¡Buen Provecho! 2023 Calendar
C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library
This 1930 image by El Paso photographer Samuel Stout shows the Paso del Norte Coffee Shop located at 111 S. El Paso Street. The shop was built by H.T. Ponsford and Sons.
Paso del Norte Coffee Shop, Stout-Feldman Studio photograph collection, PH074
January 2023
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library
Día de los Reyes Magos (Epiphany)
A Cook Book: That Will Help You to Live Better and Spend Less, Patricia Haesly Worthington cookbook collection
Created by the El Paso Dairy Company in 1921, this cookbook includes suggested menus for luncheons and dinners as well as individual recipes. The cookbook was donated to Special Collections by Patricia (Pat) and Richard Worthington. Pat Worthington is a historian and former curator at the El Paso County Historical Society. The Patricia Haesly Worthington cookbook collection contains over 500 local and regional cookbooks.
February 2023
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
Día de la Candelaria Presidents’ Day Mardi Gras
The Popular Department Store, The Popular Dry Goods Company records, MS317
This 1917 image shows El Paso architect Henry Trost sharing a toast with Maurice and Adolf Schwartz, owners of The Popular Department Store, at the opening of the store’s new building. Trost designed the structure, which replaced the old Masonic building on the corner of Mesa and San Antonio. The Popular was the largest locally-owned retail enterprise in El Paso until its closure in September 1995 and was known for its “New York-style” wares and fashions.
March 2023
Chávez
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
Vernal Equinox
International Women’s Day
Purim Begins at Sundown
Ramadan Begins at Sundown
With its own kitchen and large gathering spaces, the Woman’s Club building became an important venue for luncheons and other celebrations. The building was designed by El Paso architect Otto Thorman and was completed in 1916. Cooking and cookery has long figured in the Club’s history.
Cooking skit in clubhouse auditorium, circa 1950s, Woman’s Club of El Paso records, MS576
Ramadan Ends at Sundown Eid Al-Fitr Begins at sundown
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
University of Texas at El Paso Library
“A Wide Variety of Delicious Mexican Foods,” Mexican Menu Magic with Ashley’s, circa 1950, Eugene Michael menu collection, MS499
Eugene Francis Michael (August 15, 1930 – May 13, 2013) was an El Paso restaurant owner who collected hundreds of local and regional menus. Ashley’s Fine Mexican Foods was an El Paso food company founded in 1931 by George N. Ashley. The company sold canned tortillas, enchilada sauce, beans, and other popular items.
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department The University of Texas at El Paso Library
Cinco de Mayo
Mothers’ Day
Día de la Madre
Front over of the El Paso
, October 16, 1909
Menu, October 16, 1909, Kohlberg family papers, MS369
Ernst and Olga Kohlberg were members of a pioneer Jewish family in El Paso. Ernst Kohlberg co-founded the International Cigar Factory and served on the Invitation Committee during the historic 1909 meeting between Mexican President Porfirio Diaz and U.S. President William Howard Taft. This menu details the food and drinks served at a reception.
Herald
Fathers’ Day Summer Solstice Juneteenth
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department The University of Texas at El Paso Library
Flag Day
Scotch Dishes, Belle Christie Critchett papers, MS386
This 1916 cookbook was compiled by the El Paso Equal Franchise League. Belle Critchett was an important leader of the women’s suffrage movement in El Paso. She was active in the El Paso Equal Franchise League and served as its president in 1917. She also served as president of the El Paso League of Women Voters in 1926.
C. L. Sonnichsen
Old El Paso coupons, J.L. and Harriet Dodson papers, MS471
John Leslie (“J.L.”) Dodson (d. 1999) was the principal owner of the Mountain Pass Canning Company, which included the Old El Paso food brand. Located in Anthony, Texas since the 1940s, Mountain Pass became the largest seller of Mexican foods, such as beans, tamales, and chiles, in the U.S. Dodson raised peacocks, pheasants, guinea hens, and chickens in his backyard, and his wife, Harriet Dodson (d. September 2000), was an accomplished artist, wove some of her own clothes, and played the organ.
Sadly, these coupons expired over forty years ago.
August 2023
C. L. Sonnichsen
Menu, circa 1927, Hotel Paso del Norte menu collection, MS547
The Hotel Paso del Norte opened on Thanksgiving Day 1912. Designed by celebrated El Paso architect Henry Trost, the hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. This menu was printed by the McMath Company and the Crichet Printing Company in El Paso.
September 2023
Rosh Hashanah Begins at Sundown
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library
Mexican Independence Day
Autumnal Equinox
Yom Kippur Begins at Sundown
Mexican Recipes, Woman’s Club of El Paso records, MS576
The Woman’s Club of El Paso’s first cookbook, Mexican Recipes, was compiled by Mrs. D.W. Fennessy in 1916. Copies were sold at the International Soil Products Exposition held in El Paso in October 1916, in local bookstores, in army camps, and at the Woman’s Club.
October 2023
C. L. Sonnichsen
“The Cavern Cafe, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico,” El Paso photo file, PH001
The El Paso photo file, PH001, dates 1876 – 2000s. An artificial collection, the El Paso photo file contains images from northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Types of documents include photographs, negatives, slides, and postcards.
November 2023
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
of Texas at El Paso Library
Día de los Muertos
Todos los Santos
and a
of
This 1955 history seminar paper by Patricia Bowman recounts the history of Ashley’s Fine Mexican Foods. The back of the photograph states, “This assembly line is producing and packaging fresh tortillas for increasing local consumption. Spotless factory conditions make the biggest impression on visitors to the plant.”
Ashley’s assembly line, History of Ashley’s, Inc.
Sketch
its Founder, George N. Ashley, Sr., UTEP History Seminar Paper
December 2023
Chanukah Ends at Sundown
Winter Solstice
Christmas Eve Christmas Day
New Year’s Eve
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
Texas at El Paso
Our Lady of Guadalupe Day
Chanukah Begins at Sundown
Kwanzaa (ends Jan. 1)
January 2024
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library
New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Día de los Reyes Magos (Epiphany)
February 2024
C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library
Valentine’s Day
Presidents’ Day
Groundhog Day Día de la Candelaria
Label from Ashley’s Fine Mexican Foods, History of Ashley’s, Inc. and a Sketch of its Founder, George N. Ashley, Sr., UTEP History Seminar Paper
Front cover: “Mercado Cuauhtemoc, Public Market,” Ciudad Juárez, undated postcard, El Paso photo file, PH001
This calendar features images of food, drink, and cookery from the C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department. These resources help document the social and cultural history of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department
The University of Texas at El Paso Library 500 W. University Avenue El Paso, Texas 79968
915-747-5697 utep.edu/library/special-collections
To donate, please visit: utep.edu/library/Files/docs/special-collections/friends_endow.pdf