Harrison’s Calendar Cookbook is one of a few formula recipe books published by an Ontario pharmacist and optician. It is a helpful recipe book distributed primarily for advertisement purposes. It offers readers a variety of content, including sweet and savoury recipes, household tips and tricks, important calendar dates, astrological readings, and basic medical advice. Although it is labelled as a cookbook, the book offers so much more to readers beyond day-to-day recipes. A calendar, list of jokes, weather predictions, and historical events are located on alternating pages. It is comparable to modern-day calendar cookbooks like the Dairy Farmers of Ontario's "Milk" calendar.

The cookbook’s intended audience is primarily women due to its focus on family health, wellness, and diet. In the early 20^th century, most women took up the roles of homemaker and caregiver, looking after household chores and raising children. A book such as this one would have been extremely useful to a stay-at-home wife and mother. Although the cookbook has several uses and purposes, it was also created to advertise the services of the author, H.A. Harrison. For example, "Harrison’s baking powder" is mentioned frequently throughout the cookbook in both recipes and advertisements. Harrison’s Drug Store also has a prominent role, as well as other services Harrison provided. There is also a vast array of advertisements found within the book, including optometry services, skin ointments and medicines, paper, insect killer, medical trusses, and even the distribution of marriage licenses. Overall, Harrison’s Calendar Cookbook provides a unique glimpse into how medical services and necessities were accessed and distributed in a small Ontario town in the early 20th century.