Month: July 2019

At the heart of the home is…the kitchen.

In the Midwest farming community where I grew up — many of the houses (town or rural) had the entrance into the kitchen. Often this was via a back porch — sometimes open, sometimes enclosed. This was the door that was used.

Yes, every house had a front door which often opened to the living room. But the traffic pattern here was light. A knock on the front door signaled strangers.

Step back a few generations and the same pattern emerges.

Time was spent in the kitchen — by residents and visitors. This is where the women did a great amount of work preparing food for either immediate or future use. Family and guests gathered around the table for meals. Visiting and evening tasks were accomplished close to the heat and light of the fire.

This two room frame house with a central fireplace was a common floor plan in the 1830’s. The kitchen side of the fireplace was at the literal center as well as the functional heart of the home.

Storage is necessary for every household. You need a safe place — away from insects and vermin — to store food for tomorrow, next week, next month.

Today we have freezers, refrigerators, staples sold in cans and jars, and the ever present plastic container with a secure lid (when you can find it) to keep food for future meals.

But what about before every home had electricity? What about the homestead where you couldn’t get to town more than once a month? And town didn’t have the well stocked stores of today.

Earthenware. Crockery. Pottery.

Storage jars, many with lids, of this material have been made and used almost since man tamed fire.

This museum collection shows examples from the latter portion of the 19th century. Our household, and most in the neighborhood, had a few “crocks” in various sizes. A great-aunt used one for her cookie jar. (On the back porch–always ask first.) Ours were missing lids, but a dinner plate with a weight (rock) served well when my brother made a batch of wine.

Do you read historical novels? Or biographies set in previous centuries?

I’ve been reading them in some form or another since I pulled “On the Banks of Plum Creek” from the school library shelf. One of the many things which fascinated me in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and others, is the way common chores and household tasks were performed.

As an adult, I enjoy touring historic homes and seeing first hand some of the items in daily use. Some of them were very clever. Some I was familiar with. (It happens when you grow up on a small farm using second, or third, hand equipment.)

And every once in a while I’m touring a place and have an AHA moment.

The lady of this house kept her fine needlework in this corner to take advantage of the good light from the window. Candles, and later oil for lamps, was too precious to use for this task.