''The Grocer's Encyclopedia'' (1911) is a book about the growing, preparation, and marketing of foods that was written and published in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Artemas Ward Artemas Ward (November 26, 1727 – October 28, 1800) was an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was considered an effective political leader, President John Adams describing him as ...

, an author and an advertising and marketing innovator. Ward released a specialized edition of ''The Grocer's Encyclopedia'' entitled ''The Encyclopedia of Food and Beverages''. He later retitled the books for future editions of both ''The Grocer's Encyclopedia'' and ''The Encyclopedia of Food and Beverages'' to ''Encyclopedia of Foods''.

Synopsis

The work was developed out of a rudimentary publication by the author in 1882, ''The Grocer's Handbook'', an effort which motivated him to refine the topic into the encyclopedia during "stolen minutes" throughout the thirty years intervening between the two publications. The encyclopedia covers more than 1200 topics from

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

to zwetschgenwasser (a plum

schnapps Schnapps ( or ) or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to neu ...

), with 80 color pages and 449 illustrations in all. The encyclopedia has 12 pages on cheese, 20 on wine, 16 on tea, and 7 on

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s. It also contains information on

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

foods, "new" meats such as kangaroo tails, cold storage,

adulteration An adulterant is caused by the act of adulteration, a practice of secretly mixing a substance with another. Typical substances that are adulterated include but are not limited to food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fuel, or other chemicals, that ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

s, and

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s. The book also has a 39 page

appendix Appendix, or its plural form appendices, may refer to: __NOTOC__ In documents * Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication * Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works * Index (pub ...

listing 500 names used to describe foods and drinks and translations of the terms in French, German, Italian, and Swedish.

Reception

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' commented on the book in 1977, noting that it copies were now considered collectors' items and that "its contents opens an interesting window to a slice of bygone Americana."

References

External links

''The Grocer's Encyclopedia''
online. A part of Feeding America: The Historical American Cookbook Project, a collaboration between the

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Library and the MSU Museum. 1911 non-fiction books Cookbooks 20th-century encyclopedias {{food-book-stub