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The Columbia University Libraries reserve the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in Its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. Author: Hutchinson, Elsie Lillian Title: Housefurnishings, kitchenware and laundry Place: New York Date: 1922 irrr— ■—- " ' - • " r M ' s. r m* ' -. tv aji. i j-iJH" ? - ' S ' . r — " ' iiwjw.b.-i ft ■ ■.■a.-.»jmiiiii wMgea cBi ' r r.* -i!i- i' -J ' j » i.u. ' x -u .^wu- 'm \. ji m ij^ ^r^wv MASTER NEGATIVE # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD 854 .^jS H97 Hutchinson, Elsie LiUian, 1890- ... Hoiisofuniisliiii.i>s, Idtcliciiware and laundry cquip- mout, by E. Lillian itutcliinson ... New York, The Eon- aid press company, 1922. xvii, 241 p. front., illus., plates. 19i"". (Merchandise manual series) Published 1918 as one of the Department store merchandise manuals under the title The housefurnishings department. "Books for referctice" : p. 231. 1. Kitchen utensils. I. Title. Library of Congress Copyright A 692711 r\ 23-2406 HFS4()1.D52 vol.10 RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE : 36 IV/M REDUCTION RATIO: /2^ ^ IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA ^ IB IIB DATE FILMED :_%i^±lf£ INITIALS TRACKING # : fi\^H 0US61 FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES, BETHLEHEM, PA. .^/ r^/ a^ CJl 3 3 Q) O > 03.0 IS ■^i N CO -P^ en CT\X ^-< CX)M o ^] 3 > CD O) o o m (D CD ^ o o CO N A^ .•v^' <^ ^^- ^.. ^ ^ 1^] ^: ^v ,,. 10 O O 3 i t 01 o 3 3 <^ > 01 A^^ 'V? O O 3 3 O KJ a- ~ m NO 00 In ^^^ 1.0 mm 1.5 mm 2.0 mm ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcclefghi(klninopqrstuvw«y2 1234567890 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzl234567890 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghiiklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 2.5 mm ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghiiklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 <5 ^o f^ ^iy /-* # ^V% '^1^ i^ 4^ ^CP m H 9 O O ■o m -o > Ceo I TJ ^ m o m /'*. o^ * t-^ M OI 3 3 3 3 I* is X — 5S r •^ jt *^VJ^ ^T^ ^X*^'' 5' 5'^;^:^r ;andise MANUAL- SERIE i*? > ■ •'..- '^^i HOUSEFURNIS ■MMM HUTCHINSON ■-■>-. .iDZ54-.S3 Columbia JBnit^tnitp tntftfCftpof3Irtti|ark LIBRARY School of Business MERCHANDISE MANUAL SERIES First Stamping Operation Second Stamping Operation Third Stamping Operation Fourth Stamping Operation Sixth Stamping Operation Eighth Stamping Operation Tenth Stamping Operation Twelfth Stamping Operation Finished Funnel Courtesy Aluminum Cooking Utensil Co. Some of the Operations in Stamping a Funnel HOUSEFURNISHINGS KITCHENWARE AND LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT BY E. LILLIAN HUTCHINSON Fonnerly Secretary of Department Store Education Association NEW YORK THE RONALD PRESS COMPANY 1922 ^ 1^ JjU /i // z > /f 1. Dish]>an 2. Flaring Pail 3. Lard Pail 4. Milk Pan 5. Tea and CoflFee Pot Spouts 6. i: 9 10. XI. From " Dies, Their Construction and Use," Figure 2. " Blanks " of Oil can Breast u. Coffee Pot Dipper Handles 13, Dipper Bowl 14. Scoop Handle 15. Scoop Boss 16. Dishpan Handle 17, 20 Coffee Boiler Scoop Body Scoop Back Scoon Band 18. Cup Handles zi JLo *7 ^/ ^S a ^f CD : e7 i/ by courtesy of Norman W. Henley Publishing Co. Various Kitchen Utensils 19. Stove Pipe Elbow 20. Dripping Pan 21. Dripping Pan Notch 22. Gravy Strainer 23. 24. Spoons 25. Writing Machine Lever 26. Coal Hod Hood 27 Coal Hod Back Handle 28. Coal Hod Rim 29. Dustpan Handle 30. End Piece — Deep Bread pan 31. Funnel Body 21 32. Coal Hod Body 33- Coal Hod Front 34. Coal Hod Back 35. Dustpan 36. Side Piece — Deep Bread pan 37. Measure Body 22 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Perforating Dies The dies used in making the holes in colanders, skim- mers, graters, can tops, and similar articles have a series of sharp punches in rows. They are called per- forating dies. Curling and Wiring Dies These dies are used for curling over the tops of the cans, basins, milk pans, or other sheet metal articles. The wire is added to give greater strength and stiffness. From " Dies, Their Construction and Use," by courtesy of Norman W. Henley Publishing Co. Figure 3. Steps in Curling the Edge of a Utensil If the vessel has straight sides the curling may be done with one stroke of the press, but if the sides slant the top must first be bent over and then caught in the curling groove and curled. Seaming is the permanent joining of two metal IRON AND STEEL WARE 23 edges. It may be done by simply hooking the bent edges over each other, or, for a locked seam, a double fold is made. For the double seaming of such pieces as the bottoms of teapots, pails, and similar articles, special machinery is used. Figure 3 shows how the curled edge of a half-round dish is formed by the pressure of a die. In the first stage the metal has commenced to curl, in the next it has curled to a half-circle, in the third it has begun to turn back on itself, and in the last it curls to a full circle. Drawing Dies Drawing dies are used in the manufacture of articles from ductile metals such as wrought iron, steel, tin, copper, brass, and aluminum. By means of these dies a flat piece of metal can be drawn into a deep vessel by pressure and tension alone. There are four types of drawing dies : Simple push-through dies Punching and drawing dies with double-acting press Punching and drawing dies with single-acting press Triple-acting dies The simple push-through dies take the blank after it has been stamped out in a blanking die, and while the 24 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT edges are held firmly the punch presses and pushes it down to the desired length of the shell. The combination dies cut out the blank, draw it into shape, and sometimes finish it off. The double-acting presses can turn out articles of almost any shape, the number of operations depending on the thickness of the metal. If the shape is simple and straight-sided, a push-through die is used. For tapering or irregular shapes the die plate must have a solid bottom of the shape required into which the punch fits. The single-acting presses can be used only for shal- low articles, such as the tops for cans. Triple-acting presses are the same in principle as the solid bottom double-acting ones, cutting, drawing, forming, and stamping or lettering the shell by one con- tinous process. Successful Drawing The successful drawing of metal in dies depends on the firm, even pressure which does not allow the strain to be greater on one part than on another, and the perfect fitting of the sections of the die so as to prevent the metal from wrinkling or buckling. These condi- tions are secured by delicately adjusted springs and many automatic attachments to control the action of the machine. The metal must also be of the right degree of duc- tility for the drawing process. Cast iron is too hard IRON AND STEEL WARE 25 and must be made into wrought iron, which is soft and fibrous. Steel must be annealed. The metal is coated with a thin film of oil or grease while it is being worked. The drawing of a deep shell is not accomplished by one stroke of the punch. There are some- times five or six opera- tions, the shell being drawn first on dies having outside blank holders and then on those having in- side blank holders, each one having a smaller di- ameter than the one be- fore. Figure 4 shows how many steps are necessary in drawing a tube, and the Frontispiece shows