Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Home economics was another subject in middle and high school that many students enjoyed and others, not so talented, found daunting. But, it was to prepare one for being a successful homemaker. A little known fact is that while most women did not work outside the home, many food manufacturers hired women as Home Ec directors. Interestingly, this topic ties in to Washington in a rather infamous manner. It is sort of mystery, but not the kind that will leave you asking for justice! Or, maybe it will. We may never know all of the story.

In the early part of the 1900’s, Washington’s own Mr. Dickinson owned a canning factory down on Wood Street. Their residence still stands today. You pass by their stately manor as you head out South Main. The lovely old home sits on a couple of hidden acres resplendent in its size alone. The Dickinson’s lived there with their daughter Jane (graduated from Washington High School in 1933). Jane married Jimmy Putnam and they had two daughters, Tish (graduated 1960) and Jan. For right now, that is your cast.

Mr. Dickinson decided to accept an offer from Libby’s to purchase his operation in the 1920’s. Tish related that her granddad came home and said to her grandmother, Hazel, “We need a good pumpkin pie recipe for Libby’s.” Hazel immediately went to work in her kitchen perfecting the pie she had always served at Thanksgiving. Tish’s mom, Jane, said she ate so many versions of pumpkin pie that she tired of the fruit. A recipe was given to Libby’s and story has it that the recipe on the can belonged to our own Washington resident.

Segue to the food companies, including Libby’s, who hired a generation of women home economists who were responsible for coming up with recipes to entice housewives to purchase their products. Recipe booklets were given freely by manufacturers as encouragement to try their products and to ease the task of preparing a delicious home cooked meals. (Remember, women then weren’t working and had at least 3 meals to cook, 7 days a week). 21 meals a week might be a daunting task today for women who work outside the home. In the early 1900’s, there were no drive through restaurants as most women did not drive or have a car available. “Housewifery” was very different!

Libby, McNeil & Libby, Chicago, IL, hired a “cooking correspondent”, “home economics director”, Mary Hale Martin whose job in their experimental kitchen was to promote their products. On November 25, 1930, Mary Hale Martin suggested some changes for Thanksgiving at home. At the center of the table, use a hollowed out pumpkin filled with oranges, grapes, pears, grapefruit. Use individual candles mounted in apples for effect. Then, the menu she recommends: Tomato Juice Cocktail, Celery Curia, Pickles, Ripe and Green Olives, Whole Turkey Roasted, Minced Ham stuffing, Sweet Potato Stuffing, Stringless Beans in Butter Sauce, Spiced Cranberry Jelly, Hot Rolls, Thanksgiving Plum Salad, Toasted Wafers, Honey Pumpkin Tarts, Salted Nuts, Coffee, Peppermint Patties.

Mary Hale was a public figure who spanned decades with Libby. In the 1940’s, her real name was revealed as Dorothy Gill. So, was there more than one Mary Hale? At the crux of the question is the fact that a Mary Hale told her story about the Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe on the can. She said she baked more than 115 pumpkin pies in one month to develop her so-called Queen’s recipe that is on the label today. If you look at a picture of Mary Hale in the late 20’s and then another one in the 60’s (who, by the way, talks of her jet setting around the globe), you may come to the conclusion that there was likely more than one “Mary Hale” working as a home economics director for Libby, McNeil and Libby.

As to the recipe Hazel Dickinson provided to Libby’s, a Mary Hale may have tweaked it; but my money is on the good old Washington ingenuity of Hazel Dickinson’s expertise in her kitchen on South Main.