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Heart of the Home

Kitchen Curiosities from the Heart of the Home

The Heart of the Home exhibition in the La Ventana Gallery of the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, presents historical kitchen and domestic tools from the museum's collections. The exhibition was curated by Louise Stiver, and runs through November 27, 2011.

Slideshow captions by Candace Walsh. Photographs by Blair Clark.

Candace Walsh's essay, "Same Heart, Different Home," appears in the
Fall 2011 issue of El Palacio. The article can be viewed here.

These days, wood-burning stoves evoke thoughts of alternative home-heating, not dinner-making. However, women like Blacida Archuleta of Farmington, New Mexico, used this handsome stove to turn out three meals a day, seven days a week. An early ad claimed that this stove made its mistress 'content,' which is a tall order for someone who not only churned out all of those meals, but cranked out sopping pounds of clean clothing by hand (see slide 2). I wouldn't be surprised if a reproduction of this Monarch wood-burning stove found its way into the next Williams-Sonoma catalogue--the striking design and the energy-saving qualities are evergreen. The original price? <a href='http://www.monarchrange.com/history.html'>$60.</a> The stove belonged to Blacida and John Archuleta, of Farmington, NM. In 1902, an <a href='http://www.monarchrange.com/ads/pages/Ad_VeryEarly_Unk.htm'>ad</a> promised to send a 'perfect miniature Monarch,' an exact reproduction, for the cost of three 2-cent stamps. Wouldn't uncovering one of those be a thrift score? (Monarch wood-burning stove, ca. 1915. Malleable Iron Range Co. Iron. Donated by the family of Johm C. and Blacida Archuleta, 2006. 34.01.) Pictured in the <span style='font-style: normal;'>Heart of the Home</span> exhibition installation, in the La Ventana Gallery of the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This Peerless mouse trap (c.1920) was created by the Automatic Trap Company of Illinois. A mouse would be lured through the low entrance on the right, and then trip the door when it took the bait. Other representations of this mousetrap show that the mouse would be trapped in a larger enclosure that wrapped around the left side of the device. Clearly, mice enjoyed infiltrating New Mexico's domestic spaces just as inexhaustibly as they do today. This large trap shows just how ripe the field was for someone to build a better mousetrap, in our case, something smaller and less Rube Goldberg-ian. But the odd thing is that the compact snap-trap we're so used to was invented in 1894, almost 25 years before this hulking iteration was created. That would be like choosing one of <a href='http://oldcomputers.net'>these</a> old computers over a laptop. We can guess that a) perhaps the owner wanted a catch-and-release trap instead of the less humane snap trap, or b) the owner's knowledge of other mousetrap options was limited. (Peerless Mouse Trap, ca. 1920. Automatic Trap Company, Inc., Chicago. Wood, tin, wire. Museum Purchase, 1242/45.)

Many wives might find a washing machine to be a prosaic birthday present from their husbands, but in 1874, the wife of William Blackstone of Indiana received just that. Blackstone didn't run down to Home Depot--he designed and built it for her, conceivably to lighten the load of her daily duties. The one pictured above is a different model, one that came along about 35 years later. This hand-cranked washing machine has a 4-pronged agitator within, which rotated back and forth in soapy water to give the clothes as good a thrashing as the measure of elbow grease applied. Can you imagine the toned biceps these (mostly) women must have had? Interesting side note: another hand-powered wooden washing machine, by Maytag, was marketed under the name 'The Hired Girl.' (Washing Machine, ca. 1910. Gift of Mrs. Vincent Aramijo, 3316/45 a, b.)

The popularity of the Easy-Bake Oven (more than 19 million sold between 1963 and 1997) is a testament to the power of a child's desire to have his or her own version of a parent's domestic 'toy.' We see this represented in the form of a mother-daughter duo of irons, the mother's (c. 1890) and the smaller version (c. 1880). Both rest on cunning little trivets with rococo curlicue flourishes, which speak to the enduring desire to be aesthetically fed while toiling away. (Lavishly adorned paper towels come to mind.) The other items in this grouping are related to self-adornment. The curling iron styled hair, and the fluting iron and its base combined to press pleats and ruffles into clothing. The word 'to flute' is also used in relation to sculpting the perimeter of a pie crust into ridges, which shows how blurry the line between self-grooming and food-styling can be. (Flatiron and trivet, ca. 1890. Iron. Gift of Rosemary Ames, 2592/45 and museum purchase, 2965/45. Toy flatiron and trivet, ca. 1880. Gift of Mrs. Jack Stacey, 2692/45a,b. Fluting iron and Trivet, 1866. Iron. Gift of Mrs. Bruce T. Ellis, 2713/45. Curling iron and stand, 1890. Nicol and Co., Chicago. Iron, wood. Gift of Rosemary Ames, 2463/45 a, b.)

