These recipes have sold for five dollars
each, and have been the foundations of
many good-sized fortunes.

This collection of recipes and formulas for making various articles which are in constant use in every household are, for the most part, articles upon which very large profits are made, both by manufacturers and dealers; some things, which cost but two or three cents to make, being retailed for as much as twenty-five cents. We point out to you the proper method to be pursued in the manufacture of these various articles, and expect you to use your own judgment and discretion in the matter of putting them up for market, and exposing them for sale. The goods, when ready for market, may be sold either direct to consumers at retail, or to store-keepers at wholesale. Those who adopt the former method may canvass from house to house, or establish a store and sell therefrom. The various ingredients required to compound all the different articles for which recipes are here given may be purchased at wholesale drug and grocery stores in any of the large cities. Large fortunes have been made upon the manufacture of single articles, for which recipes are here given, and there is no reason why any one may not acquire[3] a competency in the same way, providing he has the necessary push and sagacity. Here is an opportunity to be your own manufacturer, your own wholesaler and your own retailer. Given these advantages, you may undersell those in the ordinary channels of trade, and still make handsome profits; and we trust that the information herein contained may be the means of starting many a poor person toward making a fortune or a good income.

Black Ink.—Ink, like soap, is something everybody uses, and few people realize that thousands of barrels of it are made and sold.

Recipe for making the best and most durable black writing ink, as used by the leading penmen of the United States and Canada.

To 2 gallons of strong decoction of logwood, well strained, add 1 1/2 lbs. blue galls in coarse powder, 6 ounces sulphate of iron, 1 oz. acetate of copper, 6 oz. of pulverized sugar, and 8 oz. of gum arabic; set the above on the fire until it begins to boil, strain, and then set it away until it has acquired the desired blackness. The strong “decoction of logwood” is made by boiling; use soft water, into which put two ounces of logwood; strain after taking from the fire.

The above ink properly made, according to the above directions, is unsurpassed for elegant writing of any kind. It flows freely from the pen, turns to a deep black after writing, and[4] does not fade. Records written with it fifty years ago are as legible as the day they were put upon the paper.

Fig Candy.—Take 1 pound of sugar and 1 pint of water; set over a slow fire. When done, add a few drops of vinegar and a lump of butter, and pour into pans in which split figs are laid.

Red Sealing Wax.—Purchase 4 lbs. shellac, 1 1/2 lbs. venice turpentine, 3 lbs. finest cinnabar and 4 oz. venetian; mix the whole well together, and melt over a very slow fire. Pour it on a thick, smooth glass, or any other flat, smooth surface, and make it into 3, 6 or 10 sticks.

Silver Ink.—Mix 1 oz. of the finest pewter or block tin in shavings with 2 oz. quicksilver till all becomes fluid; then add to it sufficient gum arabic water to produce the proper consistency.

Yellow Ink.—A little alum added to saffron, in soft, hot water, makes a beautiful yellow ink.

Mucilage for Labels.—Dextrine, 2 ounces; glycerine, 1 drachm; alcohol, 1 ounce; water, 6 ounces.

The Celebrated Chemical Compound.—Take one pint of alcohol, 2 gills nitrous spirits ether, 2 oz. bicromate potash, 2 oz. powdered cinnamon, 2 oz. aqua fortis. Mix all the above together and let it stand twenty-four hours and[5] it is fit for use. Bottle in ounce vials, and sell for 25 cents. To extract grease stains, etc., from cloth, saturate with cold water, dip a sponge in the liquid and apply it, and repeat if necessary, and wash off with cold water.

Gold Ink.—Two parts mosaic, 1 part gum arabic (by measure); mix with soft water until reduced to a proper condition.

Green Ink.—Powder 1 ounce verdigris, and put it in 1 quart of vinegar; after it has stood two or three days, strain off the liquid.

Blue Ink.—Two oz. Chinese blue, 3/4 oz. pure oxolid acid, 1 oz. powdered gum arabic, 6 pints distilled soft water; mix well and then strain.

Purple Ink.—Eight parts logwood in 64 parts soft water, by measure, boil down to one-half, then strain and add one part chloride of tin.

Imitation Gold.—Sixteen parts platina, seven parts copper, one part zinc. Put in a covered crucible, with powdered charcoal, and melt together till the whole forms one mass, and are thoroughly incorporated together. Or, take 4 oz. platina, 3 oz. silver, 1 oz. copper.

