The Royal Alexandra Cook Book

Ladies Hospital Aid of the Royal Alexandra Hospital - 1912

Edmonton’s Ladies Hospital Aid, founded in 1898, paid the initial $8000 cost of opening the 25-bed Edmonton Public Hospital in 1900 (Infofile). The cornerstone was laid in 1910 for a replacement hospital, which opened in 1912. This new building, featured on the cover page, was constructed in the English Revival Style and designed by Edmonton architect Roland Lines (Herzog). It was named for Alexandra, the wife of Edward VII. Cookbooks have been a consistent fundraiser for the Ladies Aid (later renamed the Auxiliary): they produced the Royal Alexandra Book of Household Science around 1928 and another fundraising book in 1989–90. The recipes in this 1912 book are extremely compact: perhaps the editors tried to save space in order to include recipes from as many contributors as possible, or maybe they assumed an experienced readership, knowledgeable in the processes of Prairie cookery. This book also picked up extra revenue through advertisements, including what appears to be embedded advertising for Capital Flour, perhaps a product of the Regina-based Capital Flour and Feed.

With permission from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Women's Auxiliary.