A short article titled ‘How to Cook Husbands’ was provided in the September 27, 1893 issue and is reproduced here:

“A good many husbands are utterly spoiled by mismanagement. Some women go about as if their husbands were bladders, and blow them up. Others keep them constantly in hot water; others let them freeze by their carelessness and indifference. Some keep them in a stew by irritating ways and words. Others roast them. Some keep them in a pickle all their lives. It cannot be supposed that any husband will be tender and good, managed in this way, but they are really delicious when properly treated.

In selecting your husband you should not be guided by any silvery appearance, as in buying mackerel, by the golden tint, as if you wanted salmon. Be sure to select him yourself, as tastes differ. Do not go to market for him, as the best are always brought to your door.

It is far better to have none unless you will patiently learn how to cook him. A preserving kettle of the finest porcelain is the best but if you have nothing but an earthen kettle it will do, with care. See that linen in which you wrap him is nicely washed and mended, with the required number of buttons and strings nicely sewed on.

Tie him in the kettle by a strong silken cord called comfort, as the one called duty is apt to be weak. They are apt to fly out of the kettle and be burnt and crusty on the edges, since, like crabs and oysters, you have to cook them while alive. Make a clear steady fire out of love, neatness and cheerfulness. Set him as near this as seems to agree with him. If he sputters and fizzes, do not be anxious; some husbands do this till they are quite done.

Add a little sugar in the form of what confectioners call kisses, but no vinegar or pepper on any account. A little spice improves them, but it must be used with judgment. Do not stick any sharp instrument into him to see if he is becoming tender. Stir him greatly; watch the while, lest he lie too flat and close to the kettle, and so become useless. You cannot fail to know when he is done.

If thus treated, you will find him very digestible, agreeing nicely with you and the children, and he will keep as long as you want, unless you become careless and set him in too cold a place.”

A search through digitised early newspapers on the National Library’s Trove website reveals that this article appeared in about 30 Australian newspapers between 1892 and 1900, including the Bowral Free Press.

It first appeared in June 1892 in the Maitland Mercury which, unlike the local paper, provided some attribution of the source, stating that “in the Baltimore Cooking School, the recipe for cooking a husband so as to make him tender and good, was contributed by a lady presumably of experience. We commend it to our lady readers”.

In February 1900 the Bendigo Independent made mention of a recently published, amusing pamphlet “How to Cook Husbands” written by Elizabeth Strong Worthington of New York and on sale for a shilling. It remained in circulation until at least 1907, the date specified on the cover of a digital copy held on the US-based Open Library website.

The Bowral Free Press followed the ‘Cooking Husbands’ piece in 1893 with its regular Women’s Column, in which a variety of advice was offered, including that:

“To keep the complexion and spirits good, to preserve grace, strength, and agility of motion, there is no gymnasium so valuable, no exercise more beneficent than sweeping, dusting, making beds, washing dishes, and the polishing of brass and silver. One year of such muscular effort within doors, together with regular exercise in the open air, will do more for a woman's complexion than all the lotions and pomades that ever were invented.”

“Beauty and genius are the gifts of Providence, but a good heart is within the power of all to cultivate.”

“Put French chalk or magnesia on silk or ribbon that has become greasy, and hold it near the fire.”

While this quaint advice is not relevant today, perhaps it is still thought-provoking.