Cottolene was made as a substitute for lard or butter from hog fat and cotton oil. The N.K. Fairbank Company was in Chicago with the meat processing plants. Major cooks of the day contributed recipes to the book 'Home Helps: A Pure Food Cook Book', such as Lincoln, Rorer and Harland. Although there are recipes using Cottolene, many of the recipes do not. The most used page in my copy is for a recipe checked off for Potatoes au Gratin by Lida Ames Willis. Cottolene won awards and had large exhibits at the various expositions of the time, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 and the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. The picture is from the back cover of 'Home Helps'.
Home Helps, a pure food cook book.
1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. The Cotolene Booth.
COTTOLENE and the mysterious disappearance of lard
Mining conditions in Bisbee AZ Aug 29, 1917. prices
How much did it cost in Morris County, New Jersey? Feb. 1905
Entrance to Cottolene Exhibit on Front Cover
Claude Hopkins advertising Swift's Conosuet
Cotosuet. Hopkins advertising
Cotosuet trade cards at Miami University
Cinderella of the New South: A History of the Cottonseed Industry, 1855-1955