The quality, as well as the quantity, of lard was diminishing steadily in the face of a growing population. Prices were rising. "The high-cost-of-living" was an oft-repeated phrase. Also, our country was outgrowing its supply of butter. What was needed, therefore, was not a _substitute_, but something _better_ than these fats, some product which not only would accomplish as much in cookery, but _a great deal more_. When, therefore, Crisco was perfected, and it was shown that here finally was an altogether _new_ and _better_ fat, cookery experts were quick to show their appreciation. In reading the following pages, think of Crisco as a _primary_ cooking fat or shortening with even more individuality (because it does greater things), than all others. Man's Most Important Food, Fat No other food supplies our bodies with the _drive_, the vigor, which fat gives. No other food has been given so little study in proportion to its importance. Here are interesting facts, yet few housewives are acquainted with them: Fat contains more than twice the amount of energy-yielding power or calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates. One half our physical energy is from the fat we eat in different forms. The excellent book, "Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent," by Fannie Merritt Farmer, states, "In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat cannot be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems to play some part in the formation of young tissues which cannot be undertaken by _any other constituent of food_...." The book entitled "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning," by the two authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S. Maria Elliott, states that the diet of school children should be regulated carefully with the fat supply in view. Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat. It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and should be one that their digestions _welcome_, rather than repel. [Illustration] The first step in the digestion of fat is its melting. Crisco melts at a lower degree of heat than body temperature. Because of its low melting point, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it, and because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest of all cooking fats to digest.