Imitation Silver.—Eleven ounces refined nickel, two ounces metallic bismuth. Melt the compositions together three times, and pour them out in ley. The third time, when melting, add two ounces pure silver. Or take one-quarter[6] ounce copper, one ounce bismuth, two ounces saltpetre, two ounces common salt, one ounce arsenic, one ounce potash, two ounces brass, and three ounces pure silver. Melt all together in a crucible.

Florida Water.—Half pint proof spirits, two drachms oil lemon, half drachm oil rosemary. Mix.

Freckle Lotion.—Muriate of ammonia, one drachm; cologne water, two drachms; distilled water, seven ounces; mix and use as a wash. It contains nothing injurious.

Windsor Soap.—This is made with lard. In France they use lard, with a portion of olive or bleached palm oil. It is made with one part of olive oil to nine of tallow; but a greater part of what is sold is only curd (tallow) soap, and scented with oil of caraway and bergamot. The brown is colored with burnt sugar or umber.

To Make Maple Sugar without Maple Trees.—Though the secret I am about to reveal may seem very simple (when explained), I believe there are few who would discover it of their own accord. The value of the maple sugar crop is considerable, and there is ready sale for all that can be made. I was led by curiosity to boil down a little butternut sap, one time, with an equal quantity of maple sap, and the result was, a sugar which I could not distinguish from pure maple. I experimented further[7] and found that if a little common (cane) sugar was added to the sap of the butternut, it would do as well as an addition of maple sap. I found that the sap of birch and several other trees would also make, when a very little cane sugar was added, a sugar which in looks and taste exactly resembled maple. To be able to make “maple” sugar from trees not heretofore deemed valuable for the purpose is just so much clear profit.

Traveller’s Ink.—White blotting paper is saturated with aniline black, and several sheets are pasted together so as to form a thick pad. When required for use a small piece is torn off and covered with a little water. The black liquid which dissolves out is a good writing ink. A square inch of paper will produce enough ink to last a considerable writing, and a few pads would be all that an exploring party need carry with them. As water is always available the ink is readily made. This is a perfectly original and new recipe. Any enterprising man can make a large income out of its manufacture.

Violet Ink.—1 oz. best violet aniline; dissolve it in one gill of hot alcohol, stir, and when thoroughly dissolved add one gallon of boiling hot water; dissolve in the hot water 1 1/2 oz. white gum arabic. This will make the most rich and beautiful ink of this color in existence; will not fade or corrode steel pens, and is not injured by freezing. An addition of 1 lb.[8] of sugar and 1/2 lb. glycerine will make an excellent copying ink. This ink is usually sold at $2 per pint bottle, $1 for half pint and 50 cents for gill bottle. It is worth an enterprising man or woman $1,000. Do not bury it—use it and make money out of it.

New York Barber’s Star Hair Oil.—Castor oil, 6 1/2 pints, alcohol, 1 1/2 pints, oil of citronella, 1/2 ounce, lavender, 1/4 ounce. Mix well, put in 4-ounce bottles; retail at 25 cents each.

Furniture Polish.—Equal parts sweet oil and vinegar, and a pint of gum arabic finely powdered. Shake the bottle and apply with a rag. It will make furniture look as good as new.

Artificial Gold.—This is a new metallic alloy which is now very extensively used in France as a substitute for gold. Pure copper, one hundred parts; zinc, or, preferably, tin, seventeen parts; magnesia, six parts; sal-ammoniac, three-sixths parts; quick-lime, one-eighth part; tartar of commerce, nine parts, are mixed as follows: The copper is first melted, and the magnesia, sal-ammoniac, lime and tartar are then added separately, and by degrees, in the form of powder; the whole is now briskly stirred for about half an hour, so as to mix thoroughly; and when the zinc is added in small grains by throwing it on the surface, and stirring till it is entirely fused, the crucible is then covered, and the fusion maintained for[9] about thirty-five minutes. The surface is then skimmed, and the alloy is ready for casting. It has a fine grain, is malleable, and takes a splendid polish. It does not corrode readily, and for many purposes is an excellent substitute for gold. When tarnished, its brilliancy can be restored by a little acidulated water. If tin be employed instead of zinc, the alloy will be more brilliant. It is very much used in France, and must ultimately attain equal popularity here.

