This pamphlet is called Marie Fraser’s Evaporated Milk Recipes. I chose this piece from the culinary collection unit at the University of Guelph Library’s Archival and special units collection.

It is a unique collection piece as it is not available in a lot of other places. The pamphlet itself is quite small. However, it is folded up. When opened and unfolded, many recipes fill the inside pages. All of the recipes within the cookbook include the ingredients of evaporated milk, which makes this a single-subject cookbook. The pamphlets colours are brown and white, which can indicate that they are faded colours from an original black and white pamphlet. This is not clear because there is no evidence of the original pamphlet. The font is typed, and the title page is filled with photographs of the food. The pamphlet is rectangular and made of paper, which is very thin and fragile. On the first page when you open it, there is a note from “Marie Fraser” who is the creator of this pamphlet. She is a fictional character, who was a pen name for Jean Fisher. A sketched photo is provided and a note to those using these recipes. 

This cooking pamphlet was created in Toronto Ontario in December of 1955 by Dairy Foods Service Bureau in Canada. The Dairy Foods Service Bureau was created in 1927. However, this company no longer exists now. In 1994, the Dairy Bureau of Canada merged with the Dairy Farmers of Canada. DFC completely remarked all activities, to bring both organizations under a single logo and symbol. This symbol establishes that when you buy a milk product with this symbol, you are guaranteed to get a high quality of milk. Dairy Foods Service Bureau in Canada created other cooking pamphlets using the pen name of Marie Fraser, for recipes on things like fish (Dairy Farmers of Canada, 2011). 

This pamphlet was primarily created to provide consumers with easy recipes using evaporated milk. This mini cookbook was formatted and created on a typewriter and printed. There doesn’t seem to be any copies available elsewhere which indicates that it was not mass produced. This pamphlet was created specifically for women. During the 1950’s when this pamphlet was circulating there were strict gender roles. Men went to work, and the women stayed at home and did the housework. Since the women cooked the meals, these recipes would be very relevant to them. Evaporated milk provides double the supply of milk essentials, these recipes allowed milk to be apart of the diet (Beverage History, 2017).As well, during this time it was thought that consuming milk straight from the cow could be harmful. This was because of the excessive amounts of bacteria. These recipes were a quick way of creating a nutritious meal. Recipes in this pamphlet include; breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and dessert. At the beginning of the pamphlet, there is a note written out to “Homemakers” which at the time was the women (Wartime Canada, 2015).