Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1883-12-06

In the current issue Of LesiieS PoDniGr
Monthly Janet +. Runtz Rees writes thus
entertaiuingly of TIE kitchens i'll which the
knickerbockers of New York and Penn
sylvania prepared royal feas,s for days Of
merry making. and not inaptly describes as
well the culinary department Of many New
England home in 'the good old times"
Is it not little strange that while the
distant past attracts SO much attention, and
our minds are so constantly occupied with
the things OF to-day, the periods which come
between the two are far less often alluded
to? That it is so is undoubted, and thus it
comes TO pass that, while books nnumera-
BILE have been written upon the domestic
life and interests of our remoter ancestors.
it is really difficult TO find accurate accounts
Of the home lives Of those who still live in
our memories. The transition from their
day 10 our own eventful as it has been, las
been marked By few abrupt changes, and
the difference between the household of fifty
or sixty wears ago and that Of to-day, great
as it is, must be looked for rather in novels
that reflect the manners of the period, or
sought isolated records of special districts.
rather than in any graphic picture Of the
lives of the general community.
Yet how full OF interest the subject is !!
The mind that is trained to observe can
scarcely fail to compare our rapid acquisi-
ton of new inventions, our large choice Of
useful objects, the facilities and accommuda-
tions of our houses, with the shifts and ex-
pe9ients with which our grandmothers were
familiar.
Probably the nearest thing to the kitchen
Of fifty years ago in this country that could
be found would be that of some settler in
the far West or of some Scandinavian home
where ''new lights are accepted with great
slowness. In both We should probably find
the great yawning, open freplaces, the rud-
dy logs, the chain from which huge kettle
might descend, the wide chimney studded
with hooks and nails, the rafters black with
smoke or recently whitewashed, the now un-
familiar tubs and buckets, the ungainly
press and wood table with its well-scrubbed
top.
In any well-settled or civilized community
to-day, anything even so rude as this could
scarcely be found but fifty or sixty years
ago even city kitchens could not boast of
very much more refinement Up in the
country districts of Long Island and Penn
sylvania, quaint Dutch kitchens, delightful
for their contrast to those Of the over-bult
cities, may yet be seen; but the use Of coal
has changed and modified their character,
and it will only be in some very remote cot
tage that the log fire could be found smould-
ering on the hearth, the frying pan have
handle long enough to prove protection
against flames and sparks, the crane before
the chimney for the roast be found turning
in unwieldly fashion with many crink and
crank What pictures Of home life the
very idea conjures up. The house wife
in the quaint cotton sun-bonnet, worn in
summer for the glare of the sun; in winter
as protection from the draughts at other
times, from mere habit, the strings invaria-
bly, thrown back over the shoulders, the
clogs or pattens raising the feet above the
damp fagstone, the loose jacket and the
bunch of household mugs, Of pewter plates,
all polished till they shone again, served the
purpose of any number of rehectors, and re-
peated in their shining surfaces the leaping
of the flames. The great fireplace reached
more than midway to the ceiling. Mantel
shelf there was, properly speaking, none /;
a mere ridge or ledge served to receive the
upright candlestick, the snuffer-tray, and
perhaps an ornament or two. From it, in
many kitchens, hung curtain or valance,
which was put up clean every week, and
was either of some tiny checked material or
of simple white dimity,
Beneath the capacious kitchen were no