Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Nelson, Kay Shaw
Title:	Kay Shaw Nelson Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1848-2007
Quantity:	15.25 linear ft.
Abstract:	Collection of American and international menus, recipes, cookbooks.
Language:	English, Russian, Danish , and Swedish.
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Kay Shaw Nelson (1926-2019) was an American writer and researcher on a variety of current and historical topics relating to food and travel.

Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, Nelson graduated from Syracuse University in 1948 with a degree in Russian studies and journalism. She worked as a reporter for several New Hampshire newspapers before taking a job as an intelligence officer for the CIA. Beginning in 1951, she and her husband Wayne, also a CIA intelligence officer, spent many years abroad in the Middle East, the Far East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean. In 1997 she wrote an introduction entitled "How to go from spies to pies: Operation Gastronomy" for the best-selling cookbook Spies, Black Ties, & Mango Pies: Stories and Recipes from CIA Families All Over the World. She wrote numerous cookbooks on topics ranging from soups and salads to cooking with yogurt and mushrooms. She also wrote hundreds of articles for national publications such as the Washington Post, Gourmet, Woman's Day, and Family Circle, and contributed to newspapers as a columnist and culinary historian.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Kay Shaw Nelson Papers consist of menus, personal papers, recipes, and research materials.

Menus contains menus from all over the world, including Australia, China, India, New Zealand, North Africa, and the United States. There are also menus from airlines, trains, and cruises, like the R.M.S. Queen Mary and the S.S. United States. The bulk of the menus seem to be gathered during Nelson and her husband's time abroad working for the CIA, yet the majority of menus have no dates to verify this.

Personal papers includes articles written by Nelson, some biographical material, like a few photographs and several articles about her, promotional material for and reviews of her cookbooks, and a group of materials collected by Nelson. This personal collection includes culinary journals, a Jerusalem menus booklet, an African Diaspora Cookbook published by the Smithsonian, a set of Russian recipes in Russian, and more.

Recipes consists of books, bookets, pamphlets, and other printed items, and demonstrates the wide range of food topics Nelson found interesting, from Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine and seafood to Scandinavian cuisines and Arabic recipes. While there are a few booklets written in Danish or Swedish for a native audience, the vast majority of recipes and booklets are in English and intended for an American audience. Thus, the Japanese and Chinese booklets are traditional Chinese dishes but written with the American cook in mind. Several of the booklets were published by corporate manufacturers of food or food-related products, including Campbell's Soup and Reynnolds Wrap. An important recipe book in this collection is a mid-to-late nineteenth and early twentieth century recipe book written by Edouard Lambert, a French-trained chef. Included in the book is a job application letter written by Lambert in 1909 specifying his credentials to a prospective employer and offering several chefs as reference when he worked in France and New York City. Before his recipe section are several poems by Lambert. The whole book is written in French, suggesting that he was either French or from a French-speaking country.

Research materials includes articles and newspaper clippings on different topics, like fish, Inupiat and Alaska, Key West, Florida, and the Shakers, pertinent to her cookbooks and culinary history articles.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The original order created by Nelson was kept when appropriate. The collection is arranged alphabetically then chronologically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Many of the cookbooks donated with the menu collection have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to Libraries Search and search "Gift of Kay Shaw Nelson" for a complete listing.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kay Shaw Nelson Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Kay Shaw Nelson, 2008, 2010, 2013.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 15 Sep 2008
Revision history: 11 Jul 2023 - processed (RMH)