several of the large number of operations performed in mak- ing such a simple article as a funnel. Eighteen ad- ditional operations are required after the twelfth stamping operation to finish the funnel. « 3 8 ^ — 1 „^^^ From " Dies, and Use," by W. Henley P Their Construction courtesy of Norman ublishing Co. Figure 4. operations in Draw- ing a Tube 26 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT The shells for the larger articles are made on draw- ing dies with as few seams as possible, so that the sur- face may be smooth and even. Ears, handles, sprouts, etc., are electrically welded, so that the metal in the body of the article and that in the attachment unite as one. 11 I Chapter III ENAMELED WARE Popularity The enameled ware section is a large one. Enam- eled ware is unquestionably the most popular as well as the staple ware for household use on the market today. The chief reason is doubtless its reasonable price. It would be difficult to find a home in this country where it is not used, either as the whole equip- ment of the kitchen, or for some part of it. All varieties of utensils are made of it and it has largely replaced tinned ware. Variety of Stock The stock, coUv^sisting of white, blue, blue and white, and gray ware, includes : I. For the stove: Teakettles Kettles for all uses Saucepans Tea- and coffee-pots Steamers 37 Double boilers Asparagus boilers Ham boilers Frying pans 28 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT 2. For the oven: Bread, cake, and muffin pans Pie plates Pudding and other baking dishes Meat roasters 3. For preparing and containing Bowls Cups and saucers Spoons Plates, platters Pitchers Boxes Jars Strainers 4. For the sink: Dishpans Draining pans Soap dishes 5. For miscellaneous uses : Foot tubs Dinner pails Covered buckets food: Colanders Skimmers Dippers, ladles Funnels Measures Pails Bread raisers Milk pans Wash basins Sink strainers Cuspidors Chamber pails Composition of Enameled Ware Enameled ware is sheet iron or steel coated with a glazed material which protects the iron from rusting. This coating is not actually united with the iron as in » ENAMELED WARE 29 the case of tinned ware (see Chapter IV), but is fused or " fired " on so that it will withstand ordinary usage. The foundations are made by the methods described in the preceding chapter. The foundations must be firm and unbending or the enamel will chip off when the article is bent and expose the iron to action of rust. In time this action will undermine the entire covering. Composition of Enamel The hard, smooth coating of enamel is a form of glass, and like glass is composed chiefly of silica, or sand, combined with feldspar, potash, soda, borax, and some substance to produce the required color. The proportions vary in different manufactories and are carefully guarded trade secrets. There is, however, one very striking difference be- tween the ingredients of glass and those of enamel. Glass often contains substances, like arsenic, which are perfectly harmless so long as the article is not sub- jected to heat, but which would be poisonous in cook- ing utensils. Such materials are not used at all in enameled ware. Preparation of Enamel Just as in the manufacture of glass, the first step in the enamel-making is to prepare the " batch," which is simply the mixture of all the materials together. 4 I? s I 30 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT It is very important that this mixture be of the right composition, for this determines whether: 1. The enamel will stick to the vessel properly. 2. The enamel will bake on with a smooth surface. 3. The surface will be non-porous. 4. The gloss will be lasting. 5. The color or mottling will be attractive. When the batch has been thoroughly mixed it is emptied into a red-hot furnace, in which it is melted and becomes a thick, sirupy mass. While it is in this liquid form the furnace is tapped and the melted enamel is run out into water, which causes it to break up into small particles. Grinding of Enamel This breaking up is to facilitate the next process, grinding, as small bits are more easily pulverized than larger pieces. The grinding process takes place in large mills in which the enamel is mixed with clay and other substances. When it issues from the mill it is ready to be melted again and applied to the sheet iron or steel foundation. Preparation of the Foundation for the Coating The sheet iron or steel articles resulting from the drawing or stamping processes described above, have a black, scaly surface and must be cleaned and prepared ENAMELED WARE 31 to receive the enamel coating. They are accordingly passed through an acid bath, which removes all for- eign matter from their surfaces. If the foundations should be examined at this point under a very strong magnifying glass, they would ap- pear as though small bits of steel were projecting all over their surfaces. These catch and hold the enamel. When more than one coat of enamel is applied, as is the case with white ware, the enamel has a smooth, glassy surface to cling to instead of the rougher steel. Therefore it does not adhere so strongly and is much more liable to chip off than is the single-coated ware. Application of Enamel to the Article The article is then immersed in the enamel bath. Great care is taken to have the enamel evenly distrib- uted by turning the article in many positions, so that all parts of it will be thoroughly covered; otherwise the coating would not be satisfactory. This seem- ingly simple operation requires skilled workers. As said before, white ware is always coated more than once ; the best variety has three coats. Any ware that is white inside or white all over is first given a ground coat and then two coats of enamel. The cheaper white ware has only one additional coat. If a combination of colors, such as blue and white, or green and white, is desired, the article is given one : 32 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT or more coats of one color and then while still wet the other color is applied, with the result that the two merge. The articles are then dried thoroughly. Fusing The next step is known as fusing, a process which causes the firm adherence of the enamel to the article. The articles are placed in steel frames and run into muffle furnaces which are either red-hot or almost white-hot. The time required to cause perfect fusing varies from one to three or four minutes. The ar- ticles are then withdrawn and gradually cooled. If the articles have only a single coat of enamel, they are now finished. When dipped twice, or three or four times, the fusing is repeated after every coat of enamel. Finishing In the case of pans or other such simple utensils, the articles are then inspected, labeled, and shipped. In the case of more complicated utensils, such as ket- tles, coffee-pots, etc., covers are fitted, and bails or handles attached. Varieties of Enameled Ware " Agate " ware is one trade name for the mottled ware, so named because it somewhat resembles the ENAMELED WARE 33 mottled appearance of the agate. It is a specially durable variety of enameled ware. " Granite " ware is another trade name for the gray mottled ware, so called because pulverized granite is actually added to the " batch," and also because its gray mottling somewhat resembles granite. Care of Enameled Ware With reasonable care enameled ware is durable, but there is one thing which must be guarded against in the very best of