Occasional old-time beauty recipes request "Almond Meal" as an ingredient. One of the Edwardian recipes previously posted somewhat confusingly begins to talk about orris root amongst it. I have found the answer to this unasked question -- why orris? -- and it seems that "almond meal" was actually a cosmetic preparation made from many ingredients. The 1907 Meyer Brothers Druggist Magazine prints this recipe:
4 ounces orris root
4 ounces wheat flour
1 ounce powdered castile soap
1 ounce borax
It is then recommended to be perfumed with oil of bergamot, oil of bitter almonds, and tincture of musk. Notably, the oil of bitter almonds is the only almond in the mixture -- however, another recipe printed in The Standard Formulary of 1897, consists of exactly the same mixture plus 2 ounces sweet almonds and 1 ounce bitter almonds. Perhaps the Meyer Brothers copied the recipe and mistranscribed something -- or else sought to present cheaper version of the same preparation.
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