Marthe Miral Explained

Marthe Miral was a fictional Francophone author or "house name" created by the Maple Leaf Milling Company Limited to market cookbooks to a French-speaking Canadian audience during the Great Depression.^[1] "Anna Lee Scott" was the Anglophone version of the author created by the flour company to market cookbooks, "home study" courses, hospitality and etiquette manuals to Canadian women in print and through newspaper and radio advertising.^{[2] [3]} According to Elizabeth Driver, the following individuals published under the Anna Lee Scott/Marthe Miral pseudonyms: Katherine Caldwell Bayley, Grace Barbara Gray, Ethel Whitham, Mary Adams, Helen Gagen, and Sally Henry.

Katherine Caldwell Bayley was a home economist who also published under the persona Ann Adam for The Globe & Mail and the Winnipeg Free Press in the 1930s as well as Anna Lee Scott for the Maple Leaf Milling company.^[4] Grace Barbara Gray (1908-1977) was a graduate of the MacDonald Institute in Guelph.^[5] She served as a dietician in the Canadian Navy at Halifax during the Second World War before joining Maple Leaf Milling and publishing under the persona from 1945 to 1951.^[6] Ethel Whitham took on the persona from 1951 to 1957, followed by Mary Adams from 1957 to 1963. Helen Gagen (1908-1998) was a home economist, who graduated from the University of Toronto.^[7] She and Sally Henry were the final two women to publish under the Anna Lee Scott.

Publications

• Scott, Anna Lee. Maple Leaf Cooking School.: A Complete Home Study Course for Beginners and Others in Twelve Easy Lessons.^[8] https://whatcanadaate.lib.uoguelph.ca/exhibits/show/food-history-class-exhibit/item/22
• Scott, Anna Lee. Christmas Recipes. Toronto: Maple Leaf Milling Company, 1930.^[9]
• Miral, Marthe. L'Art de recevoir. Montreal: La Presse, 1934.
• Miral, Marthe. L'art d'acheter les aliments et de composer des menus hygiéniques : l'idéal, pour votre temps et pour votre argent. Montreal: La Presse, 1934.
• Scott, Anna Lee. Planning the Party. Montreal: Montreal Daily Star, 193-?].
• Miral, Marthe. 51 Façons d'atteindre Le Coeur d'un Homme. Toronto: Maple Leaf Milling Company, 1939.
• Scott, Anna Lee. 51 Ways to a Man's Heart. Toronto: Maple Leaf Milling Company, 1939.

External links

• Digitized copies of works attributed to Marthe Miral held at the Bibliotheque et Archives Nationale du Quebec
• Digitized copies of works attributed to Anna Lee Scott from the Internet Archive.
• Digitized copies of works attributed to Marthe Miral from the Internet Archive.

Notes and References

1. Book: Cooke, Nathalie. Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada. Mihalache. Irina. Ridolfo. Elizabeth. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. 2018. 978-0-7727-6124-8. Toronto. 35. en.
2. Book: Driver, Elizabeth. Culinary landmarks : a bibliography of Canadian cookbooks, 1825-1949. University of Toronto Press. Gibson Library Connections. 2010. 978-1-4426-8780-6. Toronto [Ont.]. 280. 635458089.
3. Web site: Maple Leaf Cooking School: Meet The Author. 2022-02-13. What Canada Ate. en-US.
4. Web site: CooksInfo. Katherine Caldwell Bayley. 2022-02-13. CooksInfo. en-US.
5. Web site: Maple Leaf Cooking School: Did You Know?. What Canada Ate.
6. Driver, 2010, p.628.
7. Web site: Helen Gagen Collection Library. 2022-02-13. www.lib.uoguelph.ca.
8. Web site: The True Fundamentals of Good Cooking : Maple Leaf Cooking School That Every Girl May Learn To Cook: A Complete Home Study Course for Beginners and Others in Twelve Easy Lessons Lessons 1-2-3-4. What Canada Ate.
9. Book: Scott, Anna Lee. Christmas recipes. 1930. Toronto : Maple Leaf Milling Company. McGill University Library. en.