ware. The enamel must not be injured so that it cracks or chips off. Cracking can be pro- duced in three ways: By a heavy blow, which breaks the enamel by its force. By the sudden application of excessive heat, which makes the underlying iron expand faster than the glazed coating and causes the enamel to crack. By the sudden application of excessive cold to a very hot vessel, which causes a rapid contrac- tion and subsequent cracking of the enamel. The iron is then exposed at points where the enamel is broken, acids in the foods attack it, and gradually the whole enamel is undermined. Unless this accident has occurred, housekeepers need have no fear of cooking acid food or any other food in I 34 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT enameled ware utensils, because enamel is not attacked by any chemical substance except hydrofluoric acid, used for etching glass ; this acid is not found in foods. The hard, smooth, non-porous, non-scaly, glossy surface of enameled ware makes it very easy to keep clean and sanitary. Any bad discoloration can be removed from enam- eled ware by soaking the utensil in washing soda and hot water. History Enameling as an art is of very ancient origin, and the process of applying beautifully colored enamels to gold jewelry has been practiced for centuries. The application of the art to household utensils, however, was first practiced by the French, and then introduced into Sweden, Germany, and England. Its introduction into the United States is comparatively recent, but today domestic enameled ware occupies a leading place in the market. As in all manufactures, improvements in making enameled ware have been rapid and many. The old process was very slow, as the enamel was applied with a brush, instead of by dipping. The fusing also took 15 to 25 minutes instead of i to 4 as at present. The United States ranks first in the production of serviceable, durable enameled utensils, and ships large quantities to South America. ENAMELED WARE 35 The foreign-made ware is higher in price, and usually has four coats of very hard enamel which firmly adheres to the base. Since the recent World War, however, little or none has been imported and American manufacturers are supplying the constant demand. Summary of Selling Points of Enameled Ware The conditions upon which the quality of enameled ware depend, and which the saleswoman must be ready to explain, are: 1. Preparation of steel foundation 2. Quality of material in enamel 3. Application of enamel 4. Firing I 4i Chapter IV TINNED, JAPANNED, AND GALVANIZED WARE Definitions Tinned, japanned, and galvanized wares are made of sheet iron or steel coated with another metal. Tinned ware is coated with tin; japanned is tinned ware painted with a special varnish; galvanized ware is coated with zinc. Whenever iron or steel is coated with another metal, there is a surface union between the metals which is very different and very much stronger than the adher- ence of enamel. The metal coat will not scale off, though it may be scratched off. Tinned and galvan- ized ware are very durable. Tinned Ware Stock Tinned ware has continued to be popular in spite of the growth and widespread use of enameled and aluminum ware, as it is light to handle, inexpensive, and attractive when it is new. It also conducts the heat well, so there is less danger of scorching food. 36 TINNED WARE 37 Tinned ware stock includes many articles, especially those of smaller size, such as: I. For cooking: Tea and other kettles Saucepans Ladles, dippers Steamers, poachers Bread, cake, pie plates Baking pans Potato mashers Colanders Strainers, sieves, sifters Funnels Egg separators Measures Coffee-pots Double boilers 2. For preparing food : Apple corers Graters Biscuit cutters Spoons Bread and cake mix- ers Lemon squeezers 3. For the sink : Dishpans, draining pans Wash basins 4. For the laundry : Boilers Manufacture of Tinned Ware As tin will not adhere to the steel unless the surface is perfectly free from dirt, the steel is subjected to a long cleaning process. It is first immersed in hot, dilute sulphuric acid and Soap dish and shakers Wire pot cleaners 38 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT then washed, heated, and passed through pohshed iron rollers to give it a well-polished surface ; it is annealed again, immersed once more in dilute sulphuric acid, re-washed, and scoured with sand. At the end of this process the sheet is clean and bright. Next, each sheet is put into a pot of melted tallow, where it is left until it is completely coated. After this the plates are plunged into a bath of melted tin, in which they remain from three to five minutes. After cooling they are polished with bran. The best tin plate is dipped twice; this is called " block tin," or ** retinned ware." The articles are drawn on dies or seamed from " blanks " by the methods described in Chapter II. Care of Tinned Ware Tinned ware must not be scratched so that the steel foundation becomes exposed. Rusting will surely fol- low. Therefore, metal spoons should not be used with a tinned utensil, or wire rings or other sharp metal scrapers for cleaning it. Hot soapy water should be used in washing it, or, if it is very dirty it may be boiled in a weak solution of washing soda. It may be polished with whiting. Tinned ware should not be subjected to a high tem- perature such as that used in frying foods, or even placed on the stove to dry, because tin melts more easily than iron or aluminum. TINNED WARE 39 Hot acids react on tin, therefore foods containing acids, as tomatoes, pineapples, etc., should not be cooked in tinned ware vessels. History of Tinned Ware The process of coating iron with tin, the oldest of all methods of metal coating, was first practiced in Bohemia, where tin was discovered in 1240, and for four hundred years Bohemia supplied England and Europe with tin-coated articles. The process was kept secret until 1620, when the Duke of Saxony ob- tained knowledge of the secret process and started the manufacture in his own country. In view of the fact that England manufactured pig iron for hundreds of years it is strange that tin-plated ware was not made there until 1670. It was 1720 before a permanent plant was located and then the development was slow. After 1834 the growth was rapid, and by 1867 England exported over seven mil- lion dollars' worth. In this country tinned ware was first manufactured from imported sheets at Berlin, Conn., by an Irishman named Patterson. The seamless ware was first called Frenchware, because it originated in France; pre- viously, pieces had been soldered and seamed together. In this country Frenchware was manufactured first in New York. From then on the industry gradually de- veloped, and by Civil War times there was a large de- 40 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT mand for kitchen spoons, and great quantities of tinned iron spoons were made. The real growth of the industry in the country has been since 1890. By the McKinley tariff a high pro- tective duty was imposed on imported tin plates to pro- tect and encourage their manufacture in the United States. Wire Goods The wire goods are included with tinned ware be- cause the largest part of the wire of which they are woven is tinned steel wire. The articles include : 1. For cooking and preparing food : Broilers and toasters Frying baskets Strainers, sifters, and sieves Egg beaters Potato mashers Cake coolers 2. For cleaning : Soap shakers