Fannie Farmer: Cookbook Author Who Instituted Exact Measuring

Fannie Farmer (1857-1915) became famous as an author of a highly popular cookbook that broke new ground by specifying exact measurements in its recipes. Farmer was the first professional cook to teach the science behind cooking. By using precise measurements, she demonstrated that good cooking could be taught to others.

She also served as principal of a cooking school and frequently lectured on good cooking and the science of nutrition. Like Julia Child who was to follow her many years later, Farmer showed people that cooking could be fun and cooking classes entertaining.

(There is no connection between this Fannie Farmer and the Fanny Farmer Candy Company.)

Fannie Farmer: Early Years

Fannie Farmer was one of four daughters born to working class parents. The children were raised in Medford, Massachusetts. The Farmer parents believed strongly in the importance of education, even for daughters.

Farmer was a student at Medford High School when she became seriously ill which left her partially paralyzed. (The author of the “Fannie Farmer” entry in American National Biography speculates that her illness was likely polio.)  It took several years for her to even partially recover, and the illness left her with a lifelong limp. Though she helped out at home, she was not able to resume her education.

In 1887, Mrs. Charles Shaw, a family friend and a prominent member of Boston society, hired Farmer as a mother’s helper. Over time, Mrs. Shaw observed Fannie’s love of cooking and encouraged her to take classes at the well-respected Boston Cooking School.

The Boston Cooking School

The Boston Cooking School was founded in 1879 by the Woman’s Educational Association of Boston. The school was part of a growing movement of the 1870s. Scientists were beginning to learn about the importance of good nutrition in keeping people healthy. A school that could teach some of the basics of cooking and healthy eating was a forward-looking idea.

The Boston Cooking School had two educational tracks. Many of the classes were for domestic workers who were family cooks or who cooked in institutions. There were also classes for wives who wanted to learn to supervise workers in the kitchen and perhaps do a little cooking themselves. Added to the practical classes were visits from guest lecturers from area hospitals and schools like Harvard Medical School. The lecturers came in to talk about subjects like anatomy, digestion, and food chemistry.

The first principal of the school was a woman named Mary Johnson Lincoln. When Fannie Farmer began classes there, she looked to Lincoln as a mentor. The two women got along well. When Farmer graduated in 1889, she was offered a job at the school.

In 1891, Lincoln had to retire because of a family matter, and Farmer became the new principal.

Success at the School

Fannie Farmer was very successful at running the school. One of the additional projects she undertook was revising one of the school’s cookbooks written by Mrs. Lincoln in 1893.

In updating and amending The Boston Cooking School Cookbook, Farmer broke new territory with the specificity of her recipes. Up until that time, most recipes called for a “dash of salt” or “tea cup full of flour.” Of course, those measurements left room for interpretation. Farmer took pains to write clean, simple directions with exact measurements for the ingredients. For each recipe, she specified exactly what was needed: For example, by providing information like “a level measured cupful” or “1/4 teaspoon of salt,” the recipes were more consistent.   (This must have led to an increase in sales of exact measuring implements.)

“Correct measurements are absolutely necessary to insure the best results,” said Farmer. “Good judgment, with experience, has taught some to measure by sight; but the majority need definite guidelines.”

The Complete Cookbook

The cookbook contained almost two thousand fully tested recipes as well as information on good nutrition. In the first two chapters of the book, Farmer wrote about the science behind various methods of cooking. She also explained the nutritional value of various foods and ingredients. These were the topics that were commonly covered at the school, but it was not yet the kind of information easily available to the public.

“It is my wish that [the book] may not only be looked upon a as a compilation of tried and tested recipes, but that it may awaken an interest through its condensed scientific knowledge which  will lead to deeper thought and broader study of what to eat,” wrote Farmer.  Farmer’s other secret ingredient in her books was her love of both food and cooking.  Her recipes were fun to make, and Farmer used more interesting seasonings than the recipes in Mrs. Lincoln’s book.

That first year the book did well enough that it was reprinted each year. In 1906, Farmer fully updated it.

Fannie Farmer Starts New Cooking School

In 1902 Fannie Farmer had made enough money from book sales that she decided to step away from the Boston School of Cooking and begin Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery. By this time, household help was less common, and so Farmer emphasized the importance of homemakers learning to cook well. Her popularity was such that students followed her and soon the Boston School could not keep going.

Farmer kept revising the Boston Cooking School Cookbook, later known as Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook; later it became known as The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. By the time Farmer died in 1915, more than 350,000 copies had been sold.

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook continues to be updated regularly and still sells well. Marion Cunningham (1922-2012) has been the cookbook’s most recent regular author.

Farmer also wrote other books including one that was particularly important to her: Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent. The book specified diets for certain illnesses, and also stressed the importance of making food attractive and fun for those who were ill.

Popular Lecturer

As a result of her fame as an author, Farmer became a sought-after lecturer in both New York and Boston, sometimes speaking at fine restaurants and other times at medical schools.

By 1902, she started Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery. Farmer was enormously popular. Between her book royalties and income from the school, she had enough money to buy land, build a house, and support her parents and sisters.

Sometime after 1910, Farmer suffered a series of strokes which confined her to a wheelchair. But as soon as she felt a little better, she was back at work at her school and continuing to lecture until she died.

After Fannie Farmer’ death, one of her teachers, Alice Bradley, took over the business and ran it until the mid-1940s.  Of course, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in numerous forms is still in print today. The book continues to be updated regularly and still sells well. Marion Cunningham (1922-2012) was the cookbook’s most recent regular author.

To read about another entrepreneur of this era, read about Esther Howland and her valentine company.

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