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  • Kitchen/Dining Setups

    I'm in search of any/all contemporary artwork/photographs of mid-19th c. kitchen/dining setups.

    Thanks,

    Paul B.
    Paul B. Boulden Jr.


    RAH VA MIL '04
    (Loblolly Mess)
    [URL="http://23rdva.netfirms.com/welcome.htm"]23rd VA Vol. Regt.[/URL]
    [URL="http://www.virginiaregiment.org/The_Virginia_Regiment/Home.html"]Waggoner's Company of the Virginia Regiment [/URL]

    [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
    [URL="http://www.moc.org/site/PageServer"]Museum of the Confederacy[/URL]
    [URL="http://www.historicsandusky.org/index.html"]Historic Sandusky [/URL]

    Inscription Capt. Archibold Willet headstone:

    "A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time, Man is but vanity and dust, In all his flower and prime."

  • #2
    Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

    Start with genre paintings by Lilly Martin Spencer:

    Young Wife's First Stew
    Peeling Onions
    Kiss Me and You'll Kiss the 'Lasses

    War Spirit At Home (has dining table and dishes in the background)
    -Elaine "Ivy Wolf" Kessinger

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

      You will also want to check Elisabeth D. Garrett's At Home: The American Family, 1750-1870 which has a section on dining, discussion of lighting, and a section on kitchens across this span of time.
      Sincerely,
      Emmanuel Dabney
      Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
      http://www.agsas.org

      "God hasten the day when war shall cease, when slavery shall be blotted from the face of the earth, and when, instead of destruction and desolation, peace, prosperity, liberty, and virtue shall rule the earth!"--John C. Brock, Commissary Sergeant, 43d United States Colored Troops

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

        Thankyou both so far for the interesting reads/imagery!


        Paul B.
        Paul B. Boulden Jr.


        RAH VA MIL '04
        (Loblolly Mess)
        [URL="http://23rdva.netfirms.com/welcome.htm"]23rd VA Vol. Regt.[/URL]
        [URL="http://www.virginiaregiment.org/The_Virginia_Regiment/Home.html"]Waggoner's Company of the Virginia Regiment [/URL]

        [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
        [URL="http://www.moc.org/site/PageServer"]Museum of the Confederacy[/URL]
        [URL="http://www.historicsandusky.org/index.html"]Historic Sandusky [/URL]

        Inscription Capt. Archibold Willet headstone:

        "A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time, Man is but vanity and dust, In all his flower and prime."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

          Great titles and suggestions so far. I'd also like to add Michael Olmert's Kitchens, Smokehouses, and Privies: Outbuildings and the Architecture in the Eighteenth-Century Mid-Atlantic (Cornell, 2009.) While this source shows buildings constructed prior to our era, it's extremely useful for understanding the underlying rationale for these structures.
          [FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Silvana R. Siddali[/SIZE][/FONT]
          [URL="http://starofthewestsociety.googlepages.com/home"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Star of the West Society[/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][B]
          [COLOR="DarkRed"]Cherry Bounce G'hal[/B][/COLOR]:wink_smil

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

            The book America's Kitchens might be of some interest, though it's a bit of broad look at kitchens. http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitch.../dp/0884483088

            Best,
            [SIZE="3"][FONT="Century Gothic"]Matt Mickletz[/FONT][/SIZE]

            [SIZE=4][SIZE=3][/SIZE][FONT=Garamond][COLOR="#800000"][/COLOR][I]Liberty Rifles[/I][/FONT][/SIZE]

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            • #7
              Re: Kitchen/Dining Setups

              I am far from an authority on the subject, but I have spent much of my academic career studying kitchens, extant and archaeological, and they hold a special place in my heart/bookshelf. Unfortunately my focus has been mainly on early kitchens of the Tidewater region of Virginia, though I do have some research suggestions for you.
              Definitely check out Olmert, and other sources on 18th century kitchens, but be careful not to assume that all of the characteristics you read about carried over into the mid-19th century. The 1830s and 40s were a time of change with the more widespread use of stoves and introduction of other technology into the space. The relationship between cook and mistress was also shifting at this time and was reflected in the arrangement of the kitchen. If you can find a copy of Kelley Deetz’s dissertation, When Her Thousand Chimneys Smoked: Enslaved Cooks, Racialized Labor and Legacy, it’s an interesting read.
              As for images and floor plans, the HABS/HAER collection on the Library of Congress website could offer up some nice surprises. You can browse by subject (“dwellings”, “kitchens” or “domestic life” are good starts) and then manually go through the returned results to find those of the desired date range and with relevant information. One file that I know will give you results is the Mary Washington House.
              If I think of anything else or find any forgotten pictures lurking on my computer I’ll let you know.

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