and soap dishes Draining racks Waste baskets Carpet beaters Wire Drawing The process of making wire is known as wire draw- JAPANNED WARE 41 ing. Rods of the metal pointed at one end are drawn through holes in steel plates. The rod is passed through holes successively smaller until the required size is reached. As the metal is being worked it grad- ually hardens and becomes less ductile, so that the wire must be annealed. Brass wire may be made so fine that gauze may be woven of it containing 67,000 meshes in a square inch. Of course, no gauze so fine as this is found in the articles in the House furnishings Department, but many of the fine meshed sifters are made of brass wire. Another method of insuring fineness in such articles as tea strainers is to make them of two thicknesses of wire gauze. In Qgg beaters and potato mashers, the steel wire is bent into the various shapes first and then tinned. Japanned Ware Such articles as : Boxes and canisters for tea, coffee, sugar, spices, flour, bread, cake Dust-pans Trays Crumb trays which are not to be used for cooking are made of tinned ware covered with a hard coating of colored varnish, called japan, because the articles coated in this 42 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT way resemble the celebrated lacquered goods from Japan and China. The colors seen are white, imitation of oak grain, blue, brown, and black. Two or more coatings of the japan are given to the better grades. After each coating the articles are heated for lo to 12 hours in an oven at from 135 to 165° F. The japanned surface is next rubbed with fine ground pumice, then with rottenstone, and some- times finally polished by hand. Sometimes gold or bronze bands or floral decorations are added ; these are painted on in a special gold size, then the gold leaf or bronze powder is dusted on, and the objects are again placed in the oven. On removal the gilt or bronzed portions have a protecting coat of varnish. The light colors require more careful heating than the darker ones. Galvanized Iron Galvanized iron cannot be used for articles in which food is to be contained as zinc forms poisonous com- pounds upon coming in contact with meat or vegetable acids. It is therefore used for articles which need a strong, non-rusting material, and which are not in- tended for use as food containers. Such are: Water pails Dish drainers Ash cans Ash sifters Garbage pails Refrigerator pans GALVANIZED WARE 43 Manufacture of Galvanized Iron Zinc-plated ware is manufactured by two processes. In the dipping process the sheet iron articles are first cleansed of any rust or dirt by immersing them in dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. They are then washed in cold water, scoured with sand, and plunged into the zinc bath. If flat sheets are being coated they are passed through two iron rollers to smooth them. The thicker the sheets, the longer will be the time re- quired to coat them, as it is necessary for the iron to attain the same temperature as the zinc before it will adhere well. The electric process, otherwise known as " cold gal- vanizing," is growing more successful every year. It is far more satisfactory in coating sheets than in coat- ing articles of irregular shape, as the electric current does not deposit the zinc evenly on such shapes. The advantage of the electrical process is that the tough- ness of the iron is not impaired by heating, as in the dipping process, and the coating adheres better. See "Jewelry and Silverware Manual*' for further information upon electroplating. Care of Galvanized Ware Only hot water and soap should be used in cleaning galvanized ware, as it is easily attacked by chemicals. Stains may be removed by rubbing with kerosene, fol- lowed by a thorough rinsing with hot water. Chapter V ALUMINUM WARE Popularity Aluminum probably makes a stronger appeal to the purchaser than any other ware in the House furnish- ings Department. Its attractiveness, lightness, and durability have been so widely advertised by the manu- facturers that few housekeepers are unacquainted with its advantages. The salesperson therefore needs to be particularly well informed in regard to all its good points. The stock includes utensils of the same sorts as those made of enameled ware, and in addition others, such as frying pans, which cannot safely be made of enameled ware, because of the extreme heat to which they are subjected. Fireless cooker receptacles are usually of aluminum. Attractiveness The bright, silvery appearance of aluminum ware makes a strong appeal to all purchasers. Aluminum, moreover, does not tarnish as silver does. A kitchen 44 ALUMINUM WARE 4S in which many of the utensils are of this metal is de- cidedly attractive. Lightness Aluminum is one-third the weight of iron, one- fourth the weight of silver, and lighter than glass. Its lightness makes it especially suitable for such ar- ticles as large frying pans, double boilers, and roasters, which in cast iron are too heavy to be handled con- veniently. Durability Aluminum is as strong as iron. In fact it is often used in the place of iron when strength and lightness are both required, as in air-ships. The remarkable durability of the metal assures the purchaser of an ar- ticle of aluminum that it will last a lifetime. In addi- tion to its inherent strength this metal has the advan- tage of being non-rusting. This quality means much in any cooking utensil. Economy The initial cost of aluminum is rather high. This is offset, however, by its durability, and by the econ- omy in fuel which attends its use. Aluminum ware requires less fuel, for it conducts heat readily. Heat is distributed through it twice as fast as through tin, and three times as fast as through 46 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT iron. It requires a large amount of heat at first, but when the article is once filled with heat very little is required to keep the contents of the aluminum kettle boiling. If gas is used, it should be turned down by one-third or one-half after the contents of the utensil have begun to boil. This is very different from iron or steel, where the heat collects in the center of the utensil. This characteristic of aluminum makes it a good warm-weather utensil. Handles of aluminum utensils are quite often of tinned iron, steel, or wood, because aluminum ones be- come hot so quickly. Furthermore, as aluminum is a good conductor of heat, food does not burn in aluminum utensils quickly : the heat distributes itself through the vessel instead of concentrating in one place. In addition to conducting heat rapidly aluminum also holds heat longer than any other metal. This is a valuable property when food is to be kept warm. Coffee and tea will keep hot longer in aluminum pots than in other materials. Aluminum is therefore the common material for fireless cooking. Food which has started to cook on the stove and has been transferred to the fireless cooker will retain the original heat for a long time. (For further information upon fireless cooking, see Chap- ter XVI.) ALUMINUM WARE 47 Occurrence of Aluminum Aluminum is more abundant than iron, constituting 8 per cent of the earth's crust, but it is always found in combination — never as a free metal. Its most common form is in combination with oxygen in clay. In fact, aluminum is the basic metal of all clay. It is also found in nearly all rock. Even the beautiful precious stones, the ruby and the sapphire, are forms of aluminum