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The American Kitchen 1700 to the Present: From Hearth to Highrise
The American Kitchen 1700 to the Present From Hearth to Highrise Author:Ellen M. Plante More than a sequence of improved gadgets, the development of the kitchen in the United States mirrors the roles women have played privately and publicly. From the immense Colonial hearth to the compact galley tucked into a modern highrise, this perceptive narrative charts the uneven domestic landscape to provide a unique glimpse into American so... more »cial and technological history.
Housekeeping was once a full-scale war against hunger and disease with the kitchen as its headquarters. From a large hall with walk-in fireplace that was the house's main room, American women in the eighteenth century kept their families alive and healthy by roasting meat over open fires, baking bread in Dutch ovens, and making pies and puddings without the benefit of thermometers, timers or reliable sources of constant heat. A colonial kitchen was also the center of candle and soap-making, washing, cleaning, storing and many family activities since it was often the only warm, light place in the house.
With prosperity and social upheaval, with war, economic disaster and epidemic came changes paralleled in the kitchen, in womens' place, and in the family: the new concept of "home," the move first toward and then away from domestic servants, the craze for cleanliness, the rise of domestic science and economy, the fall of the traditional "housewife." With abundant material from old and rare books and magazines and 125 illustrations, including reproductions of antique advertisements and trading cards, this history gives a full picture of nearly 300 years of life at home and at table in the United States.
A rich source of culinary lore, women's history, and primary source material, this book sets the scene for the changing panorama of the American family. This eye-opening narrative tells us as much about ourselves as it does about our kitchens.« less