My final project at the museum was to make my own exhibit, mine was about cookbooks. Exciting, I know. But when we got an old cookbook, The New Dixie Cook-Book, I felt connected to (who as far as we know) the original owner. I came with recipes written on scrap paper and newspaper clippings of recipes from columnist Mrs. Dull. After picking my theme I was given an older version in the Dixie Cook-Book series, The Unrivaled Dixie Cook-Book. I researched both books and Mrs. Dull, transcribed one of the hand written recipes, one of Mrs. Dull’s recipes, and a recipe from each of the books. I printed out copies of the later three for people to take with them to try and cook at home.
I made signs for each book with a brief description of both and a sign about Mrs. Dull. To make the table more pleasing I also used old cooking utensils and put a table cloth down that fit with the southern home cooking theme of the exhibit. To show the viewers what made the cookbook interesting to me in the first place I hung the hand written recipes and newspaper recipes on the wall. I named my exhibit “Southern Home Cooking.”