Tortillas are central to New Mexican cuisine, and right on the surface of un comal, or a tortilla griddle, is where the magic happens. Current-day tortilla griddles look more like flat skillets or crepe pans, but the homely, thin and battered one in this photo (standing up, in back) make tortillas more delicious than any sleek modern version. I learned this from experience when I visited Las Golondrinas () with my children recently. We were treated to a tortilla-making demonstration: given balls of dough, which we rolled out and then placed on griddles that were exactly as rough-hewn as the one in the photo. Reader, the tortillas were as dulcet as rolled-out pasta sheets, but also chewy, smoky and sinuous. The Las Golondrinas volunteers plied us with fresh-made raspberry jam and just-churned butter, which we obediently slathered onto our tortillas before reverently taking our first bites--which were exquisite. (Comal or tortilla griddle, ca. 1875. Iron, copper. Gift of the Historical Society of New Mexico and Edgar Lee Hewett, 2090/45. Also pictured are a waffle iron, ca. 1905, two saucepans, ca. 1970, and a Dutch Oven, ca. 1920.)

Canning fruits, vegetables, preserves, and other edibles allowed families to enjoy the bounty of their gardens all year round--which delivered benefits both flavor- and health-related. This practice endures today, and is also enjoying a resurgence alongside home gardening. The steamer canner pictured is notable because, in contrast to water bath canners, it required far less water (6-8 cups vs. 4 gallons) to complete the heating step. This may have made it especially sought-after in a desert climate. However, current thought on steam canners is divided. The USDA does not recommend them, as the contents of jars are not as thoroughly heated as those that undergo water bath canning. (Canning Steamer, ca. 1900. Tin. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Jones, 3648/45 a.b. Also pictured are canning Jars, seals, lids, ca. 1900, and a wooden pail and lid, ca. 1902.)

At first, I thought that the knife was made with a corn-cob handle. However, it was initially a bone or wooden-handled knife with metal rivets. When the rivets rusted out, the handle fell apart. A corncob was pulled into service to make for a sturdy and free replacement. Perhaps it had loftier ambitions to be the bowl of a pipe, but it endures to this day as a knife handle, even beyond the life span of the role of the knife as a tool and not a museum curiosity. I found <a href='http://jerryredfern.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Shan-State-Burma/G0000rVUklieYeJE/I0000RBx8v0lCBy4'>another example</a> of corn cob knife handle usage in this photo taken in Shan State, Myanmar. (Knife, ca. 1850. Iron, corn-cob. Gift of the Historical Society of New Mexico, 4190/45.)

This tin measuring cup (from around 1890) was efficient in its ability to mete out different measurements--somewhat like today's liquid measure, as opposed to our nesting dry measure cups. In my attempt to make a connection between the measuring cup and New Mexico's home cooking history, I stumbled upon a trove of recipes from Lea County, New Mexico, at <a href='http://www.genealogytrails.com'>www.genealogytrails.com</a>. Amidst measuring-cup-requiring recipes for 'Sad Cake,' 'Jist Pie,' and 'Grandpa's Oatmeal Cookies,'I zoomed in on <a href='http://genealogytrails.com/newmex/lea/chess_pie.htm'>Chess Pie</a>, 'favorite of the 14 children of Harriett Josephine McAlister Owen, 1857-1934. Grandmother of Mary Lou Owen Boddy.' It features sugar, flour, cornmeal, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla. James Beard, in his book <span style='font-style: normal;'>American Cookery</span>, notes that chess pie originated in England and turned up in New England, Virginia, and per the Genealogy Trails website, in Harriett Owen's New Mexico kitchen as well. (Measuring cup, ca. 1890. Tin. Estate of H.H. and Florence Dorman, 221/45. Also shown with cuttingboard ca. 1910 and spoon, ca. 1865).

