A reel for winding the thread into skeins, from the spindle which was taken from the spinning-wheel as soon as it was filled. By means of a cog wheel and a worm screw within the box, and a pointer on its side, the number of turns of the reel were easily counted, and that told the length of the thread wound on it. As the wheel revolved it made a loud click for each of a certain number of turns. FIGURE 14 Kettles were usually made of iron; these had to be cast and not wrought, but, as they were usually thick and heavy, most large kettles were made of thin brass, sometimes of copper. These tarnished easily and one of the many and not very pleasant tasks of the housewife was to keep them clean and bright. FIGURE 15 In the fireplace was hung a swinging crane of iron. Suspended from it were hooks on which pots and kettles were hung. The hooks could be moved along the crane and were of different lengths and sometimes adjustable. The crane could thus hold several kettles at once, some in the very heat of the fire and some farther away. The fireplace was the center of the home, the one source of heat, the one place for cooking and often the one source of light at night. Many pioneers and their families had to do all their reading on long winter evenings by the light of the open fire. When a house was built and the chimney and fireplace finished, the “hanging of the crane,” the final step in preparation for housekeeping, was sometimes part of a ceremony, with Bible reading, hymns and prayers, followed by feasting and rejoicing. FIGURE 16 All sewing was done by hand. A sewing-bird was often fastened to a table by a thumbscrew. The cloth was caught in the beak as desired and this made the sewing easier. FIGURE 17 Andirons or fire-dogs were used in every house, for all fires were of wood and in fireplaces. The poorer people were content with very simple andirons, made of wrought or cast iron and without any ornament. In these, the standards are made tall and they have as ornaments little vase-forms of brass at their tops. Tongs and shovel were as necessary as the andirons, and like them were often of the simplest make. These have handsome brass handles. FIGURE 18 A toasting rack. Slices of bread were placed on edge between the curved bars, and the rack was then set before the fire. The flat strip of iron to which the bars were fastened could be made to revolve on the bar below, attached to the handle so that when one side of the bread was toasted, the other side was easily turned to the fire. FIGURE 19 A gridiron, used not only for cooking meat but also as a rest on which to set cooking utensils of any kind, raising them above the coals below. All utensils of this type stood on legs to lift them a little above the coals and ashes.