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The Household

The Household image
Parent Issue
Day
6
Month
April
Year
1882
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

"What elae can akitchen be?" asked a young housekeeper the other day as she chanced to see the above heading. "That is the one point that dadoes and portieres never invade. Mine is deeorated, it is true, but it is with the grease spots left by successive Biddies. However, it is always so dark that nobody knows tliey are there, and I never enter the hole if I can help it." "The hole." That is the difference belween past and present. In spite of modern convenieuces, set-tubs, ranges, and gas, the kitchen of to-day is too ten, at any rate in city houses, gloomy, ill-ventilated and depressing ; mere temporary stopping pla.ee for 'servants of all nationalities, each one a trifle more incompetent than the last. The modern convenienees soon have the look of very ancient inconveniences. The range, every cover of which is distorted by a course of red-hot flres, ceases to bake or roast unless urged constantly to the same point. The sink is the haunt of roaches, for which and for mice titbits are always in wait uuder and among the pipes which burst or overflow in mysterious ways; and gradually through neglect and abuse, even the possibilities of the room turn to impossibilities, and the only method of coastruction lies, as in other varieties of crises, in destruction first and Uien a new start. ïhe practical kitchen, like the practical dinner, is the one best adapted to the needs of the user. A retinue of servants requires much more elabórate quarters and working space than that demanded by but one or two. Unlimited inconies, it goes without saying, mean also unlimited facilities for each phase of household labor, and for such ineomes are the soapstone flnishings for all sinks and tubs, the tiled floors, the shining coppers, and all the numberlesb conveniences of cellars and pantries. But for all kitchens of less pretensión, whether large or smal], are certain anenaüie rights, and the mistress of every household should know what they are, and, if her voice is heard in the planning of the house, insist upon thetn. Sunlight, free ventilation, economy of space and arrangement, tuis latter ineluding also ampie closet room, and the best attainable flttings for such room, from floor to ceiling. There is no disinfeetant like abundant sunlight. If the house faces in such direction that this means of grace is known only in front, there is partial remedy in increasing the size of the Windows, supposing the kitchen under discussion to be the usual basement one of eities and towus. Where a back porch or piazza shuts off light, it would be better if possible to build the kitchen out on the same line, letting the intermedíate space be used for storage. AnythinK rather than constant workimr in shadow, and thua the inability to detect and banish dirt, which from the day it was used in our manufacture, has been the synonyrn of unending war, and will be so long as "earth goeth on the earth." Free ventilation means the possibility of carrying off much of the mixed and pervasive odor resulting from cooking, but any description of auch methods requires more room than the present article allows. Economy of arrangement is even more essential. To the architect, who never having gone through the numberless processes of getting a meal has no conception of the number of steps to be taken, it seems a small matter whether a closet, for instance, is near a range or on the other side of the room. He does plan, or from the position of the hot water pipes is f orced to plan, a sink next to the range, and underneath he elects, having boxed it in, shall be the place for pots and kettles. Now nothing could well be less desirable. About all waterpipes will, no matter how well kept, be at least occasional visitations of !Croton bugs or roaches, and as they love devious ways their paths will be through the pots and sauce pans far more probably than anywhereelse.aboveall if any stray bits of the last thing cooked adhere to them. If the housekeeper's susceptibilities revolt at uncovered pipes, keep nothing below beyond the box of sand and the scrubbing brushes, nor, I pray you, let Bridget "chuck" floor cloths into remóte corners or even hans them on tke pipes, slimy masses of possible fevers. Let thetn ba dried by siin or flre, and then if need be flnd shelter there. Tbe floor if uncovered means a weekly scrubbing. A good oilcloth requires only washing over and thus sa ves time and strength. Au oiled Uoor of hard wood is good and a painted one also, both requiring less labor taan the ordinary one of pine boards. If the expense is not too great painted walls thoroughly varnished secure cleanliness, as they can then simply be wiped down at intervals. The color should be light, that dirt may be revealed, not hidden. ïhe ceiling should be white or tinted to harmonizo with the walls. A wainscoting is an advantage also.dirt adhering less to wood than to piaster. What the fittings and furnishiugs of such a room should be will flnd place in another number, but the principies laid down apply to all kitchens indiscriminately and can be carried out in degree. Mnke the room light, airy and brighfc as possible, and it will be easier to insist upon its being kept in suitable order than if both mistress and maid are depressed and disgusted - the first consciously, the latter quite without her ownknowledge of causes - by darkness or gloom. For all evils, mental, moral or physical, light is a panacea, and Bridget can be brought to terms more speedily in sunshine than shadow can ever dictate.

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Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Democrat