Vintage cookbooks from many of Millville’s churches and civic organizations will be on display.
As Thanksgiving nears, we imagine family and friends gathered around a table filled with favorite dishes—Grandma’s orange cranberry sauce, Aunt Della’s mashed turnip potatoes, sister Margaret’s sausage stuffing, and other treasured family recipes. Join the Millville Historical Society at its Research & Genealogical Library, 200 East Main Street, on Friday, November 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. for its Third Friday pop-up exhibit, “Cooking Up History: Examining Area Cookbooks and the Memories They Generate.”
Explore how recipes are often more than just a list of ingredients. The exhibit will feature well-loved vintage cookbooks compiled by local civic and religious groups for fundraising and promotion. These tangible time capsules are often dog-eared and stained, with torn covers, margin notes, and handwritten recipes tucked inside. The display will also include heirloom utensils, vintage advertising tins, bakeware such as Bundt pans, glass rolling pins, tablecloths, tea sets, recipe boxes and cards, and photographs of the groups that created the cookbooks.
Sharing recipes has long helped women connect with one another. Visitors are invited to bring a favorite cookbook, recipe box, or recipe to share. Blank recipe cards will be available for visitors to copy any dish that catches their interest. Light refreshments will be provided.
Next door, tour the 1798 Baracha Dunn House, downtown Millville’s oldest surviving home. Revolutionary War Captain Joseph Buck’s wife, Ruth Seeley Buck, will prepare a period-style mincemeat pie, sans the cow tongue!
Join Millville’s Third Friday for a free, fun, informative and nostalgic evening.
