The origins of Arabian Steed "Iraq" Dates: Recipes for Cookies, Cakes, and Candies are somewhat unclear; little information concerning the date, location, or by whom the pamphlet was originally created is explicitly stated. The best indicators are the names of the shipping companies provided on the last page of the pamphlet. Two shipping companies are mentioned: "Andrew Weir Shipping and Trading Company Limited" (Arabian steed, n.d., p. 8), and "Bowes Company Limited" (Arabian steed, n.d., p. 8). Bowes Company Limited is a Canadian shipping company, and archived newspaper articles indicate that the company’s name was changed to Bowes Company Limited in 1914 (“New produce company,” 1913) and that the company was no longer in business after 1978 (“Legal Notice 1,” 1978).  Therefore, the time period the recipe pamphlet was created in can effectively be narrowed down to sometime between 1914 and 1978. Additionally, the recipe pamphlet refers to Iraq as the region where the dates originated. Since Iraq was called Mesopotamia until 1920 (“Iraq History Timeline,” 2017), it can be assumed that the recipe pamphlet was published after 1920.

As for the location of origin and the creator, it is difficult to determine which of the companies listed were responsible for the recipe pamphlet’s creation. However, it is likely the recipe pamphlet was either created by the company that directly shipped that dates from Iraq, Andrew Weir Shipping and Trading Company Limited, in London, or by the Canadian distributor of the dates, Bowes Company Limited, in Toronto. Another possible creator is “Arabian Steed Dates” (Arabian Steed, n.d., p. 1), but the lack of data on the company and the limited amount of branding indicates that Arabian Steed Dates was the name given to the dates by one of the shipping companies, not an independent company.