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THE RANGE (Picture...)
The kitchen features its original built-in range. Just to maintain the range on which to heat water for laundry, or to perform any cooking tasks, was a major undertaking. An ordinary coal-burning range or stove might use half a ton of hard coal in a month -- one thousand pounds of rock to be carried up from the basement every four or five weeks. Knowing when to open or close the direct damper and upper and lower draughts was an art that took considerable practice. Getting coal to light in the first place was a minor ordeal, requiring a wood fire to heat the coal to a sufficient temperature to burn. Typically, once things were going properly, a shovelful of coal had to be added every half hour. During a six-day use period, coal stoves required almost five-and-a-half hours of fire-tending and cleaning. The above does not even take into account the coal and attention
required by the adjacent coal-fired water heater.
Notice that there is a small warming or baking oven at the left, but large items had to be prepared on top of the range under a baking cover. The cooking surface seems low, but its height made it easier to lift very heavy containers, like wash boilers, on and off the range.
This range is a No. 2 Beebe, with six holes for cooking, and numerous small openings for access to the fire and for the removal of ash. The small warming or baking oven is not part of the range itself, but made by the J. Van Range Co., in Ohio, and is marked 12 in. B.
On the range are a number of typical late nineteenth-century cooking necessities, including a double-boiler, an early pressure-cooker, and an aluminum kettle. Aluminum water boiling kettles were becoming broadly available in the 1890s; this one is patented April 7, 1891.
Though this is the kitchen of a comfortably middle-class widow, similar cast-iron stoves or ranges were in use even by the poor.
IRONS (no picture)
Several irons are stored on the hearth underneath the warming oven. One of them is small, with a corrugated face and stand, and is a fluter ... an iron especially made for ironing tiny pleats into ruffles.
Flat and sad irons are of various sizes, usually marked "5" or "7", depending on how many pounds each one weighs. Flat irons are the standard modern shape, flat at one end and pointed at the other. Sad irons are pointed at both ends and have spring-held removable handles. There are metal trivets for the irons to allow them to cool and to protect the surface of the ironing table or board.
IRONING BOARD (no picture)
This board was manufactured in about 1900, by E. Cooper of Riverside, California. The original sale price was $3.50.
WATER HEATER (Picture...)
The coal-fired water heater is original to the house and sits in its original location. It was made by the American Radiator Company. Water circulated through interior pipes warmed by the coal fire within.
KITCHEN TABLE AND CHAIRS (no picture)
The kitchen table and chairs are principally of oak, although some components of the chairs are of other woods. The chairs have caned seats. All are circa 1885.
The china on the table is Haviland & Co., Limoges, France. Such dinnerware was not inexpensive, but could be purchased through any mail-order catalogue of the day. A dozen cups and saucers in a similar floral design by Haviland cost $4.40 in 1895. Other china tea cups were only $1.40 to $2.52 in sets of twelve.
The tea pot, with unusual rope and anchor handles, was also made by Haviland in the 1880s.
The gold pressed glass fruit dish is circa 1870.
KITCHEN CABINET UNDER THE CLOCK (Picture...)
This cabinet features large lower bins for flour and sugar, utensil drawers, bread and meat boards, a spice shelf, and an upper cupboard. It was built of oak in about 1900.
SERVANT'S CALL BOX (Picture...)
The servant's call box is sensibly located in the kitchen as this is where the houseboy would spend a great deal of his day. Original to the house, it operated on a dry-cell battery. When a call button is pushed in any other room, a corresponding number in the box advised the servant where he was needed.
Back to general description of the Kitchen ...
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