19th Century kitchen stoves of NE USA

knollingstone · Post by **knollingstone** » Wed. Jul. 22, 2020 3:03 pm

Hi all, I apologize if this thread is not within the forum guidelines but I was hoping some of you may have some useful information for me.

I'm currently working on an art project in which we will be trying to replicate a kitchen in Maine circa mid 19th century.

I'm trying to find names of popular companies that manufactured wood stoves for kitchens during this time period.
I would guess the stove could be as old as say 1810 but no newer than 1850 and most importantly something that would be fairly common or at least attainable to middle-class families. In particular, I'm interested in learning all I can about the kind of cooking stoves that sit within an older fireplace, I'm not sure how common those setups were but I like the aesthetic.

Also, a bonus if the manufacturer is in a nearby state (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, NY, etc).

Any visual or historical references would be GREATLY appreciated.

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Wed. Jul. 22, 2020 3:52 pm

Welcome K,

Most kitchens in the early to mid 1800 still used open fireplaces and cranes and beehive ovens to cook with. There were some early "cook stoves" which tended to be small, but depending on local they were few.

Case in point. Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island is a very well researched recreation of a Long Island village in 1850. Of the many historic houses moved there, almost all came from within 40 miles of NYC with it's access to all major industries and goods. Especially the foundries in eastern Massachusetts and up the Hudson River. So while it represents a typical LI farming/fishing community, they were not far from a major city and sea port. Yet, when I worked there, I don't know of any cast iron kitchen stoves in any of the many houses there. And the women staff in costume researched and did cooking and baking traditional meals of the time.

There are some cast iron stoves, in the Noon Inn, the Layton general store, and Church, but they are not cooking type stoves.

You can get more info by contacting Old Bethpage village Restoration, Nassau Country Museum system. You may be able to talk to some of the curators about what industries there were in the east coast then. Also any Maine State historical department, or local museums should be able to help.

Paul

knollingstone · Post by **knollingstone** » Wed. Jul. 22, 2020 4:15 pm

Hey, thank you very much!

I realize upon rudimentary research that the cooking stove wasn't all too common but since it's been decided that we will include one I guess I'm just looking for something that would at least look accurate if a bit of a rarity. This is a fantastic jumping off point, I appreciate the info!

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Thu. Jul. 23, 2020 8:44 am

Then for a cast iron kitchen stove of that early of a time period, try doing a search for "step stoves". They are a class of cooking stove that was an outgrowth from the early box shaped heating stoves. The step stove pipe exit was usually low enough that they could often be piped into an existing kitchen hearth chimney.

The "range" type stoves most commonly seen as "old kitchen stoves" didn't really start until about 1860. And due to the Civil War, they didn't become widely popular until after the war.

Paul

knollingstone · Post by **knollingstone** » Thu. Jul. 23, 2020 12:52 pm

Thank you very much, just what i was looking for!