At the beginning of the twentieth century, Dallas, Texas was not the
metropolis that it is today. It was a new city that was growing fast.
Poor immigrants were arriving in Dallas in record numbers. In 1850,
Dallas had a population of 430; by 1900, its population exceeded 42,000
people. A year later, in 1901, the first Dallas cookbook, the Lone Star
Cook Book, was compiled and published by the Ladies of the Dallas Free
Kindergarten and Training School. Profits from the sales of the cookbook
were intended to benefit the poor white children of Dallas.