The wooden bell-shaped item with a graceful silhouette is a potato masher. It would be a handy tool at the annual <a href='http://www.cowboysymposium.org/chuckwagon.html'>Chuckwagon Cookoff</a> in Ruidoso, NM part of the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium, which takes place in the second weekend of each October. Each team is supplied with 'dried pinto beans, a sack of potatoes, and 20 pounds of beef.' The participants' cooking tools need to have been available prior to 1900, which grants access to the potato masher with 10 years to spare. The 1850s-era 'food chopper,' the antique New Mexican version of today's mezzaluna, could also be used in the cookoff to make the ingredients into a hash. Both the potato masher and the food chopper could assist in preparing the chuck wagon version of apple cobbler. This was made in a dutch oven (like the one in picture 4). First apples were chopped and mashed, then placed in an oiled dutch oven with seasonings. The mixture was covered with a rolled-out pie crust, and then covered and placed on hot coals to bake. (Potato masher, ca. 1890, Wood. Shown with chopper knife, ca. 1850, Estate of H.H. and Florence Dorman, 2272/45.)

In 1863, the first cherry pitter was invented in the United States. It had a ribbed wheel, which rubbed the pits out of the cherries fed into a large hopper. Another cherry pitter, patented in 1870, took a different approach. The user placed 20 cherries in a box, and then closed it. 20 wooden dowels popped the stones out.
The cherry pitter included in the <span style='font-style: normal;'>Heart of the Home</span> exhibition is a smaller, more graceful version of the initial design. It's not surprising that this tool surfaced in New Mexico, given the state's robust presence of brick-red Bing and blushing yellow Montmorency cherry trees. Check out the pick-your-own options <a href='http://www.pickyourown.org/NM.htm'>here</a> and then consider making a cherry pie, or cherry muffins from Santa Fe's Hacienda Nicholas <a href='http://www.bbonline.com/recipe/nicholas_nm_recipe2.html'>recipe</a>, or go rogue and make some savory <a href='http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/savory_cherry_compote/'>cherry compote</a> to serve with pork, chicken, or duck. (Cherry pitter, ca. 1890. Steel. Estate of H.H. and Florence Dorman, 2276/45. Also pictured are a colander, ca. 1910; wooden spoon, ca. 1890, and a bowl, ca. 1930.)

When it comes to inventions, sometimes the only person to best promote it is the inventor. When David Harvey Goodell invented the first apple peeler in 1864, he allowed another party to promote it, which resulted in only 2400 sales in a 24-month period. Goodell didn't give up; he took his invention out on the road, and sold a whopping 24,000 in less than a month. The <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GtpsAkzdFU'>apple</a> peeler pictured here was manufactured by the Sinclair Scott Company in 1900, and doubtless made life easier for many New Mexican home bakers. Here's a video that shows just how deftly it works its magic. <a href='http://www.ediblecommunities.com/santafe/seasonal-recipes/whats-fresh-whats-local-green-chile-apple-pie.htm'>New Mexico's own take</a> on apple pie adds green chile and pinon nuts, which launches the homey staple up to a level of foodie divinity generally un-breached by comfort food—kind of like chocolate bars that contain bacon. But better. Moving away from the apple pie standby, you can also make Deborah Madison's <a href='http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-muffin-cakes'>apple muffin cakes</a>, or try the <a href='http://www.lcsun-news.com/recipes/ci_7406340'>butterscotch apple crisp</a> recipe from the Hillsboro Apple Festival. (Apple peeler or parer, ca. 1900. Sinclair Scott Co., Baltimore. Iron, wood. Museum purchase 4915/45.)

This device looks like a mandoline, but it is in fact a cabbage shredder, used in the Harold Jones household of Amistad, NM to make sauerkraut, which was stored in lidded stoneware crocks. In Lea County in the year 1895, Mrs. Sallie Weir made chow chow, a relish made of pickled vegetables, including cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, green peppers and spices. Check out the <a href='http://genealogytrails.com/newmex/lea/chow_chow.htm'>recipe</a>, but prepare to do some further research to uncover the true amount referred to in this ingredient line: '50 cents worth brown sugar.' Sauerkraut hailed from Germany, and Chow Chow from Nova Scotia, facts which underscore that various culinary influences make up the heart of New Mexico's home. (Cabbage shredder, ca. 1910. Wood, steel. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Jones, 3671/45. Also pictured are a crock and a corn cob knife, further described in slide 6.)

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