Digital Commonwealth — Boston Public Library
Old And New Farm Kitchens. Des Moines, Ia. – Old and new versions of farm kitchens were shown at the Iowa State Fair, here, recently. The old kitchen, simulating conditions 100 years ago when Iowa entered the Union, was in sharp contrast to the all-steel, electrified modern model. In the pioneer room are a hand-carved walnut whatnot, a spinning wheel and a corner cupboard – all fashioned a century ago. Strings of dried apples, an 80-year-old feather picture, antique clock and early day guns decorate the walls. The combination kitchen cabinet and sink has bins for flour and grain, and a metal container for bread dough. There is a lamp which burned lard through a wick, candle moulds, butter moulds, a high chair near which is a tar bucket, once used to hold grease for the wooden wheels of a “prairie schooner.” In the modern kitchen, with its gay wallpaper and table service, the farm wife has with easy reach every modern convenience. From the built-in cabinet unit to the electric stove, roaster, refrigerator, toaster, coffee maker, mixer and waffle iron, there’s hardly any resemblance to the Iowa kitchens of yesteryear. This is a view of the earlier period kitchen, in which Geraldine Taylor of Bloomfield, Ia. stirs an iron pot while Max Hendrickson, 3, sits in the highchair.
Associated Press
