174 New Yoek at thk World's Columbian Exposition. 



The Cooking School Exhibit. 



In the last week of June, 1892, Mrs. Stranahan received a commu- 

 nication from Mrs. Palmer, expressing the desire that a cooking school 

 exhibit should he made by New York State, as cooking schools had 

 originated there. This was followed by othpr letters urging 'New 

 Yorl^'s acting, as New York alone was expected to have a coo.king 

 school. The exhibit was classed among educational interests, and, after 

 a meeting of the executive committee, Mrs. Stranahan, as a member 

 of the educational committee, was asked and consented to take charge 

 of this department. 



Miss Juliet Corson was named as the best exponent of the New York 

 cooking school, but it was known she was in bad health, and there 

 seemed little hope of her being able to take upon herself the responsi- 

 bility. When the subject was bi'oached to her by Mrs. Stranahan, 

 however, she was found to be eager to assume charge of this important 

 exhibit. 



During the summer of 1892 Mr. Thacher suggested to Mrs. Strana- 

 han that a restaurant might be estabhshed in connection with the cook- 

 ing school ; a contract was, therefore, drawn with articles to admit of 

 conducting one. It was afterwards decided by the board that the 

 proposition should be given up. Miss Corson was invited to appear 

 before the board at the meeting of September Y, 1892, and then stated 

 that she had made a complete plan for a cooking school exhibit, and 

 that the board would not be required to furnish any financial aid. 

 When asked how she proposed to pay the expenses of the exhibit, she 

 replied in a manner of self-reliance in which the board was led to place 

 great confidence. Miss Corson's professional ability was well known, 

 and at this interview personal intercourse also made apparent her native 

 gifts. She afterwards said that manufacturers with whom she had had 

 dealings for years would aid her. A suggestion from the letter of Mrs. 

 Palmer, whose comprehensive knowledge grasped even these details, 

 that this might be a method of furnishing a model kitchen, added force 

 to the proposition and it was accepted. The board expressed itself ae 

 very grateful that one exhibit could be made without an appropriation 

 from the State. 



There is no doubt now that Miss Corson undertook more than her 

 strength would admit of her carrying out. There were other things 

 also that militated against her success. Allowing that the manufactur- 

 ers would have been glad to aid by sending their goods and cooking 

 utensils for her use, there was a lack of enthusiasm among them for 

 the exposition, and this, combined with the hard times, prevented her 

 receiving the co-operation expected. Miss Corson had also relied upon 

 the theory that New York would be the only State making an exhibit 

 of cooking in the Woman's Building, conditions that soon became 

 changed. Mrs. Palmer's plan was not to have Miss Corson director of 

 the entire cooking school exhibit, as was first supposted, but to have 

 Miss Corson's demonstrations at stated times during the week in alter- 

 nation with other cooking school teachers. Every confidence continued 

 to be felt in Miss Corson until it was found that she had prepare* a 



