"Certified" The Story of a Country Girl's Visit to Chicago

Chicago: Wm. J. Moxley, Inc., 1913.

Softcover. Very good. 5.5" x 8", [16] pp, illustrated. One crease on front cover, light handling wear; very good. An engaging promotional piece for margarine, intended to convince readers of the product's virtues (sanitary, flavorful, inexpensive) relative to butter. Told in the first-person, it recounts the adventures of "Polly," a young woman from the fictional small town of Happy Center, who travels to Chicago to visit relatives. Upon her arrival, a passing wagon carrying Moxley's Oleomargeine sparks a debate. Polly looks down her nose, confident that the butter her mother makes is a far superior product. But her cousin insists on taking her for a tour of the the Wm. J. Moxley factory, where she sees the entire manufacturing process and becomes a zealous convert. In the course of her tale, we learn about the strict enforcement of sanitary conditions in the factory (not like those dirty farms), the high quality of real cream that goes into the product, how oleomargarine is made germ-free through heat ("but we let our cream sit around and sour and take up all the germs it can get"), and how inexpensive it is, while still being "just as sweet and wholesome as butter." An interesting artifact of a time of growing public awareness of food safety issues. Three copies located in OCLC.

Item #22099

Price: $60.00