Ovochi, iaryny, ta bezal'kohol'ni napytky [Vegetables, fruits and non-alcoholic drinks].

This work is a collaboration between the Ukrainian anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco society 'Vidrozhdennia' [Rebirth] and gynaecologist Sofia Parfanovych (1898-1968) - an important figure in Ukrainian medicine of 1920s and 30s. Parfanovych published a number of books on hygiene, proper nourishment, and temperance, including the popular Hihiiena zhinky (Hygiene of a Woman, 1939).

The Vidrodzhennia temperance society was founded in 1909 in Lviv in response to a resolution of the First Educational-Economic Congress. Its purpose was to discourage the Ukrainian population from consuming alcohol and smoking. Since alcohol and tobacco were state monopolies, its temperance message coincided with the struggle of the Ukrainians against the Polish occupation of Galicia, and in the 1930s its activities expanded considerably.

The main idea of the book is to show that the valuable nutritional content of fruits and vegetables are being lost when they are used to make alcohol. There are recipes for jams and canned fruit with sugar, marmalades and mousses. For the beverages themselves there are detailed descriptions of producing juices and how to store them without going off. The other recipes are for syrups, lemonades, sodas and non-alcoholic wines. The author warns about the alcohol levels of kvas and myod, two beverages common in Ukraine. The last chapter is called 'How to organise a non-alcoholic party' and gives the hosts advice on what to serve and when, including the dessert options, when to serve tea, cocoa and coffee (Parfanovych says coffee has became a more widespread beverage recently, not only for the rich of this world, but also for the Ukrainian villages).

First edition, 16mo (17.5 x 12.5 cm), illustrations throughout, some staining to upper margin of closing leaves and lower wrapper; original illustrated wrappers designed by Omelian Lishchynskyy, repairs to spine, a very good copy.