One of the challenges associated with mounting an exhibit is deciding what objects to leave out. All of the items in our collections tell a story, but unfortunately, not all items can be exhibited: some are too large or too fragile to fit in the case, and there is a finite amount of space. This post highlights some of the stories that we wish we could have included in our recent exhibit, Arkansas from Scratch: Recipes for Changing Communities.
Our largest and most heavily used collections in Special Collections relate to international exchanges, documenting the birth of the Fulbright program and the growth of exchanges after World War II. Favorite Recipes of Exchange Students at the University of Arkansas (For Smith, Arkansas: Franklin Printing Company, 1955), compiled by the World Affairs Group in 1955, documents recipes from exchange students studying at the U of A in the early 1950s. The cookbook includes favorite recipes from students from 17 countries (now a small fraction of the 120 countries represented on the Fayetteville campus).
The Arts Center of Grand Prairie, Arkansas, published a small community cookbook in 1985. Like many community cookbooks, it includes favorite recipes tested in home kitchens. Somewhat more unconventionally, it also includes a recipe for DIY kitty formula (which doubles as rabbit formula, according to the recipe notes).
An additional challenge associated with exhibiting books is deciding which page to feature and which story to tell. In the Arkansas from Scratch exhibition case, you can see the cover for Gregory’s Elko-Ozark Brand Recipe Book (Rogers, Arkansas: Gregory Robinson Speas, Inc., between 1920 and 1929) along with other cookbooks designed to promote the use Arkansas-grown and developed products in the home kitchen. Inside this cookbook, you can also find a range of household and medicinal uses for vinegar, ranging from furniture polish to hand softener to paint remover.
To explore more stories from Arkansas cookbooks, visit Special Collections. Arkansas from Scratch: Recipes for Changing Communities will be on display through February 2020.