Kitchen - House of the Future
This room features a number of technologies that were cutting edge in 1882. In addition to electric lighting, which we will talk about more in a minute, these cutting edge technologies included:
This 1880s wood burning stove, made by the Round Oak Company, which was the highest tech stove available at the time. The stove features a number of dampers and flues plus varying burner sizes. This allowed the cook to regulate heat permitting her to cook her best.
An ice box and ice delivery. Prior to mechanical refrigeration, an ice box was high tech, replacing the root celler in the basement as the principal means of keeping food fresh. It also made the cook's day much more efficient by alleviating the need to shop every day by going to the dry grocer, the green grocer, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Ice would be delivered by the ice man who would bring in the large blocks with tongs from his wagon (a sign in the window indicated how much ice was wanted). The ice was harvested from the river in the winter (and so could not be used in drinks). It was stored in warehouses covered in sawdust to keep it from melting the rest of the year.
Hot and cold running water before there was city water. Potable water came from a pump just outside this kitchen door. It was pumped up into cisterns in the attic where gravity permitted it to flow back down when the taps were opened. The water was heated on the stove before pumping and this saved the maids from the horribly dangerous task of having to carry buckets of scalding hot water up two flights of stairs for the famliy's washing and bathing.
Water for cleaning and laundry was captured off the roof and stored in a large cistern in the basement. This cistern is so large that it is where our A-D-A bathroom is today. In the basement, which was another servant’s space accessed by the basement servants stairs, there is an exhibit on how laundry was done in this house. It was also terribly laborious, usually taking three full days every week to wash, dry, and iron the clothes and bedding.
And finally, the "Annunciator." Most upper class families had bells or bell cords to call their servants. But the Rogers had this high tech, electric alternative which is original to the house. It ran on direct current and in fact still does with a battery. Buttons (located here for demonstration purposes) would be scattered throughout the house. When a button was pressed, a bell would ring and an indicator would turn over in the kitchen letting the servants know who was calling for them. Local newspapers ran ads that encouraged readers to “Buy an Annunciator just like Henry Rogers." The ads never said what the cook thought about the system: She hated it, as it never stopped ringing.
Although the servants worked long and hard hours at Hearthstone, they also benefited from the high tech nature of the home. In fact, it is important to note that the cook in this household actually experienced the benefits of this high technology much more than any member of the Rogers family.
