The purpose of the recipe pamphlet was to advertise dates to a new market. Dates were introduced to North America in the early twentieth century (Kayal, 2015). Therefore, the shipping companies were responsible for introducing a new type of food to the American diet. This was done by romanticizing countries in the Middle East, which can be seen in this recipe pamphlet. Exaggerated language, like “wonderful story” (Arabian Steed, n.d., p. 2), “miracle” (Arabian Steed, n.d., p. 3), and “perfect” (Arabian Steed, n.d., p. 8), is used to make the mundane history of date cultivation read like a fairytale. Additionally, the design of the text’s background looks like aged paper, which gives the allusion that Iraq is an ancient and distant land. Arabian Nights was incredibly popular around the time this pamphlet was being distributed (Kayal, 2015), and the fairytale-like design and language of the pamphlet was a way for the date shipping companies to capitalize on its popularity. Their slogan “From the Garden of Eden to You” (Arabian Steed, n.d., p. 8) communicates the same fairytale-like sense of mysticism and fantasy, while also equating Iraq to the biblical Garden of Eden: a divine, beautiful, and exotic land. In a mid-twentieth century America, the idea of an exotic and beautiful place far away from the devastation of war was likely comforting and welcome. 

This pamphlet was created with the intention of encouraging Americans to buy imported dates from Iraq by selling the idea of Arabian culture. The decision to begin the pamphlet with a history of Iraq date cultivation, rather than the recipes, is notable and works to fulfil the intended purpose. This pamphlet was produced before the internet existed; therefore, people had far less access to information than they do today. The pamphlet provided people with information they would not have had easy access to. The creators chose to include historical information alongside the date recipes because it may have been difficult to separately distribute both the factual information meant to increase peoples' interest in Arabian culture and the practical information meant to show people how to incorporate dates into their kitchens. Without both types of information, Americans may not have purchased dates because they may have found dates uninteresting or foreign. The recipe pamphlet was made to provide people with practical and background information on dates to encourage them to incorporate dates into their lives. However, it was not made to be kept; it is made of paper, and the format makes it inconvenient to store and later retrieve the recipes. The pamphlet is a piece of culinary ephemera because it was made to be disposed of.