United States -- Social life and customs -- To 1775; Women -- United States
And when the bottell at last grows old,
And will good liquor no longer hold,
Out of the side you may make a clout
To mend your shoes when they’re worn out,
Or take and hang it up on a pin
’Twill serve to put hinges and odd things in.
Latten-ware was a kind of brass. It may be noted that no tin appears on
this list, nor in many of the inventories of these early Connecticut
colonists. Thomas Hooker had several “tynnen covers.”
Brass utensils were far from cheap. Handsome brass mortars were
expensive. Brass kettles were worth three pounds apiece. No wonder
the Indians wished their brass kettles buried with them as their
most precious possessions. The brass utensils of William Whiting, of
Hartford, in 1649, were worth twenty pounds; Thomas Hooker’s, about
fifteen pounds. Among other utensils named in the inventories of some
neighbors of Mr. Hooker were an “iron to make Wafer cakes,” “dyitt
vessels,” “shredin knife,” “flesh fork.” Robert Day had a “brass
chaffin dish, 3s, lether bottle 2s, brass posnet 4s, brass pott 6s,
brass kettle 2. 10s.” A chafing-dish in olden times was an open box of
wire into which coals were thrust.
Dame Huit, of Windsor, Conn., had these articles, among others:--
1 Cullender 2 Pudding pans. In kitchen
in brasse & Iron potts, ladles, skimmers,
dripping pans, posnets, and
other pans 6. 10s.
A pair Andirons 2 Brandii 2 Pair Crooks
3 pair of tonges and Iron Spitts pot-hangers 1.
1 Fornace 2.
Tubbs pales churnes butter barrels &
other woodin implements 2.
The “two Brandii” were brand-irons or brond-yrons, a kind of trivet
or support to set on the andirons. Sometimes they held brands or logs
in place, or upon them dishes could be placed. Toasting-irons and
broiling-irons are named. “Scieufes,” or sieves, were worth a shilling
apiece.
Eleazer Lusher, of Dedham, Mass., in 1672, owned cob-irons, trammels,
firepans, gridirons, toasting-fork, salt pan, brand pan, mortar,
pestle, box iron heaters, kettles, skillets, spits, frying-pan, ladles,
skimmers, chafing-dishes, pots, pot-hooks, and creepers.
The name creeper brings to our consideration one of the homeliest
charms of the fireplace--the andirons. Creepers were the lower and
smaller andirons placed between the great firedogs. The word is also
applied to a low cooking spider, which could be pushed in among the
embers. Cob-irons were the simplest form of andirons, and usually were
used merely to support the spit; sometimes they had hooks to hold a
dripping-pan under the spit. Sometimes a fireplace showed three pairs
of andirons, on which logs could be laid at various heights. Sometimes
a single pair of andirons had three sets of hooks or branches for the
same purpose. They were made of iron, copper, steel, or brass, often
cast in a handsome design. The andirons played an important part in the
construction and preservation of a fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account