Pollyanna Club Cook Book - 1931
Be glad!!
Hello fellow Nostalgic Nellies!! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Well, I’ve been a busy bee listing vintage goodies for resale, my boys have moved back in with Josh and I for a bit so I’ve been enjoying that and I just recently joined the gym, GASP!!! I know, right? I figure after all I’ve put my heart through for 47 years, figuratively and literally, that I need to take better care of it. It’s a lot easier to motivate myself that way than to think of doing it to lose weight. Nothing is more frustrating than starting a new diet or exercise regimen for weight loss and not seeing results right away. I never stick to it. So I’ve changed my mindset and it seems to be working!
Enough about me! Let’s talk about the FABULOUS cookbook shall we? I can’t tell you how excited I was to find this! I purchased a Pollyanna Club pin a while back and I’ve been looking for related items ever since. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much of anything but a few Victorian photos of young groups of girls advertised as a Pollyanna Club. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for other Pollyanna Club items.
So, who is Pollyanna and what is a Pollyanna Club you may ask? Well, the best and shortest description I have found of Pollyanna is from The Busy Beaver Button Museum:
“The heroine of the classic children's book Pollyanna, written by Eleanor H. Porter in 1913, is known for her relentlessly cheerful attitude and ability to see the positive side of the most adverse of situations. After her father's death she has to go and live with her rich, cold-hearted and embittered Aunt Polly. However, her sunny nature prevails and by the end of the book the whole village is joining in her 'glad game'.”
I know Pollyanna from Disney’s 1960 film starring Haley Mills as the cheerful and hopeful Pollyanna. I loved that movie and still do! From what I have read, Pollyanna Clubs formed and were popular among young girls after the book became a hit. I’m not sure what activities took place within the group but with a club pin/badge reading “BE GLAD”, I’d like to think the clubs were a place for young girls to talk about the book and enjoy each other’s company in a cheerful and positive environment and maybe they helped one another look on the bright side of situations with their own reasons to ‘be glad’.
On to this amazing cookbook! The cookbook itself is dated 1931 and stamped “Conant Homestead”. I can’t find much about this Homestead except that it is in Maine. I’m not sure why it was stamped with the Homestead’s name but if you have ANY clue, please contact me and let me know! Now let’s look at this cookbook!
The pin above dates from about 1913-1914. Members of the Pollyanna Cub would wear these with gladness, I’m sure! Lovely…
I plan to pick one of these yummy looking recipes to whip up in my kitchen this weekend. I haven’t decided on one yet so if you see one you’d like for me to make and share on the blog, please let me know in the comments below! Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I really hope you enjoyed it as much I as I did sharing the awesome historic cookbook! Till next time, TOODLES! Now go share some gladness!
