The Good Housekeeper
- Year
- 1839
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- USA · Americas
- Language
- English
- Category
- American
The Good Housekeeper is an early American domestic manual offering practical guidance on cookery, food preservation, marketing, and household economy, framed by Hale's conviction that informed home management was central to national character. Issued by the influential editor of Godey's Lady's Book, it reached a wide middle-class readership and helped consolidate a distinctly American vernacular of plain, healthful cooking distinct from imported British models.
Cooking from this book
Pumpkin Pie
Signature dishFew dishes are more closely tied to Sarah Josepha Hale than pumpkin pie, the burnished autumn custard baked in a single crust that became shorthand for American home cooking. As the influential editor who campaigned for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a national holiday, Hale helped enshrine this New England favourite at the centre of the family table. Her domestic manual reflects that sensibility, treating the humble pumpkin with the seriousness due a national emblem.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.