal settings also, as local delis, cooking advice websites, and online magazines refer to her books for historical information about the origin or development of specific sandwich varieties. Cowles's final published book was a work co-authored with Florence LaGanke Harris, also a writer and editor at ''The Plain Dealer''. The cookbook, entitled ''400 Salads'', was published by Little, Brown and Company in 1944, and reissued in 1950 and 1954. The year it was first published,

food writer Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

Gaynor Maddox praised the book's "fine ideas for making the most of every kind of salad ingredient."

References

External links

*
Where the Lane Turned: A Rural Comedy Drama in Four Acts
', by Florence A. Cowles
Florence A. Cowles
at BillionGraves {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowles, Florence A. 1878 births 1958 deaths American cookbook writers American food writers American women non-fiction writers American women food writers American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers People from Farmington, Connecticut Journalists from Connecticut Writers from Cleveland Journalists from Ohio