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| Pot Belly stove inside schoolroom |
Benjamin Franklin is credited with inventing the pot belly
stove. A cute appliance used to heat a room, the pot belly stove is made from
cast iron and has a bulge in the middle, hence the name. The stove was mainly
found in the mercantile or school house, and later on train cars. Some pot
bellies were equipped with a shelf to boil a pot of coffee or to cook a pot of
stew. Franklin is also credited with inventing a large cast iron box that was
set on top of the hearth and used for cooking, but it’s Benjamin Thompson,
Count Rumford, who takes credit for designing a flat topped cook stove with an
oven to control heat as early as 1790. Rumford was considered an engineering
pioneer and the first to scientifically study heat transfer. It was his goal to
move cooking from the hearth to the kitchen. Originally, his stoves were made
of brick masonry, but with the growth of the American coal and iron industries
in 1820, cast iron soon became the rage.
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| smaller cast iron cook stove |
Cast iron stoves are flat on the top, with perforated round
ports that open to the fire below. Little by little, they became more popular
in the States, and as the demand for them grew, improvements to the design were
implemented. The stove was made bigger to accommodate extra burners, dual
ovens, warming ovens and additional storage space such as shelves. At first,
different types of wood were used to heat the stove. A woman had to learn which
wood burned the hottest and the longest in order to prepare meals. Though
stoves were manufactured in the same fashion, no two cooked the same, which proved
challenging until one became adept at using her own stove. After the Civil War,
coal replaced wood as the source to heat the stove.
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| larger cook stove |
Early on, stoves intended for use in or beside the hearth
were retrofitted to expel the smoke through the existing hearth and flue. When
the appliance was moved to the kitchen, a metal pipe was fitted to the stove on
end and inserted into a new chimney on the other end that was smaller in size
then the hearth flue. Most homes weren’t built to accommodate the new design so
ells were added to the kitchen to house the new cook stove.
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| gas heated cook stove |
The American cook stove saw another significant change in
the early 1900’s when heating the stove went from coal to gas. Cooking by gas
had been popular in England since the 1860’s, but many Americans thought gas
too expensive, and some claimed gas left an after taste. But when gas companies
saw electric companies infringing on their profits, they looked toward the
kitchen stove in hopes of conquering a new market. Gas stoves didn’t need the heavy
iron boxes to hold wood or coal or the pipes for exhaust, enabling
manufacturers to design a new, smaller model. This idea went over well with
smaller-sized homes. Another benefit of the gas stove was its lightness. The
appliance could stand on tall, slender legs and eventually became known as a
free standing piece of furniture, the same as the sink.
While the stove has taken on even more changes throughout
the 1900’s, most notably with the use of electricity, cast iron stoves are
still in existence. In the hustle and bustle of today’s society, whether in the
city or the country, the cast iron stove adds a feeling of nostalgia to any
kitchen, taking one back to the days when families gathered around the kitchen
table for a meal, for heat, and for conversation.
