Dainty Desserts for Dainty People is available for download from archive.org, aka The Wayback Machine. It won’t cost you a penny, though you should consider making a contribution to support their work and help insure such treasures continue to be accessible.
In 1915 when this booklet was published, there was no such thing as pre-flavored jello. You had your choice of Knox Sparkling Gelatine #1 and Knox Sparkling Gelatine #3 (#2 is never spoken of). Each contains two envelopes that will make one quart of a jelled product; each contains an envelope of Pink Vegetable Coloring should you feel the urge to dye your product; #3 also includes an envelope of Lemon flavoring and thus is Acidulated.
There are quite a number of basic recipes for such treats as Jellied Prunes and Rhubarb Jelly (both on p 9), but we’re most drawn to recipes that seek to reproduce traditional dishes in gelatin (like Bavarian Cream, p 11) or use the medium in wildly creative ways. Marshmallow Crème (p 14), for example, has you beat egg whites into a gel base (hence “marshmallow”), divide the result into thirds, then add the pink coloring to one batch, melted chocolate to a second and lemon to the third for a result much like Neapolitan ice cream.
As a bonus, Dainty Desserts for Dainty People includes guidelines on how to set a table, how to seat guests and how to serve a formal meal. (“When dinner is announced the host should enter the dining room with the guest of honor. The hostess with the man guest of honor [sic] should be the last to enter. The guests should stand back of their chairs until the hostess is seated, and each man should adjust the chair for the lady he is escorting and see that she is comfortably seated before he takes his place at her side.”)
It is their hope, say the publishers, that “with the aid of this little book the housewife will find the making of a great variety of appetizing, nourishing and attractive dishes easier and more pleasant.” Check it out!