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Inventory

	Menus
Box 1		Airline menus circa 1975-2000
Oversize 1		Airline menus circa 1975-2000
Box 1		Australia
Oversize 4		Australia
Box 1		Austria
Box 1		Barbados
Oversize 1		Belgium
Box 2		Canada
Oversize 4		Canada
Box 1		China
Oversize 4		China
Box 1		Costa Rica
		Cruises
Box 1			Mn. Saturnia 1937
Box 1			Ms. Kazakhstan 1979
Box 1			R.M.S. Queen Mary 1965
Box 1			S.S. Constitution 1954
Oversize 1			S.S. Libertee 1953
Box 1			S.S. United States 1954, 1968
Box 1			Tss. Fairwind 1982
Box 2			Miscellaneous
Box 2		Denmark
Oversize 4		Denmark
Box 2		England
Oversize 4		England
Oversize 4		Fiji
Box 2		France
Oversize 4		France
Box 2		Germany (2 folders)
Box 2		Germany - Berlin
Oversize 4		Germany
Box 2		Great Britain (2 folders)
Oversize 2		Great Britain
Box 2		India (2 folders)
Oversize 2		India
Box 3		Ireland (2 folders)
Oversize 4		Ireland
Box 3		Italy
Oversize 4		Italy
Oversize 4		Liechtenstein (Vaduz)
Oversize 4		Mexico
Box 3		Mongolia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand
Box 3		New Zealand
Oversize 4		New Zealand
Box 3		North Africa
Box 3		Norway
Box 3		Poland
Box 3		Portugal
Oversize 2		Prague
Oversize 4		Puerto Rico
Oversize 2		Rio
Box 3		Russia
Box 3		Spain
Box 3		Sweden
Oversize 4		Sweden
Box 3		Switzerland
Box 3		Turkey, Greece
Box 3		Train menus
Oversize 4		Train menus
		United States
Box 3			California
Box 3			The Carolinas
Oversize 2			The Carolinas
Box 3			Florida
Oversize 4			Florida
Oversize 6			Florida - retractable bag from Dominique's
Oversize 5			Georgia
Box 3			Kentucky
Oversize 5			Kentucky
Box 3			Maryland
Oversize 5			Maryland
Box 4			Midwest
Oversize 3			Midwest
Box 4			New England
Oversize 5			New Orleans
Box 4			New York
Oversize 5			New York
Box 4			Pennsylvania
Oversize 5			Pennsylvania
Oversize 3			Seattle, Washington
Box 4			South/Southwest
Oversize 5			Texas
Box 4			Virginia
Oversize 4			Virginia
Box 4			Washington, D.C. (4 folders)
Box 5			Washington, D.C.
Oversize 5			Washington, D.C.
Box 5			West Virginia
Box 5		Miscellaneous - American chain restaurants
Oversize 5		Miscellaneous - American chain restaurants

	Personal papers
Box 5		Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy circa 1910
		Articles by
Box 5			Index to articles
Box 5			Americana 1977-1980
Box 5			Caribbean 1992-1995
Box 5			Country 1983-1985
Box 5			Cuisine 1982-1984
Box 5			Family Circle 1976-1980
Box 5			First magazine and food and travel articles 1962-1963
Box 5			Gourmet 1960-1976 (2 folders)
Box 5			House and Garden's 1966-1969
Box 5			Scottish articles 1985, 1989-1994, 1999-2001, 2007
Box 5			The Scottish Banner 1993-2002
Box 6			Syracuse University The Daily Orange 1946
Box 6			The Washington Post 1974-1982 (3 folders)
Oversize 3			Washington Woman 2001-2008
Box 6			The Washingtonian 1977
Box 6			Woman's Day 1963-1966, 1970, 1979, 1998 (5 folders)
Box 6			The World and I 1990-1994
Box 6		[Biographical material] 1969-1973, 1980-1984, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2005-2006
		Books by
Box 6			Information about Kay Shaw Nelson's cookbooks 1965-1966, 1979, 1983
Box 6			All Along the Rhine 2001
Box 6			Bonnie Scottish Cookbook 1988-1989
Box 7			The Best of Western European Cooking 1976
Box 7			The Complete International Breakfast/Brunch Cookbooks 1982
Box 7			The Complete International One-Dish Meal Cookbooks 1980-1981
Box 7			The Complete International Salad Book 1977-1978
Box 7			The Complete International Soup Cookbook 1980-1981
Box 7			Cuisines of the Alps 2005
Box 7			Cuisines of the Caucasus Mountains 2002
Box 7			The Delectable Vegetable 1976-1977
Box 7			The Eastern European Cookbook 1973
Box 7			The Magic of Mushroom Cooking 1971
Box 7			Pasta Plain and Fancy 1971, 1974
Box 7			The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook 1999
Box 7			Soups and Stews 1974-1975
Box 7			Yogurt Cookery Good and Gourmet 1972-1973
Box 7		[Books on Russia history and language] 1940, 1947
Oversize 6		Lambert, Edouard recipe book circa 1848-circa 1910 - several poems written by Lambert in the front
Box 7		Special Collection circa 1960-circa 1995 - culinary journals, wine making in Germany, clippings, Jerusalem menus booklet, etc. (3 folders)
Box 8		Special Collection circa 1960-circa 1995 - Festival of American Folklife recipe books, Russian cuisine in Russian, Venezuelan recipes, African Diaspora cookbook, etc. (4 folders)

