Secret Recipes: Selected, Practical, Original: Comprising, the Home Doctor, Invalid Cookery, Cakes, Pastry, etc.

[1920?]

Hocken WB120 IB7

Wellington: Civic Press

In New Zealand, in the first half of the twentieth century, it was normal for people to take a recipe for a health remedy to a pharmacist and ask them to compound it. People also took recipes for cleaning and baking products. Sometimes these remedies came from books of handy hints, such as the one above. A popular handy hint book for many years was Aunt Daisy’s Book of Handy Hints. Aunt Daisy also had a radio show and people would write down recipes she talked about and take them to a pharmacist. Some people would also buy the individual ingredients from the pharmacist and concoct the remedy at home.