{"id":80123,"date":"2021-09-03T08:32:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T12:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=80123"},"modified":"2025-09-03T13:03:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:03:27","slug":"genealogy-surprise-finding-more-than-recipes-in-good-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-surprise-finding-more-than-recipes-in-good-cooking.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Surprise: Finding More Than Recipes in \u2018Good Cooking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega finds a treasury of genealogy information in a most unexpected place. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Friends, do you ever feel tired and worn out? Do you feel like you\u2019ve lost your pep? Looking for where your energy and motivation went to?<\/p>\n

Personally, when I feel this way I may take a nap, drink some coffee, or have my doctor run a test for thyroid or vitamin D deficiencies \u2013 but in our ancestors\u2019 time they may have relied on a \u201cquick fix,\u201d and they would have found it advertised in magazines and newspapers.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: cover of \u201cGood Cooking\u201d by R. V. Pierce, M.D. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That quick (quack) fix was patent medicine. A patent medicine is \u201ca nonprescription medicinal preparation that is typically protected by a trademark and whose contents are incompletely disclosed,\u201d according to Merriam-Webster. \u201cPatent medicine is often used to refer to a product (such as an elixir, tonic, or liniment) that was marketed as a medicine in the U.S. during the 1800s and early 1900s but was typically of unproven effectiveness and questionable safety.\u201d (1) Those bottles of wonder cures often had alcohol, opium or other drugs, or useless mixes.<\/p>\n

However, those patent medicines often relied on customer testimonials for their marketing. And customer testimonials translate to names. Names are something that we genealogists love to find.<\/p>\n

In a previous GenealogyBank blog article, I discussed one of the most famous compounds and the genius behind the marketing of that self-named medicine, Lydia Pinkham (see The Marketing Finesse of Mrs. Lydia E. Pinkham<\/a>). She relied on testimonials from real women to sell her products \u2013 and she wasn\u2019t the only marketer who did so.<\/p>\n

Recently a friend gifted me a recipe booklet titled Good Cooking<\/em> because he knew I collected cookbooks \u2013 but it turned out it was really a marketing piece for a patent medicine: \u201cDr. Pierce\u2019s Favorite Prescription.\u201d Much to my surprise, it turned out to be a genealogical treasure!<\/p>\n

Dr. Pierce (1840-1914)<\/strong><\/p>\n

First let\u2019s look at who Dr. Pierce was. According to my booklet, R. V. (Ray Vaughn) Pierce, M.D., not only sold medicines like his \u201cGolden Medical Discovery\u201d and his \u201cFavorite Prescription,\u201d but he ran an Invalid\u2019s Hospital in Buffalo, New York.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Dr. R. V. Pierce. Credit: Internet Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. R. V. Pierce\u2019s medications were mostly geared toward women and their various problems; however, he peddled all sorts of treatments from pills to light therapy. Basically, any health problem you had, he had a solution. Of course, what didn\u2019t cure you probably made you not care as much, since the medicines included alcohol and\/or opium. (2)<\/p>\n

Dr. Pierce graduated from Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in addition to his medical career he also served in the New York State Senate (1878-1879) and the U.S. House of Representatives (1879-1880). In his retirement he founded a game preserve in Florida. (3)<\/p>\n

Good Cooking<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My copy of Good Cooking<\/em> (no date) is a marketing booklet disguised as a recipe booklet. Not surprisingly, it was not the only publication Dr. Pierce used to peddle his wares. A search online shows another booklet called Dream Book Bridal Superstitions<\/em> that amongst other things provides information about how to tell when you will marry \u2013 as well as the solution to various female ailments. Happiness in the Home<\/em> and Safety First<\/em> are additional titles that combine some information with advertisements. His book Common Sense Medical Advisor<\/em>, which does read more like a book, can be found on Internet Archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: \u201cThe People\u2019s Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English; or, Medicine Simplified,\u201d by R. V. Pierce, M.D. Credit: Internet Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Does Good Cooking<\/em> have actual recipes? Well, there are some recipes for foods like Potato Soup, Soda Crackers, and Strawberry Shortcake, but the majority of the booklet is advertising, testimonials and a two-page form to fill out for a free consultation.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: recipes from \u201cGood Cooking\u201d by R. V. Pierce, M.D. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, if you wade through the advertising, you will find antidotes for poisons, first aid instructions, cleaning recipes, cooking measurements, and recipes for the invalid and sick.<\/p>\n

As a genealogist, the testimonials caught my attention.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Testimonials<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I focused on as I looked through this booklet were the names, addresses \u2013 and, in some cases, photos \u2013 of women who made up the booklet\u2019s testimonials. (4)<\/p>\n

I started to wonder if these were real women or models. After all, it\u2019s not unusual to find that \u201ctestimonials\u201d given in various media forms today are from paid actors. So, I transcribed the names in the booklet and started searching for them in the U.S. census and GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to see what I could discover. (5)<\/p>\n

