Cookbooks and Collective Action: An Examination of Cooking Traditions from The Coal Region Of North Eastern Pennsylvania

Summary

In this paper I will discuss the potential for period cookbook use in 19th and 20th century archaeology. I will draw on cookbooks from the coalmining region of North Eastern Pennsylvania, a place many different European immigrant groups were drawn towards in order to find work. The coal industry, in which many became employed, has historically been known for the poor working environment inherent to mine work as well as the labor struggles that have arisen owing to those conditions. In this paper I will suggest that cookbooks from the coal region of North Eastern Pennsylvania might provide a window into the process of collective action amongst the various ethnic groups through shared ethnic cooking traditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of the Written Word: Examining the Importance of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Literature   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-28,01