	Recipes
		Cultural/regional
Box 8			[Arabic] undated
Box 8			[Chinese] 1936, 1957, 1962
Box 8			[Danish] circa 1955-circa 1965 (2 folders)
Box 8			[French] 1952, 1963, undated
Box 8			[German] 1964, undated
Box 8			[Indian] 1977
Box 9			[Irish] 1959, circa 1975
Box 9			[Italian] 1956, 1966, 1981
Box 9			[Japanese] circa 1950, 1972
Box 9			[Louisiana] circa 1960-circa 1980 (3 folders)
Box 9			[Mexico] 1935, 1954, 1974
Box 9			[Native American] circa 1970
Box 9			[North American] circa 1957-1977, 1998 (3 folders)
Box 9			[Norwegian] 1967, 1974
Box 9			[Pacific Island] circa 1965
Box 10			[Pennsylvania Dutch] 1936, 1960, 1986
Oversize 5			[Pennsylvania Dutch] 1936
Box 10			[Scandinavian] 1974
Box 10			[South American] circa 1950-1960, 1991
Box 10			[Spanish] circa 1960-1970
Box 10			[Switzerland] circa 1960-circa 1980
		Ingredients
Box 10			[Alcoholic drinks] 1962, 1985, undated
Box 10			[Potatoes] 1954, 1973
Box 10			[Rice] 1937, 1963, 1971, 1995, undated
Box 10			[Seafood] circa 1940-circa 1985 (5 folders)
Box 11			[Miscellaneous] 1962-1968
		Specilty topics
Box 11			[Cookbook catalogs] 1981, 1992-1993, undated
Box 11			Diet and nutrition 1964-1980 (3 folders)
Box 11			[Dishes] 1953-1955, 1972, 1979
Box 11			[General cooking] 1970-1975
Box 11			[Holiday meals] 1983-1989, undated
Box 11			[Hospitality] 1940, 1961, 1977, undated
Box 11			Manufacturers' recipes booklets 1915-circa 1985 (2 folders)
Box 12			Manufacturers' recipes booklets 1915-circa 1985 (9 folders)
Box 13			Manufacturers' recipes booklets 1915-circa 1985 (2 folders)
Oversize 6			Mrs. Beeton Cookery Book 1945
Box 13			Soyer's Cookery Book by Alexis Soyer 1959
Box 13			[Wine and food library] 1981-1985

	Research materials
Box 13		[Alternative protein] circa 1952-circa 2000
Box 13		Arkansas 1987-1989, 1992
Box 13		[Campbell’s soup] 1958, 1990, 2005, undated
Box 13		[Chefs and cookbook authors] 1967, circa 1980-circa 2000
Box 13		[Cultural cuisines] 1968-1999
Box 13		[Emu] 1995
Box 13		[Fish] circa 1975-circa 1980
Box 13		[Garlic] 1980, 1988
Box 13		Inupiat and Alaska 1993-1995, undated
Box 13		[Hungary] 1971, 1993
Box 13		Kentucky circa 1980-circa 1995
Box 13		[Key West, Florida] 1969, 1974, 1981, 1984
Box 14		[Maine] circa 1955-circa 1970
Box 14		Michigan 1993
Box 14		Moravian 1970-1980, 1986, 1996
Box 14		Nevada 1974, 1985
Box 14		[Portugal] 1970-1989
Box 14		Rhode Island circa 1985
Box 14		Shakers 1968-circa 1985
Box 14		[Misellaneous notes] 1997, undated

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