Baking Powder.—The following receipt is the same as used in the preparation of the standard baking powders of the day, and if put up attractively will sell readily at the usual prices. Take 1 pound of tartaric acid in crystals, 1 1/2 pounds of bi-carbonate of soda and 1 1/2 pounds of potato starch. Each must be powdered separately, well dried by slow heat, well mixed through a sieve. Pack hard in tinfoil, tin or paper glazed on the outside. The tartaric acid and bi-carbonate of soda can, of course, be bought cheaper of wholesale druggists than you can make them, unless you are doing things on a very large scale, but potato starch any one can make; it is only necessary to peel the potatoes and to grate them up fine into vessels of water, to let them settle, pour off the water and make the settlings into balls, and to dry them. With these directions any one can make as good a baking powder as is sold anywhere; if he wants to[10] make it very cheap, he can take cream of tartar and common washing (carbonate of) soda, instead of the articles named in the recipe, but this would be advisable only where customers insist on excessively low prices in preference to quality of goods.

Babbit’s Premium Soap.—Five gallons of strong lye, five gallons of water, five pounds of tallow, two pounds of sal soda, half a pound of rosin, one pint salt, one pint washing fluid. Let this water boil, then put in the articles, and boil half an hour. Stir it well while boiling, and then run it into moulds: it will be ready for use as soon as cold. The above is for 100 pounds of soap.

Royal Washing Powder.—Mix any quantity of soda ash with an equal quantity of carbonate of soda—ordinary soda—crushed into coarse grains. Have a thin solution of glue, or decoction of linseed oil ready, into which pour the soda until quite thick. Spread it out on boards in a warm apartment to dry. As soon as dry shake up well so that it will pack easily into nice, square packages. Label neatly. Pound packages cost 7 cents, retail for 25 cents.

Patent Starch Polish.—Take common dry potato or wheat starch, sufficient to make a pint of starch when boiled. When boiled add one-half drachm spermaceti, and one-half drachm of white wax, then use it as common starch, only using the iron as hot as possible.

[11]

Invisible Ink.—Sulphuric acid 1 part, water 20 parts; mix together and write with a quill pen, which writing can only be read after heating it.

Fine Peppermint Lozenges.—Best powdered white sugar, 7 pounds; pure starch, 1 pound; oil of peppermint to flavor. Mix with mucilage.

India Ink.—Ivory black ground into powder, make into a paste with a few drops of essence of musk, and one half as much essence of ambergris, and then form into cakes.

To Preserve Flowers in Water.—Mix a little carbonate of soda in the water, and it will keep the flowers a fortnight.

Ginger Lozenges.—Mix with the white of eggs four ounces of powdered ginger, two pounds of white sugar, and one pound of starch.

To Restore the Color of Black Kid Boots.—Take a small quantity of good black ink, mix it with the white of an egg, and apply it to the boots with a soft sponge.

Color for Wicker Baskets, or any small Articles of the Kind.—Dissolve one stick of black sealing-wax and one stick of red in two ounces of spirits of wine. Lay it on with a small brush.

To Remove Stains from Books.—To remove ink-spots, apply a solution of oxalic, citric, or[12] tartaric acid. To remove spots of grease, wax, oil, or fat, wash the injured part with either, and place it between white blotting-paper. Then, with a hot iron, press above the part stained.

To Clean Black Veils.—Pass them through a warm liquor of bullock’s gall and water; rinse in cold water; then take a small piece of glue, pour boiling water on it, and pass the veil through it; clap it, and frame to dry. Instead of framing, it may be fastened with drawing-pins closely fixed upon a very clean paste or drawing-board.

To Clean a Marble Chimney Piece.—If the marble is white, procure half a pound of pearlash, one pound of whiting, and half a pound of soft soap; boil all these ingredients together until they attain the consistence of a thick paste. When nearly cold, lay it upon the marble, and let it remain on it for at least twenty-four hours. Wash it off with soft water, and polish with linen rags. Spirits of turpentine is excellent for cleaning black marble.

Oil Stains in Silk and other Fabrics.—Benzine is most effectual, not only for silk, but for any other material whatever. It can be procured from any druggist. By simply covering both sides of greased silk with magnesia, and allowing it to remain for a few hours, the oil is absorbed by the powder. Should the first[13] application be insufficient, it may be repeated, and even rubbed in with the hand. Should the silk be Tussah or Indian silk, it will wash.

Scarlet Ink.—Dissolve 1 oz. garancine of the best quality in 1 oz. liquor ammonia; add 1 pint soft cold water distilled; mix together in a mortar, filter and dissolve in it 1/2 oz. of gum arabic.

