Dateless in Upton
For my job, I do a lot of cataloging of pamphlets, brochures, self-published and locally-published items. Right now, I'm working through a collection of cookbooks published by local churches and other organizations. A few days ago I had one in particular that was published by the Ladies' Aid Society of Upton, Maine.
Unfortunately, the women of the Ladies' Aid Society were not so kind as to include a publication or copyright date on the cookbook, which meant that I needed to do some sleuthing.
We now pause for a fun cataloging fact: If I don't have a publisher or a place of publication, I can just leave that information out, but I have to include a date, even if it's just an educated guess. My guess can be as general as [19--?], which means "some time in the 1900s, I think," but I usually try to at least make a stab at the decade.
So, now I'm stuck with a cookbook that needs a date.
If you were in my shoes, how would you proceed?
(I did eventually narrow it down to about a 6-year range, but I'm curious to know what you would try and then I'll share some of my methods.)
4 Comments:
Hmmmm! For cookbooks there are some year-related things: do they use JELL-O, microwaves, or ready-to-eat spaghetti sauce? Do they mention tupperware, plastics, or non-stick frying pans? I guess even having an oven with a temperature gauge is something of a newish development. Interesting puzzle, you should tell us how you pinpointed a 6-year range.
What is the actual title of the book? (what you would put in the 245 tag)
I am going to send you an email, I think I found information about the book you are talking about.
Rachel - That's a good idea to use the food or cooking implements in the recipes themselves. I'll have to see if that's helpful next time I'm stumped. I've got a post scheduled for tomorrow that explains how I narrowed it down to 6 years.
Darron - Thanks again!
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