in combination with other elements. Processes of Obtaining Pure Aluminum The first step in the process is to abstract the pure aluminum from the mixed form in which it occurs. The clay used is bauxite, which is found in both the United States and Europe. It was first discovered in Baux, France. Bauxite does not contain aluminum mixed with other substances, but alumina, which is the chemical combination of aluminum and oxygen. This alumina is separated from its impurities by chemical means, and then dried. It is now a pure white pow- der, resembling white sand. This part of the process is quite costly. The next step is to secure the pure aluminum from this combination of aluminum and oxygen. This is done by electrolysis, a process which consists of de- composing a compound by passing an electric current through it. As it requires a large amount of elec- tricity to produce aluminum, the manufacture is 48 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT usually located where water power is cheap. For this reason plants are located at Niagara Falls and Mas- sena (on the St. Lawrence), in New York State. The aluminum is turned out in the form of ingots or " pigs/* a term taken from iron manufacturing. (See Chapter II.) From one ton of aluminum ore only one-half ton or less of alumina is obtained, and from this alumina one-fourth ton or less of ** pig " aluminum. Two Varieties of Aluminum Ware The factory manufacturing the cook?ng utensils re- ceives the aluminum in this form. The first step in the manufacture is the melting of the bars. From here on, the process differs according to whether the articles are : Cast, from liquid aluminum Stamped, from sheet aluminum Casting The casting of aluminum ware is not different from the casting of iron. The melted aluminum is simply poured into a mold which is the shape of the desired article. The advantages of this process are that extra thickness can be given to the parts of the utensil where it is needed, such as the bottoms of kettles, etc., and also that many varieties of shapes and patterns are obtainable. ALUMINUM WARE . f 49 Stamping The stamped or drawn aluminum articles are made by the process described in the latter part of Chapter XL Aluminum is susceptible of deeper drawing with less annealing than any of the other commercial pietals. Some stamped aluminum ware is " spun," that is, after the utensils are stamped they are placed on rapidly revolving chucks which are shaped to fit the inside of the article and the workman presses tools of various shapes against the outside. In utensils like coffee-pots or kettles, the top is turned in by the spin- ning process. Stamped articles often have lengthwise wrinkles in the metal. These are removed by pressing an iron tool against the utensil as it revolves. Attaching spouts to stamped articles, such as tea- kettles or coffee- or teapots, is an interesting operation. The spout and the body of the utensil are made sep- arately, but a hole is left in the body where the spout is to be attached. Then the spout and the metal around the hole are heated, the two are brought to- gether, and aluminum wire is used to make the article one continuous piece of aluminum. Polishing and Finishing Whether cast or stamped, the polishing and finishing processes are the same. J 50 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT The first step in finishing the outside is to even the surface by grinding the whole to the depth of the deepest scratch. This is done by rapidly revolving buff wheels. Then softer wheels are brought against every part of the exterior and the well-known beautiful silvery polish results. In finishing the inside surface there are several methods, each resulting in a separate " finish," as : 1. Polished, like the outside 2. " Satin " or " scratch brush " finish, done by pressing the interior against a rapidly revolv- ing fine wire brush. Line " finish, obtained by rubbing the interior surface with emery cloth. Dip " finish, a whitish finish, obtained by ex- posing the surface to an acid. Natural " finish — not finished at all, but left as it comes from the last manufacturing process. Electric " finish, a dark finish which is smoother than the others. 3. 4. tt (( a 6. Care Most manufacturers issue directions and sugges- tions for the care of aluminum utensils. They are not, as is often supposed, hard to keep in good condi- tion. ALUMINUM WARE 51 The one point which all manufacturers emphasize is that caustic alkalies, such as lye, ammonia, strong wash- ing powders or soaps containing alkalies, must not be used in cleaning the utensils. The reason for this is that these substances attack aluminum freely and dis- solve portions of the metal every time they come in contact with it. Any pure soap or metal polish that is not gritty will cleanse the polished surface. The inside often becomes discolored after cooking foods containing iron, such as spinach; or if hard water is used. This is harmless, and can be easily removed by the use of cleaning powder. Persistent black coatings may be removed with steel wool. Coat- ings of burned grease may be removed by boiling the utensil about five minutes in a gallon of water to which three or four tablespoons of oxalic acid crystals have been added. Wash the utensil afterwards in plenty of soap and hot water. Some people have the impression that aluminum is easily melted. The fact is that its melting point is 1215°, while water boils at 212°. Therefore, there is no danger that aluminum will melt in ordinary cook- ing operations, if water or moist food is contained in the vessel. But if the dish is allowed to remain over the fire without water it may melt. Another wrong impression is that it is harmful to cook acid foods in aluminum utensils. Very careful 52 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT experiments have been made to discover the exact nature of the changes which take place when such foods are prepared, and it has been proved that there is no danger from the use of aluminum articles. History Considering the present popularity and tne many advantages to be gained from using aluminum in the kitchen, it is a surprise to learn how recently it has come into use. The year 1855 w^s the first year of its commercial existence. It then sold at $90 a pound. By 1870, owing to discoveries in methods of extract- ing it by electricity from the substances with which it was combined, the price had declined to $12 a pound. In 1889 it was $2 and ten years later 29 cents. Until it reached a level which brought it within reach of the ordinary consumer, it was not available for household use. The United States Government buys large quanti- ties of aluminum canteens, mess kettles, coffee boilers, stock pots, etc., for army use. Summary of Selling Points The selling points for aluminum ware may be sum- marized as follows: 1. Non-poisonous 5. Lightness 2. Non-rusting 6. Durability 3. Does not scorch 7. Economy of fuel 4. Cooks quickly Chapter VI WOODENWARE Articles The wooden articles in the House furnishings De- partment, in addition to furniture, are : I. Utensils for preparing and containing food: Rolling pins Bread, meat, and cake boards Chopping bowls Spoons, forks Salad sets Nut bowls Potato mashers Butter paddles and molds Buckets Handles of various utensils 2. Laundry and cleaning implements: Ironing boards Wringers Washboards Clothes-pins Pails 53 lill 54 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Tubs Clothes horses