A Blog About Nature in Our DuPage Forest Preserves
Wayne Hill
Wayne Hill is a heritage interpreter at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago, with more than 30 years at the Forest Preserve District. He enjoys teaching forest preserve patrons about history and the environment. He earned a B.A. in behavioral science and M.S. in human-resource development and management.
In the 1890s, medicine was largely unregulated in the United States. While professional organizations for doctors and nurses existed, many Americans, including most rural farmers, relied on heirloom family recipes for relief of coughs and colds.
Candy confections were a sweet part of historic holiday farm life. In 1895, both the Sears and Roebuck Co. and Montgomery Ward Co. catalogs had candy departments where families could purchase supplies to make their heirloom candy recipes. The catalogs offered over 30 different flavors of oil alone.