DR. CHASE'S RECIPES, BLACKSMITHING, AND A BEAR

A Bullis Room volunteer reads Dr. Chase's recipe for improving poor iron for use in blacksmithing.

Below is our November 27, 2009 post. This week we took another look at that entry after we attended a Friends of Macedon Public Library blacksmithing presentation on Wednesday by two members of the New York State Designer Blacksmiths. They gave us the fascinating history of blacksmithing and brought us up to date on the current status of this craft. Afterwards, they asked if the Bullis collection had any books on the subject. Dr. Chase's book soon came to mind, and we're looking for others. In the meantime, we're zeroing in on blacksmithing recipes in this little book in order to share them with anyone interested.  We'll post some of them with you in next week. For now, perhaps you'd like to refresh your memory about this fun-to-read Bullis book.

"This little blue-covered book, which measures about 4 by 7 inches, is almost hidden by the thicker, taller medical tomes on the shelf. But it contains what must have been useful information in its day, proving that good things really do come in small packages.

Published in 1872 by R.A. Beal, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dr. Chase's Recipes; or, Information for Everybody; An Invaluable Collection of About Eight Hundred Practical Recipes instructs merchants, grocers, saloon keepers, housekeepers, physicians, druggists, barbers, bakers, and farmers how to make apple pie, an ague cure, deer skin tanning solution, a chronic rheumatism cure, washing fluid (saving half the wash-board labor), a Good Samaritan liniment, and 794 more concoctions. (Whew!)

Our copy is the 73rd edition and states that 730,000 copies (at $1.25 each) had been sold at that time, leading the author to the conclude that a good many folk recognized the value of so much handy information packed into one volume. Today, we may find many of these recipes outdated, but they still make entertaining reading. We recommend you spend some time with Dr. Chase's little blue book."

MARGARET MITCHELL, MARK TWAIN...

...are but two of an impressive list of famous authors who have had their books banned at some time, in various parts of the world and for various reasons.

Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) and Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain) as well as Anna Sewell's Black Beauty,  Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and Shakespear's The Merchant of Venice have at one time been forbidden reading. We can also add to the list the Holy Bible and the Quran.  Copies of all these books are a part of this collection.

We invite you to stop by the display case outside the Bullis Room to see some of the Bullis books that were banned.    Perhaps you'll go away with an enhanced appreciation of these books. (We did.)

BANNED BOOKS

Does the Bullis Collection contain banned books?  For some of us volunteers, our first answer to this questions was, "Surely not." But we were wrong.

There's an impressive number of banned books among the books on the shelves here in the Bullis Room. And some of them will be on display in the case outside the room.

So stop by and take a look.  You might be surprised, like we were.

(We'll post some of the banned titles, next week.)

TWO AMAZING WOMEN

This week we continued to read through the Bullis Room's copy of Sojourner Truth, and we couldn't help being reminded of another great woman who made an important impact on her society--Nettie Bullis.

Nettie Bullis made her impact in a quieter way, on a smaller scale, showing her contemporaries that it was possible for a women to succeed in what was then a man's world.

Sojourner Truth died ten years before Nettie Bullis was born, but although they were women of different centuries, they shared a cause--women's rights--and each in her way was truly amazing.

If you'd like to know more about either of these women, we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room.

LABOR DAY(S)

In 1894, the year after Nettie Bullis was born, Labor Day was designated a federal holiday and observed with street parades honoring labor organizations and festivals for workers and their families. From what we know of the Bullis family, we wonder if they would have taken part in these festivities. Perhaps they did. Or, perhaps they stayed home and read some of their books on the subject. Here are a few they had to choose  from.

1) An Introduction to the Study of Organized Labor in America by George Gorham Groat, published in 1920.

2) Rural Letters and Other Records of Thought at Leisure, Written in the Intervals of More Hurried Literary Labor by Nathaniel Parker Willis, published in 1849.

3) Narrative of Sojourner Truth: a bondswoman of olden time, emancipated by the New York Legislature in the early part of the present century. With a history of her labors and correspondence drawn from her "Book of Life" by Sojourner Truth,  published in 1875.

Our choice of reading is the last book listed.   In next week's post we'll share some fascinating things about this book and its remarkable author.

(Just an aside - when we searched the Bullis Books data base for "labor," one of the results was David Copperfield, which of course is another wonderful read...but perhaps not for a "day off.")