Farmer, Fannie

Farmer, Fannie (Merritt)

(born March 23, 1857, Boston, Mass., U.S.—died Jan. 15, 1915, Boston) U.S. cookery expert. She became director of the Boston Cooking School in 1894 and in 1896 published The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Standardizing the methods and measurements of recipes, it became one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time; its modern versions were titled The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. In 1902 she established Miss Farmer's School of Cookery, with courses designed to train housewives rather than teachers of cookery.

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Farmer, Fannie (Merritt) (1857–1915) home economist; born in Boston, Mass. She became interested in food preparation while working as "mother's helper," and enrolled (1887) in the Boston Cooking School. She stayed on and became its director in 1894, resigning to open Miss Farmer's School of Cooking (1902) to teach practical food preparation. She turned increasingly to diets for the sick and convalescent, teaching nurses and dieticians. Although well known in Boston, she became nationally famous for her Boston Cooking School Cook Book, first published in 1896 (at her expense because the publisher thought it was too risky); now called "Fannie Farmer's" it is still going strong some 12 editions later. She spent her later years lecturing throughout the country and cowriting a monthly column for Women's Home.