"In order to get the same results that we get at the site [Watkins Woolen Mill Historic Site] you will need to use period ingredients: real butter, cream, and so on, when using these recipes. Otherwise, they will not taste the same and some may not work at all. Old recipes were designed for use with unbleached flour and often will not work with bleached flour because of additives and bleaching agents that cause the flour to act differently...a historic recipe will not taste the same and may not work properly when you substitute modern ingredients. This is particularly true for the use of lard in cooking fried chicken and piecrust.

These recipes were originally [done on a] woodstove or open hearth. A conversion table for period measurements [follows]:

MEASUREMENTS

Old recipes used different units of measurement than we do today. Standardized measurements did not appear until 1896. Where teaspoons or tablespoons are mentioned they are the spoons people ate or served with, a cup meant a teacup and a glass or tumbler was a small water glass. The following table gives the modern equivalents for the period measurement used in the recipes.

LIQUIDS

1 pint = 16 ounces or 2 cups
1 pint of liquid = 1 pound
1 gill = 1/2 cup or 4 ounces
1/2 gill = 1/4 cup or 2 ounces
1 kitchen cup = 1 cup or 8 ounces
1 tumbler = 1 cup or 8 ounces
16 Tablespoons. liquid = 1 cupful
1 wineglass = 1 gill
1 tablespoon = 1/2 ounce
4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
salt spoon = 1/4 teaspoon
60 drops = 1 teaspoon

DRY INGREDIENTS

1 heaping quart of sifted flour = 1 pound
4 cups flour = 1 pound or 1 quart
3 cups cornmeal = 1 pound
1 1/2 pints cornmeal = 1 pound
1 pint white sugar = 2 cups or 1 pound
1 pint brown sugar = 13 ounces
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar = 1 pound
1 rounded tablespoon flour = 1/2 ounce, or one modern tablespoon

MISCELLANEOUS

1 egg = 1 medium egg
10 eggs (or 9 large eggs) = 1 pound
1 solid pint of chopped meat = 1 pound
A dash = 3 good shakes
A pottle = 2 quarts or 4 pounds
1 peck = 8 quarts or 2 gallons
1 bushel = 4 pecks or 8 gallons
1 tablespoon butter = 1 ounce
1 pint butter = 2 cups or 1 pound
1 cup butter = 1/2 pound or 8 ounces
Butter the size of a hickory nut = 1 heaping teaspoon or 1/2 ounce
Butter the size of a walnut = 2 heaping teaspoons or 1 ounce
Butter the size of an egg = 1/3 cup or 2 ounces
Butter the size of a goose egg = 3/4 stick, 3/8 cup, or 3 ounces
1 package yeast = 2 teaspoons"

Credit: Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks