Big book sort

I have just begun a big book sort, to literally clear the shelves of dead wood. No longer or never read, out-of-date text books are particularly vulnerable. It isn't as difficult as it should be, disposing of these shelf-like companions which have played some sort of role in my life over the last few years. 


I have found some very trying and inaccessible, for a variety of reasons. I prefer to read without having to look up every other technical word and for the pages to have the right look and layout. The feel of a book is very important and I don't particularly like stiff pages with a slightly rough texture. 


As text books generally need to be in their prime to be of any use, date of publication is a major criteria for disposal/re-cycling. Amongst solemn weighty works on subjects ranging from linguistics and phonetics and the politics of writing, to language and the mind and how the brain learns to read, I re-discovered one of my favourite little gems of all time. 

This is a sixty four page 'pamphlet', which was available free from The Stork Company sometime during the Second World War (1940-45). Although it advertises Stork Margarine on the cover, it is laid out in the style of a cookery book but with unique helpful hints and chapter titles.

The picture below, from the first page of chapter 1, sets the scene for 'Cooking in Times of Emergency - How to save your dinner if air-raids come'.

                                                                                                                                                                        
I'm not sure how easy it is to read the extract, but 'Housewives', 'air-raid warnings' and 'accidents' are key themes. Because the pamphlet is so at odds with modern day cooks, cook books and approaches to cooking, I can't resist including a flavour from the introduction, as follows:

 INTRODUCTION

     This is a time of changing conditions, of different habits and different modes of living. Many of the things we have been used to take for granted no longer exist or must be adapted to present-day needs. And because our food is of the utmost importance, we must be prepared to plan our meals not only to suit wartime supplies, but also to economize, in the endeavour to make a pound go as far as it used to go.

     We must adjust ourselves to changed circumstances as well. Some of our households have grown a gread deal: children from other families may be sharing our meals. Some households, on the other hand, that used to provide food for a normal family of five or six, have dwindled to the adults, or even to one harassed father who has to cook his own meals, and even to do his own washing-up.

     This is the time, then, to write a book which will help to solve some wartime problems for you.

     In these chapters you will find what you can do if an air-raid warning interrupts cooking, nourishing sandwiches for A.R.P. workers, cakes made without currants and puddings made without sugar. You will find suggestions for feeding familities grown suddenly large, and for catering for families grown temporarily small. Even the forlorn grass-widower will find some things that are useful for him to know. There is a chapter on how to use every scrap of food in the house, and how to make really nice appetizing dishes, too, with these scraps. There is a chapter on how to make the utmost of food in tins. It may be necessary to economize on meat, so there is a chapter on meals without meat. And to provide for days when you can't get to the shops, there is a chapter on emergency cooking....

This is the result of finding one pamphlet, so you can guess how long the whole big book sort is likely to take.