Posted 10 years ago
hotairfan
(388 items)
These stoves range from the end of the 18th Century to the middle of the 19th Century. they were the first really portable cook stoves and were called 10 plate stoves by the fact that they required 10 different patterns to be used in the pouring of the cast iron that they were made from. They were held together with four stay rods along the four corners of the stove, often using a rams head nuts to tighten the stays. The top of the stove was used for cooking and the door on the side opened to give access to the oven chamber for baking.
Prior cook stoves were often fastened to the fire place and were called five plate, or jamb stoves. This manor of stove became popular after Benjamin Franklin invented his popular portable parlor stove.
they were made in the cold blast iron furnaces of the colonies. They also made kettles, mortise & pestles, and often cannon balls for General Washington's Army.
This stove, (from the Lehigh Furnace in Eastern PA) is a smaller version of the 10 plate stove and was probably used in a bedroom to ward off the winter chill and to keep a tea kettle warm.
Thank you for watching ... see my other articles .... hotairfan.
oh man.....you are so lucky to have one of these!!!!!! I just got back from the Mercer Museum and saw dozens of these examples. Some of them even had hand forged parts to them. I think the earliest ones were 8 plates right? love this!!!!!
Hi BHock45, Isn't Henry Mercer's museum great? He collected items from auctions in the eastern PA area. He was a great archaeologist and knew how to categorize dedicate his findings.
You might have already known this, but I'll mention it anyway. The reason that his museum is made entirely of concrete is that Henry Mercer had a morbid fear of fire. He was afraid that his precious relics would be destroyed by a fire so he made his building entirely fireproof. He was said to walk the building at all hours of the night with his trusted and beloved dog. The dog's ghost is said to walk the museum building and can be heard at night. The dog's footprints are imbedded in the staircase of the upper level, and can be seen in a cement step if you look for it.
If you want a great book by Henry Mercer, look for "Antique Carpentry Tool". It is most fascinating and I know that you will enjoy it.
Now for the stoves, I've seen stoves called jamb or jam stoves that fit through the wall to warm both sides and these stoves were sometimes called 5 plate stoves. A great place to see the mfg. of early stoves is to visit Hopewell Furnace Historical Village. It is a cold blast furnace in French Creek State Park in Elverson PA. They made Stoves, kettles, and even cannon balls for George Washington's Cannons.
I have two 10 plate stoves, the one pictured, and a larger one for the parlor. My stoves were mfg. within sight of my home at Lehigh Furnace at the foot of the Blue Mts. in the community of Lehigh Furnace, PA. This cold blast furnace was torn down and the property was sold to build a home on the site. I still remember the remnants of the furnace back in the 60's before it was razed.
wow...very very interesting. Come to think of it, with a collection like that, his fear of fire was understandable. It was a great place to visit and I can't wait to go again. Great story about the stoves, I love to learn about these things. I am going to look up the book you suggested now. Take care!!!