Mrs. Pearl Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Pearl Johnson\u2019s testimonial had the address of 206 East Carlton St, Ontario, California, so I decided to search for her in the 1920 U.S. Census for Ontario, San Bernardino, California.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Mrs. Pearl Johnson, from \u201cGood Cooking\u201d by R. V. Pierce, M.D. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I didn\u2019t find Pearl in the 1920 census, but a search in the 1930 census did find a Pearl A. Johnson living with her husband (Ervin H. Johnson) and father (Patrick J. Jennings). According to the census she had only been married about nine years, thus the reason I didn\u2019t find her in 1920 with the Johnson surname.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: United States Census, 1930; Pearl A. Johnson, Ontario, San Bernardino, California, United States. (Original index: United States Census, 1930, FamilySearch, 2014).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If this is the Pearl Johnson in the Good Cooking<\/em> book, we now know her name, her address, and her husband\u2019s and father\u2019s names. In addition, the booklet mentions that she had a job. That\u2019s not documented in the census, but in my experience it\u2019s not unusual to find working women listed in the census as having no occupation even when they did.<\/p>\n

Are these two Pearl\u2019s the same? I\u2019m not 100% sure but it\u2019s a good possibility that could be further explored. Pearl Johnson is not an unusual name so it could be a case of same name\/different person. If it is the right Pearl Johnson, then the booklet has to have been published after 1920.<\/p>\n

More Testimonials<\/strong><\/p>\n

Page 9 of the booklet contains not just one but three testimonials with photos.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Mrs. Grace Riley, Miss Dorothy Winegar, and Mrs. Mamie Hartgrove, from \u201cGood Cooking\u201d by R. V. Pierce, M.D. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mamie Hartgrove<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mamie Hartgrove of Louise Mill, Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of these. Interestingly enough, Mrs. Hartgrove not only appears in the booklet but her testimonial was used in at least two different versions in historical newspapers.<\/p>\n

In the 1930 census we find her in Charlotte, North Carolina, the wife of a cotton mill worker (along with most of the people enumerated on this census page). As of this census she has been married 10 years and has 2 sons. Her address in the booklet says simply \u201cLouise Mill\u201d which was a cotton mill in Charlotte that closed in 1957. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places and you can read more about it on the National Park Service website.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: United States Census, 1930; Mamie D. Hartgrove, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States. (Original index: United States Census, 1930, FamilySearch, 2014).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I found Mamie in newspaper advertising from 1931 through 1933. In the newspaper testimonials, the text is almost identical to the booklet testimonial and asks the reader if they are nervous and weak (or lack strength).<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, North Carolina), 6 May 1931, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
Henderson Daily Dispatch (Henderson, North Carolina), 20 April 1933, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dorothy Winegar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not all of the women featured in the booklet suffered from weakness and nervousness. In the case of young Miss Dorothy Winegar of Alden, New York, it was her complexion that was problematic.\u00a0 \u201cFor two years I was embarrassed by the condition of my skin, the eruptions that came out on my face would not clear up even though I used ever outward application that my mother gave me to use.\u201d When she took Dr. Pierce\u2019s Golden Medical Discovery it acted as an \u201cinternal cleanser and enricher of blood\u201d that, the advertisement claimed (not surprisingly), cleared up her complexion.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Gazette (Schenectady, New York), 28 January 1931, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While no ages appear in these testimonials, the subject of Dorothy\u2019s testimonial hints at acne and it mentions her mother, so I assumed from that and her marital status (single) that she was a teenager. In the 1930 U.S. Census there is a Dorothy Winegar living on Kellow Street in Alden, New York. This appears to be an exact match for the testimonial.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: United States Census, 1930; Dorothy Winegar, Alden, Erie, New York, United States. (Original index: United States Census, 1930, FamilySearch, 2014).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The census shows she\u2019s living with her parents and her siblings. In 1940 I find her again living with her parents and siblings as a 25-year-old, but this time she has an occupation: she works in a retail bakery.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: United States Census, 1940; Dorothy Winegar, Alden, Alden Town, Erie, New York, United States. (Original index: United States Census, 1940, FamilySearch, 2014).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other Happy Customers<\/strong><\/p>\n

After doing some research and finding these women in the census and historical newspapers<\/a>, I think it\u2019s a possibility that everyone named in the booklet is a real person. Whether their experience with Dr. Pierce\u2019s remedies are exactly as they claimed is debatable. Perhaps a monetary payment or freebies of some kind helped them provide the information Dr. Pierce\u2019s marketing department needed.<\/p>\n

This booklet provides genealogically rich data including names and addresses. Additional information about medical ailments may or may not be correct. Names and addresses in the booklet are:<\/p>\n