Luminous Ink.—Shines in the dark—Phosphorous, one-half drachm, oil cinnamon, one-half oz., mix in a vial, cork tightly, heat it slowly until mixed. A letter written with this ink can only be read in a dark room, when the writing will have the appearance of fire.

Brown Ink.—Take 4 parts powdered catechu and put it in 6 parts soft water; let it stand for half a day, shaking occasionally, then strain, and to bring it to the proper consistency, add sufficient of a solution of bichromate of potash, 1 part in 16 of water, all by measure.

Ink Powder.—One pound of nutgall, 7 ounces copperas, 7 ounces gum arabic: this amount of ink powder will make one gallon of good black ink; to prevent it from moulding, powder two or three cloves and mix with each pound of powder.

Excelsior Hair Oil.—One gallon cologne spirits 90 per cent. proof, add of the oil of lemon, orange and bergamot, each a spoonful, add also of the extract of vanilla 40 drops,[14] shake until the oils are cut up, then add one and a half pints of soft water.

Commercial Writing Ink.—Galls, 1 ounce; gum, 1/2 ounce; cloves, 1/2 ounce; sulphate of iron, 1/2 ounce; water, 8 ounces. Digest by frequent shaking until it has sufficient color. This is a good durable ink and will bear diluting.

Indelible Ink.—For marking linen without preparation. Nitrate of silver, 1 1/2 oz., dissolve in 6 oz. of liquor ammonia fortis, archil for coloring, 1 oz. Gum mucilage, 12 ounces. The best extant.

Bristol’s Tooth Powder.—Prepared chalk, 1 pound; castile soap, 1/2 pound; powdered yellow bark, 2 ounces; powdered gum myrrh, 2 ounces; powdered loaf sugar, 2 ounces; powdered orris, 2 ounces. Mix well, after having first pulverized the castile.

Cold Cream.—One pound of lard, three ounces of spermaceti. Melt with a gentle heat, and when cooling stir in orange-flower water, one ounce, essence of lavender, twenty-six drops.

To Make Paint for One Cent a Pound.—To one gallon of soft hot water add four pounds sulphate of zinc (crude). Let it dissolve perfectly, and a sediment will settle at the bottom. Turn the clear solution into another vessel. To one gallon of paint (lead and oil), mix one gallon of the compound. Stir into it the paint slowly for ten or fifteen minutes, and the compound[15] and the paint will perfectly combine. If too thick, thin it with turpentine. This receipt has been sold to painters as high as $100 for the privilege to use the same in their business.

Almond Cream.—(There is nothing equal to this cream for softening and whitening the hands.) Mix honey, almond meal and olive oil into a paste to be used after washing with soap. Castile soap is best for use; it will cure a scratch, or cut, and prevents any spot.

Cream of Roses.—Take one teacupful of rose water, as much sub-carbonate of potash as will lie on a shilling, and half an ounce of oil of sweet almonds. Let all be well shaken together until it becomes thoroughly mixed, which will take some time. This is one of the best face washes made, and is entirely harmless.

Excellent Pomade.—Three ounces of olive oil, three-quarters of a drachm of the oil of almonds, two drachms of palm oil, half an ounce of white wax, a quarter of a pound of lard, and three-quarters of a drachm of the essence of bergamot. This pomade is excellent for strengthening the hair, promoting the growth of whiskers and moustaches, and preventing baldness.

Superior Cologne Water.—Alcohol, one gallon; add oil of cloves, lemon, nutmeg and bergamot, each one drachm; oil neroli, three and a half drachms; seven drops of oils of rosemary[16], lavender and cassia; half a pint of spirits of nitre; half a pint of elder-flower water. Let it stand a day or two, then take a colander and at the bottom lay a piece of white cloth, and fill it up, one-fourth of white sand, and filter through it.

Family Salve.—Take the root of the yellow dock and dandelion, equal parts; add good proportion of celandine and plantain. Extract the juices by steeping or pressing. Strain carefully, and simmer the liquid with sweet cream or fresh butter and mutton tallow, or sweet oil and mutton tallow. Simmer together until no appearance of the liquid remains. Before it is quite cold, put it into boxes. This is one of the most soothing and healing preparations for burns, scalds, cuts, and sores of every description.

Japanese Cement.—Immediately mix the best powdered rice with a little cold water, then gradually add boiling water until a proper consistency is acquired, being particularly careful to keep it well stirred all the time; lastly, it must be boiled for a minute in a clean saucepan or earthern pipkin. This glue is beautifully white and almost transparent, for which reason it is well adapted for fancy paper work, which requires a strong and colorless cement.