Curtain stretchers Backs of brushes Handles of brooms and brushes Cases of carpet-sweepers Character of Wood More than fifty varieties of wood and 400,000,000 feet of lumber are used in this country each year in making articles of wooden ware and novelties, a very large number of which are sold in this department. The choice of the wood to be used depends on the purpose for which the article is intended. Some arti- cles must be light, others stiff, others strong, others tough, others hard. The physical properties of wood vary with the species, the rate of growth, the locality, and the method of seasoning. Each one of these con- siderations has some definite effect on the final char- acter of the wood. The characteristics which must be considered are : WOODENWARE 55 Hardness Stiffness Strength Shrinkage Toughness Weight Hardness Hardness is a wood's resistance to wear. This is an important quality, and one most necessary for a large number of household utensils. Chopping bowls and bread and meat boards must resist severe cutting blows ; rolling pins must be hard. The hard woods are oak, beech, birch, maple, wal- nut, ash, hickory, all of which belong to the broad leaf variety of trees. The soft woods are pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, cypress, which belong to the '* conifer- ous,'' or cone-bearing family. The hard woods are on an average two or three times as hard as the others, but some of the so-called hard woods are really quite soft, and vice versa. The softer a wood is the easier it is to work, and therefore when there is no particular advantage to be gained by using a hard wood, a soft one is often sub- stituted. For example, ironing boards, tubs, and other implements are often of soft woods, which are nevertheless hard enough for the purpose. Strength By strength is meant the ability of the wood to re- sist crushing, or pulling or breaking apart. This is another very important characteristic in selecting wood for such purposes as kitchen chairs. In general, hard woods are stronger than soft. Toughness By toughness is meant a wood's ability to bend without breaking. This characteristic is known as 56 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT resiliency, a most useful property, and especially desir- able in handles. The hard woods are about three times as tough as the soft. Among the hard woods the hickory is the toughest. This is the reason why hickory supplies the wood for more than two-fifths of all handles made. (See " Hickory," below.) Among the soft woods pine is the toughest, and the alpine fir the least tough. Stiffness This characteristic is the resistance which a stick offers to a force which tends to change its shape. Soft woods, in comparison with their weight, are stiffer than hard. Shrinkage By shrinkage is meant the amount of weight which a piece of wood loses in passing from the green to the dry condition. Newly cut, or *' green " wood, is full of moisture; one-half, or sometimes more, of its weight is water, which is held in the walls of the cells and between the cells. A large proportion of this water must be removed before the timber is in shape to use, as green wood is likely to decay. The process by which this moisture is removed is known as " seasoning.** There are two general meth- ods of doing this: WOODENWARE 57 Natural drying — by air Artificial or kiln drying Natural drying is done at the saw mill. The sawed boards are piled in such a way that there is good cir- culation of air between them, and the pile sloped at the top so that the water will run off quickly. The length of the process depends upon the time of year, the weather, and the kind of lumber. In the dry climate of the southwest it takes only two months for pine to dry in summer, while in the damper climate of the Gulf coast cypress takes a year to dry. Lumber dried in the natural way contains from 15 to 30 per cent of moisture. In the artificial process of kiln drying, the work is carefully regulated by principles which have been worked out, and the lumber is usually superior to the air-dried. The two processes are often combined. Besides losing moisture and consequently weight, seasoned wood is different from green in other re- spects. It is stronger, stiffer, and harder, but not so tough. It is less liable to shrink in subsequent usage. Among the soft woods, cedar and white pine shrink the least, spruce somewhat more, and long-leaf pine and tamarack the most. Among the hard woods, locust, butternut, and black cherry shrink little, maple somewhat more, and white oak, hickory, and birch the most. The hard lumber 58 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT requires more care in seasoning to prevent warping and checking or cracking. Lumber Used in Kitchen Utensils As mentioned above, each species of lumber is par- ticularly adapted to some certain purpose : some kinds for cabinet work and fininshing; others for use in foundation work. In the Housefumishings Depart- ment, however, durability and serviceability, rather than appearance, are considered. In the following sections the woods commonly used are described. Ash Ash is a heavy, tough, elastic wood, with a coarse grain which shows up well in the finishing process. This makes ash a suitable wood for certain kinds of furniture, such as refrigerators or kitchen cabinets. The grain in lumber is produced by varying combina- tions of cells of different kinds. Spring wood and summer wood, sap wood and heart wood, slow growth and rapid growth, knots, and burls, all represent nat- ural variations which are accentuated by the sawing and finishing processes which bring out the beautiful grains. Basswood Basswood is the lightest, softest, and weakest of the hardwoods. It is neither stiff nor strong, but because WOODENWARE 59 of its even grain, white color, and ease of working it is very widely used. Twenty-three per cent of the total amount is used for boxes and crates. Bread boards, butter paddles, ironing boards, wash- boards, and pails are made of basswood. Beech Beech is a moderately strong and heavy hard wood. Its wear-resisting qualities make it especially desirable for a large number of uses. Broom handles, clothes- pins, ironing boards, pails, refrigerators, washing ma- chines, washboards, etc., are often made of beech. Birch There are thirty-five known varieties of birch, but the three principally used in woodenware are: paper or white birch, yellow birch, and red or cherry birch. The wood is close-grained, hard, tough, and takes a high polish. The yellow and red birches are heavy, of average stiffness and strength, and more than aver- age toughness. Birch is used for clothes-pins, wash- boards, broom handles, and carpet-sweepers. Cottonwood Cottonwood is light, soft, of even grain, and easily worked, but tougher and stiffer than basswood. It wears well for a soft wood. About half of the Cot- tonwood lumber is used for boxes, and most of the rest for ironing boards, washboards, baskets, etc. II. 6o HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Cypress Cypress has been called " the wood eternal." It is one of the strongest and heaviest of soft woods. It resists moisture very well, and has accordingly always been largely used for shingles. This quality makes it desirable for ice-cream buckets, pails, tubs, wringers. Hickory There are a number of species of hickory. It is the strongest, toughest, and heaviest of the native woods. Its toughness makes it good for vehicles, and 60 