Julie Van Rosendaal
Collecting Culinaria
An exhibition of cookbooks menus and domestic manuals opened last week at the Lougheed House a museum and historic site located in the heart of the Beltline.
In its day when the city’s population was under 4000 the grand sandstone prairie mansion was not only a home but a hub of social and political activity.
Built in 1891 it was home to Senator James Alexander Lougheed Lady Isabella Hardisty Lougheed their six children and staff. It was subsequently enlarged in 1907 but following the depression a couple decades later the estate was unable to pay the property taxes and the city took legal title to the house among many others in 1934.
Lady Lougheed was permitted to remain in residence at ‘the Big House’ until her death in 1936 and today the Lougheed House Conservation Society preserves the estate running a small restaurant school programs and exhibitions like this one.
The Linda Miron Distad Culinaria Collection currently housed at the University of Alberta Libraries consists of more than 3000 food-related texts from around the world spanning several centuries. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue highlight some of the collection’s most intriguing printed material including cookbooks flyers and advertisements menus and health manuals providing a unique peek into our cultural and gastronomic history.
Collecting Culinaria is downstairs at the Lougheed House 707 13th Ave. S.W. (403) 244-6333 until October 5 2014. For more information visit lougheedhouse.com .
