Henley's Formulas for Home & Workshop

I love this book, because it teaches you how to mix up everything from Antiseptic Nervine Ointment and Douche Powder for Women to Horse Embrocations and Liniments, Hair Restoration Rubrefacients, Mustache Fixing Liquid, Macerated Brandy Bitters, Slug Poison, Varnish Remover, Hydraulic Cement, and Cashmere Nosegay Perfume. Oh, boy!

Readers interested in turn-of-the-century chemistry, processes, and tricks of the trade used in industry and the home at that time, might like to check out Henley’s Twentieth Century book of Recipes, Formulas and Processes, Edited by Gardner D.Hiscox.

I’ve owned the original 1907 first edition of Hiscox’s classic work for a while, and love the way my copy is discoloured and bleached by chemical splashes. Not by me, I hasten to add; but this book was used for its intended purpose! Whether the former owner, a James McQueen Jr. according to the bookplate, lived long and prospered because of its secrets, or in spite of them, is a different matter.

And those secrets were intended for all; as we learn in the preface:

“In compiling this book of formulas, recipes and processes, the Editor has endeavoured to meet primarily the practical requirements of the mechanic, the manufacturer, the artisan, and the housewife.”

Some of the information is innocuous enough. You can learn how your great grandmother made blackberry jam; and Celery Clam Punch or Cherry Phosphate (with real phosphoric acid, maybe the origin of cherry coke?) sound refreshing for a summer evening.

But some of the medical cures are distinctly dodgy. We worry enough today about tanning products, but Hiscox’s tan cure, made from bichloride of mercury, sounds lethal. Helpfully, he points out that:

“This is not strong enough to blister and skin the face in average cases.“

Phew, good job most folk are average. Responsibly, he adds:

“Do not forget that this last ingredient [the mercury compound] is a powerful poison and should be kept out of the reach of children and ignorant persons.“

Folk would have taken Hiscox’s Cannabis indica based cure for corns in their stride (ouch!). And concern over the pinch of cinnabar in his nail polish would be just another case of health and safety gone mad.

But surely, even by the standards of the time, Hiscox’s idea of a light-hearted party trick must have raised some eyebrows (or literally blown them off): like ‘To take boiling lead in the mouth’, ‘Biting off red hot iron’, ‘Sparks from the finger tips’. And ‘The burning banana’ doesn’t bear thinking about.
hiscox recipes formulas and processes

Some recipes were probably safe, but just sound a little icky. Like a nice pomade for sir’s hair, made from vaseline oil and beef marrow. Blue hosiery dye called for some ingredients I’ve never heard of: like 4 pounds of Guatamala and 3 pounds of Beugal Indigo; and others I have heard of: like 1 pail of urine. Hiscox also contains lots of paint and ink recipes but, disappointingly, there’s no mention of the infamous Mummy Brown.

‘Solid Alcohol’ sounds quite useful, maybe as a firelighter. I made something similar as a schoolboy, by dissolving soap in methylated spirit.

There’s nothing in Hiscox to separate the domestic from the industrial. Content is alphabetically indexed, but otherwise all mixed up. The section on glass includes industrial formulas for making different glass types and colourings in the furnace, but also includes instructions for a home-made glass grinding device.

Interestingly, Recipes, Formulas And Processes was republished through many revisions and editions into at least the 1930s. But I’m sure today there is nothing quite like it – unless we include the internet as a whole. It’s worth considering that when Hiscox was published, the welfare and commercial infrastructure we take for granted today (some of us) was much less developed or non-existent. No popping down to the mall for a ready-made solution to every task. Folk just did more of their own stuff.

And should you decide to do more of your own stuff, don’t do it from Hiscox! He’s academically interesting to browse, but clearly some of his recipes and ideas are best left well alone.

1st ed exc. Encyclopedia alphabetical listing of just about everything including how to makes liquors, cordials bitters, absinthe, &c. A 5 pound tome. ( )

It's a good thing that many of the ingredients specified in this book are no longer readily available, but it makes for terrific browsing: A cough syrup is concocted from heroin, aromatic sulphuric acid, concentrated acid infusion of roses, distilled water, glycerine, and oxymel of squill.

Some of less-toxic recipes might be fun to explore--cosmetics, condiments, and so forth. ( )

I love this kind of book. I haven't tried any of the formulas yet and some of them look fishy...especially their dandruff treatment but it makes for an interesting read about how one can can make almost anything ( )