Bertha F. Stockstrom Recipe Book

Collection

Identifier: A3084

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The recipe book is undated and includes mostly handwritten recipes. Additionally, there are loose pages of printed and handwritten recipes, a page of verses, and a pattern with notes for knitting a baby sweater, the only non-cooking item in the book. (Please note that for preservation purposes, the pages have been removed from the binder.)

Several of the recipes near the front of the book are German dishes for which ingredient lists and instructions are written in English. Other recipes are for various types of cake, novelty breads, jellies and marmalade, pies, scalloped oysters, soups, stuffed eggs, and pickled peaches.

Dates

No date

Creator

Stockstrom, Bertha F. (Meister), 1865-1941 (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.

Biographical Sketch

Bertha Friedericke Stockstrom was born in 1865 to Freiderich W. and Freidericke (Thilenius) Meister in St. Louis, Missouri. Freiderich Meister was a grocer and merchant who served for a number of years as president of the German Savings Institution. In 1889, Bertha married Louis Stockstrom (1858-1945) and the couple had three children: Eleanor McMillan Brown, Arthur L. Stockstrom, and Jessie B. Russell.

In 1881, Louis Stockstrom, his older brother Charles (1852-1935), and their brother-in-law Charles Kahle (Adele Stockstrom) formed a partnership to manufacture and market stoves, founding the Quick Meal Stove Company and the Ringen Stove Company, respectively. The companies had much success and became known as the American Stove Company and then as Magic Chef.

Bertha was a friend of Irma Rombauer, author of The Joy of Cooking, with whom she most likely shared recipes. Bertha and Irma both grew up in prominent German households and they both worked with the South Side Charity Circle (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 13 Mar 1910). Irma’s father, Baron Hugo M. von Starkloff, had a home built at 3153 Longfellow Boulevard in 1895 due to the feeling of German community that existed in the Compton Heights neighborhood. In 1903, Louis and Bertha hired Ernst Janssen to design and build their home at 3263 Hawthorne in the same neighborhood. In 1908, Jansenn completed a home for Charles Stockstrom at nearby 3400 Russell Boulevard, which is popularly known as the Magic Chef Mansion.