Cooking in 1894
Bo Sullivan altered me to this on eBay. It dates 1893/94, exactly when the Cross House was built. You can well imagine my great lust for this.
And, behold, it be mine! Inside was a calling card. Oh! Even though the cost of a long-distance call is a fright, I plan to call Mr. Cook forthwith and discuss my needs for a coal/wood stove.
Or…upon reflection, I think I would rather take a train to Chicago, and visit their showroom. It’s nice to see things in person, right? And I do so delight in a being able to, you know, touch and experience an item.
In particular, I was captivated by this model. It’s perfect for the Cross House! I’m so very excited! Of course, there are decisions still to make. Should I order the range with 8- or 9-inch griddle holes? Oh, the decisions! And should I order the water fronts and couplings???????? I do think though that a wood grate is vital. Don’t you? Still, I fret about the cost! I mean, if I get the range with 9-inch griddle holes, AND water fronts and couplings, AND the wood grate, the cost will be a breathtaking $73.50. Oh, my heart! My heart!
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Ross I regularly see stoves like this one come up for sale. Of course you’ll pay a premium price if the stove is converted to gas or electric. There was a company called Macy’s Texas stove works that restored such ranges. Expect to be shocked by how much they ask for such a range.
I would not be shocked. I would just sigh.
The wood grate, definitely with the reservoir. After a long days work, you and the cats can cozy up to the stove and take a nice hot bath.
In today’s dollars, according to one inflation calculator, that stove would be about two grand, so about what a moderately nice range would be today. I imagine a retrofitted one would be thrice that?
Thrice seems about right! Or tright!
Perhaps we could get a discount if we ordered two.
I am sure Mr. Cook would agree!
LOL! I’m a little slow, I suppose, having just noticed Mr. Cook sold stoves! How perfect!
I am just as slow! Slower, in fact!
What a nice walk through the past you took us on.I would love to fry up some chicken on that stove.
I’ve bought several catalogs like this recently and I just can’t get over the prices!! If only they were still the true price today… sigh.
We haven’t heard anything about the exterior painting in awhile. How is it coming along?
The painting is non-stop. But not always photogenic! But it seems I need to do another update!
I look forward to it!!
Well, what size of frying pans do you have? 8 inch or 9 inch??
Actually, I’m kinda surprised that they would have all of the stove eyes the same size. With six of them, you’d think they’d have some smaller sized. Or maybe there was an option to buy the multi-sized insert.
The showroom was right down the street from my home in Chicago. It doesn’t look like that anymore, but I sure wish it did.
Now the problem is, for those of us that do own such a stove, how in the heck does the damn thing work??? Manual, manual, where for art thou user manuals????
Maybe period cookbooks or household guides have this info. I used cookbook guides from the early 70’s when I couldn’t find the user manual for my Cusinart.
If you have Netflix, look up “Fanny’s Last Supper”. It is a period piece that PBS did some 10 years ago and gives a massive discussion about the care and feeding of a wood stove. Also…some of the hazards that we wouldn’t think of.
Meg and everyone else- it is elementary. Many folks have such ranges insulated and converted to gas or electric. If it is converted to gas, there will be a gas manifold with controls for the burners up front. Added insulation makes the range much more useful. To read an account of using a wood range to cook dinner, look up the autobiography of Baby Peggy “Whatever happened to Baby Peggy”- it is an awesome book. It was not easy using such a range, there were blistering hot spots and bone cold ones, according to the author. Many such ranges were converted over the years, and my Oma Betty had a good friend, Elois Fisnar, who had a converted range in her kitchen. It was converted to gas. It was beautiful and was polished with stove polish. Now- about using one as is: I would think that Mother Earth news would have articles on using wood kitchen ranges. I was not asked for advice but will give it nonetheless. For practicality’s sake, I would buy a range that is insulated and converted to either gas or electric. Conversions were done all the time in the past, and it certainly has precedent. It makes more sense to have a usable period kitchen and not two- one for show and never used and one modern that will take up another room and be pricey nonetheless.
Found these by accident yesterday. They are selling them as converted and restored, but they might have a stash they haven’t started working on yet (and don’t forget that the exchange rate is working in your favour by about 20% right now!)
Before you go traipsing off to Cribben, Sexton & Co in Chicago, you’d better measure the space you’ve got to work with in your stove niche. It wouldn’t do to buy one that’s too wide for your niche!