The Story of Crisco

by Marion Harris Neil

Great foresight was shown in the making of Crisco.

The quality, as well as the quantity, of lard was diminishing steadily in the face of a growing population. Prices were rising. "The high-cost-of-living" was an oft-repeated phrase. Also, our country was outgrowing its supply of butter. What was needed, therefore, was not a substitute, but something better than these fats, some product which not only would accomplish as much in cookery, but a great deal more.

When, therefore, Crisco was perfected, and it was shown that here finally was an altogether new and better fat, cookery experts were quick to show their appreciation.

In reading the following pages, think of Crisco as a primary cooking fat or shortening with even more individuality (because it does greater things), than all others.

Man's Most Important Food, Fat

No other food supplies our bodies with the drive, the vigor, which fat gives. No other food has been given so little study in proportion to its importance.

Here are interesting facts, yet few housewives are acquainted with them:

Fat contains more than twice the amount of energy-yielding power or calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates. One half our physical energy is from the fat we eat in different forms. The excellent book, "Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent," by Fannie Merritt Farmer, states, "In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat cannot be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems to play some part in the formation of young tissues which cannot be undertaken by any other constituent of food...."

The book entitled "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning," by the two authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S. Maria Elliott, states that the diet of school children should be regulated carefully with the fat supply in view. Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat. It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and should be one that their digestions welcome, rather than repel.