Introduction

The cookbook Good Cooking. Useful Information. Read It. was written by the World’s Dispensary Medical Association between 1925 and 1930. Comprised of thirty-two pages, the book is divided into specific sections, including "Recipes and Advice for Cooking, Baking, and Making Candy" and "Homemade Medicine and Mixtures for Cleaning, and Instructions on First-Aid Procedures." The recipes included are primarily baked goods and require a consistent set of basic ingredients, including sugar, butter, eggs, and milk. Aside from the food and health related components of the text, a significant portion of this book is dedicated to advertising the World’s Dispensary Medical Association, more widely known as Dr. Pierce and his enterprise of medical related services. To demonstrate the extent to which the company employs this self-promotional campaign, all but two pages within this book contain some form of advertising for Dr. Pierce. This marketing ploy exists mainly in the form of testimonials, predominately from women in various locations across Ontario, who promote Dr. Pierce’s products through their success stories. There are a total of sixteen proprietary medicines mentioned, with the most widely used being The Favourite Prescription, the Golden Medical Discovery, and Anuric Tablets. There is also a significant amount of space dedicated to advertising “Dr. Pierce’s Invalids Hotel,” an institution that provided both accommodations and medical treatments. Despite the concept of health being a focus of the book, there are clearly financial motives here on the part of the company, in the hopes that readers will purchase one of their tonics or stay at the "Invalids Hotel."  

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