per cent of the product is used for this purpose, while 31 per cent is used for handles. Maple There are four species of maple used in making wooden articles : the hard or sugar maple, red, soft or silver, and Oregon maples. Hard maple is the most abundant and useful variety. It is of moderate weight, strong and hard, and has good wearing qualities. It is employed wherever strength and resistance are required, as in the case of chopping bowls, rolling pins, bread boards, carpet- sweepers, clothes-pins, pails, meat boards, etc. Soft maple is lighter in weight, not so strong, stiflF, or hard. It has an attractive grain, and is used for broom handles, butter bowls, ironing boards, etc WOODENWARE 61 Oak There are more than fifty species of oak, but most of it is marketed under the general names of " white " or " red ** oak. Oak is heavy, hard, strong and tough, with a char- acteristic figure which makes it good finishing wood. It is widely used for refrigerator cases, kitchen cabi- nets, furniture and fixtures. Pine Pine is found in almost every forest region, and is as plentiful as oak. It furnishes one-half of the total lumber supply of the country. There are two large groups, the white and the yellow; and the properties are as marked as the species. White pine is even-grained, soft, and easily worked, resembling spruce and cedar. It is used for kitchen cabinets, washing machines, pails, refrigerators, and most interior work. Yellow pine is the heaviest, hardest, strongest, stiff- est, and toughest of soft woods, and is in demand for general building purposes. Poplar Yellow poplar is a light, soft, fine-grained, easily worked, durable wood, much like basswood. It is used as a backing for veneer. It is a valuable wood ^2 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT for washboards, carpet-sweepers, ironing boards, washing machines, etc. Spruce Spruce is a h'ght-weight, soft, even-grained, easily worked, stiff, and strong wood. It is used for broom handles, butter tubs, inside partitions of refrigerators, ironing tables, and washboards. Wood-Working The lumber and wood-working industries are among the largest in the country. Thousands of workers are employed in the various stages of cutting the trees in the forests, transporting the logs to the saw mills, sawing them into boards, planing the rough boards, and making the finished articles. Much of the material for woodenware goes to the factory in log form without passing through the saw mill. Turning Many of the wooden articles of the department, such as rolling pins, bowls, etc.— in fact, anything that is round or cylindrical — are made on turning lathes. There are wide variations in the work and construc- tion of turning lathes, but the principle is always the same, i.e, rough, round, octagonal, or square blocks of wood or other substances are fixed in place between WOODENWARE 63 two rigid centers and revolved rapidly, while a chisel or other cutting tool is held against the block. According to the method of operation, there are two kinds of lathes: Foot lathes, operated by the workman. Power lathes, operated by machinery and "power." With respect to the species of work they do there are also two classes : Center lathes, which form outside surfaces. Spindle, mandrel, or chuck lathes, which perform hollow or inside work. Both types of work, however, may be done on one lathe. 'There are many varieties of automatic attach- ments which assist in shaping the articles, and a skil- ful mechanic can obtain large varieties of shapes. Lathes are also used in shaping metal, bone, and ivory. Finishing For many of the simple articles in this department, the finishing process consists merely in sandpapering. This may be done by an endless belt on which sand or emery has been fixed. Joints When two pieces of wood are to be jointed together, as in cakeboards, buckets and pails, or furniture, many 64 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT methods are used, depending upon the material, the strength required, and the character of the work in hand. In former times all joints were made by hand, but now every kind can be made more accurately by machinery. The three types of jointing are: Straight-angle jointing Edge-to-edge jointing End-to-end jointing and each type can be effected in various ways. The simplest method of joining two pieces of wood at right angles is by nailing or screwing. This serves for rough work, but is clumsy and not very strong. ^ A better way is by what is called the half-and-half joint, in which one-half the material at the end of each piece to be joined is cut away. (See Figure 5.) If carefully done this makes a serviceable and neat joint. The mortice-and-tenon or tongue-and-groove joint is excellent where neatness and strength are required. It is used in straight-angle and edge-to-edge jointing also. This may be seen by looking at the end of a bread board where the small end pieces are joined to the body of the board. The protruding parts of one piece fit exactly into corresponding notches in the piece to which it is joined. (See Figure 5.) ^ Another very strong joint is known as the dovetail joint. In this type the projecting pieces of wood, WOODENWARE 65 C D A — Half-and-Half Joint. B and C — Tenon or Tongue-and-GrooTe Joint. D — Dovetail Joint Figure 5. Different Kinds of Joints wider at the tips than at the base, fit into correspond- ing sockets. This is seen in bread and cake boards, but is not used so often as the mortice and tenon joint. When an unusually strong, heavy joint is required, wooden pegs, called dowels, are driven tightly into auger or gimlet holes made in the joints. These dow- els are of strong, hard woods, such as beech, maple, etc. Over 12,000,000 feet of lumber are used annu- ally in dowel-making. 66 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Gluing Many pieces of woodenware are simply glued to- gether. Good glue, if properly used, will unite two pieces of wood so closely that the fibers will part before the glue will break. The secret of good gluing is to have the glue in per- fect contact with the surface to be united. Dirt and air must be removed. A thin layer of air, different from ordinary atmosphere, clings to the surface of all bodies. This may be observed by dipping the wood into water, when air is seen adhering in the form of tiny bubbles. A single drop of glue adheres firmly if rubbed well onto wood. The following rules regarding gluing will not only be of value to the salesperson in observing the con- struction of certain articles, but will also enable her to offer advice upon repairs. 1. Use as little glue as possible. If the two pieces of wood are separated by a large quantity of glue, the strength of the joint depends on the glue itself and not on the adhesion of the two surfaces. 2. Have the surface absolutely free from dirt, grease, old glue, or paint. 