Dorothy Dean Tidbits

Dorothy Dean Tidbits:

Inland Northwest residents became accustomed to calling Dorothy Dean for answers to many of their perplexing questions. From what to do about lumpy gravy and how to truss a turkey to questions about laundry and home decorating, Dorothy Dean tried to answer everyone’s questions.

According to a 1973 newspaper report, more than 20,000 calls were coming into the Dorothy Dean department each year. Here are some examples of calls, as reported in the Dec. 16, 1973 Spokesman-Review article:

“ One woman called asking for a recipe that used spoiled cottage cheese in a dip.

“ Another wondered how to cook a piece of meat “the size of a telephone book.”

“ One caller wanted to know how to soften the bristles on the toothbrush she just bought.

“ Someone wanted to know if it would be safe to can whole tomatoes in pop bottles because lids were available for those. According to Margaret Heimbigner, the Dorothy Dean department head at the time, “We had to tell her it would be a neat trick if she could get the tomatoes in the bottles in the first place.”

“ One time a young woman had locked herself out and called to find out how to break into her own home.

“ Another called wondering if the flour she had just bought was better than the plain variety because it had little worms in it.

Who was Dorothy Dean?

According to newspaper archives, these seven women served as department head for The Spokesman-Review’s Home Economics Department and were considered the official Dorothy Deans.

Estelle Calkins, named Dorothy Dean

on Oct. 14, 1935

Edna Mae Enslow Brown, 1938

Emma States, 1941

Verle Schoeff Ashlock, 1947

Dorothy Raymond, 1948

Rayleen Merman Beaton, 1957

Margaret Heimbigner, 1967