The collection consists of a manuscript receipt book created by/belonging to Bettie D. Cramer of Wheeling, WV, c. 1883. Some of the content of the manuscript book is likely dated to 1883 and 1884 but there is a possibility that other content was added later. The manuscript book includes recipes gathered from other people, some of which are possibly Cramer's family members. Other recipes in the book are clippings from newspapers and other printed publications. The notebook also includes housekeeping tips and cleaning products. Some of the earlier pages include written elocution exercises and descriptions of physical exercises suggesting that the notebook was repurposed for recipes later on.

The majority of the pages of the notebook are detached from the binding resulting in a particularly fragile condition.