3. Spread the glue evenly, and use pressure in unit- ing the two pieces. WOODENWARE 67 4. Keep the glue sweet. Glue is an animal prod- uct, made from the hoofs, bones, and tendons of cattle, and will deteriorate unless it is kept cool. 5. White glue, that is, ordinary glue bleached, is useful with white and light-colored woods. Finishes Many woodenware articles are natural-finished, that is, just smoothed. Others, such as sugar buckets, kitchen cabinets and refrigerators, are stained, and still others are painted. The object of paints and stains is to preserve the wood by closing the pores or openings so as to prevent moisture and decay from entering. Paints and stains are often decorative. Paint is opaque and conceals the natural appearance of the surface of the wood. It is more often used for exterior finishing. Stains or varnishes bring out the natural grain ap- pearance of the wood and are more decorative. Stains Stains vary with different woods. Porous woods, for instance, red oak, require the application of a filler before the stain is applied. Otherwise too much will be absorbed into the wood. 68 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT WOODENWARE Stains are classified according to the liquid in which they are dissolved, as spirit stain, which is dissolved in alcohol, oil stain, and water stain. Varnish Varnish is a solution of certain gums or resin in alcohol and is applied after staining to preserve the stain and produce a shining, transparent surface The number of coats of varnish depends on the fineness of the finish desired. Paints Paints are pigments, that is, coloring matter. The foundation is commonly white lead, or zinc oxide, which IS ground and mixed with linseed oil or other liquids. Turpentine is added to make the paint more fluid; and driers, lead or manganese salts, are dissolved m the oil or turpentine to make it dry more rapidly The following rules regarding the application of paint will be of use: 1. The surface must be thoroughly clean and dry. 2. All old paint should be removed. 3. Nail holes, cracks, etc., must be filled with putty. 4. Knots or sappy places must be coated to prevent the sap's exuding and thereby causing blisters. 5. Thin coats well distributed are better than thick ones. 6. Allow ample time for drying between the coats. 69 Care of Woodenware In caring for woodenware articles it is important to clean them immediately after they have been used for cooking operations. A chopping bowl is not only easier to clean if attended to as soon as one is through using it, but it is not so liable to absorb odors from the food contained. The following suggestions may be helpful in telling customers how to care for unfinished wood, varnished wood, and painted wood. In cleaning unfinished wood: To remove grease, the commonest stain, wet with cold water to prevent spreading, and scrub with strong washing soda. To bleach when it has become darkened, apply a solution of oxalic acid ( i teaspoon ful to a cup of hot water) to entire surface with a brush. Let dry, and scrub as usual. To wash, go over surface with wet cloth, scrub with soap or fine sand soap, always with the grain, not across it or in circular motion. Rinse with clear warm water and wipe dry. Use as little water as possible; if much is used the wood becomes darker and water-soaked. In cleaning varnished wood : dust, then clean with a soft cloth and oil. Polish with a dry cloth. Silk and chamois are good for finely finished woods. 70 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT In cleaning painted wood : use warm water and soap suds, applied with a cloth. Then rub over with a doth wrung out of clear water, then with a dry cloth If the surface is not dried it will be streaked. Spots which do not yield may be scoured with whiting. Never apply soap directly to paint. Tubs or buckets which have become very dry are not water-tight and should have water put into them for some hours before using. Woodenware will absorb odors and fats which will be conveyed to other foods. For this reason special wooden spoons should be kept for use with salads and not be used for cakes, custards, etc. Wooden buckets or containers, not being air-tight, are not suitable for cereals, which become filled with weevils unless kept m air-tight containers. In general, woodenware for use in connection with food IS limited to articles which can be made of noth- mg else. Usually they are articles which would be too heavy if made of any of the metals except aluminum, which would be prohibitive because of its cost Chapter VII EARTHENWARE AND GLASSWARE Varieties of Pottery Some confusion exists regarding the different terms used in describing this class of ware. The words earthenware, crockery, porcelain, pottery, and china are used indiscriminately. The term pottery is properly applied to anything made of clay and baked in a kiln. The word earthen- ware is often used for the inferior grades of pottery, distinguishing them from porcelain or china. Yel- low earthenware is made of softer paste and fired at a lower temperature than the white ware. It is cheaper but less durable. Crockery is earthenware of any grade, especially kitchen utensils, made from baked clay. China or porcelain is vitreous ware, differing from earthenware in being more or less translucent, and in its superior whiteness and hardness. Earthenware Articles In this section of the department are found : 71 72 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Baking dishes Casseroles Ramekins Bean pots Teapots Pitchers Jugs Jars Bowls Nappies Characteristics of the Ware A feature which has made these articles popular for bakmg dishes is their quality of retaining heat. They are therefore useful when preparing foods which re- quire a long, slow baking. Foods prepared in them keep warm longer than in metal dishes. Another advantage is that food prepared in these dishes can be placed on the table in the same dish in which it is baked. Pottery imparts no taste to food prepared in it, un- less it is chipped or crackled. Earthenware is not impervious to air, and therefore crackers, for instance, will become soft if kept in it. Materials of Which It Is Made The materials for pottery are very common, being clay, feldspar, and flint in varied proportions according to the article to be produced. ^ After the clay has been removed from the claybank It is allowed to age for some time. It is said that Chmese potters use the clay which their grandfathers have prepared, and that they in turn prepare clay for EARTHENWARE AND GLASSWARE 73 their grandchildren. The modern process, however, continues for days, weeks, or months only. Molding The clay is first molded into the desired shape, either by hand or by machine, and then left to dry for some time. Baking or Firing When the articles are dry they are put into fur- naces, called kilns, to be ** fired." The better ware is packed in " saggers," or containers, made of fire clay, to protect them from stains, warping, and cracking. The common ware is often piled up in the oven of the kiln without covering. The kiln is really a huge brick chimney with a floor. When the kiln has been filled with the ware it is bricked up and fires lighted underneath. These are low at first, but gradually become hotter until the degree of heat required for the kind of article being made is reached. Then the fires are checked and the kiln gradually cooled ; usually about two days are al- lowed for this cooling. Then the kiln is opened and the ware removed. It is now in what is called the " biscuit " stage, rough, and without glaze. After careful inspection the ware is smoothed and any lettering, stamping, decorations, or trade-marks are applied. 74 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Glazing The articles are next clipped into a glaze and allowed to dry, and then once more packed in " saggers " and fired. While the temperature is not so great this time as at the first firing, it is great enough to fuse the glaze with the body of the ware, so that the ware and glaze are one, not simply pottery with a coating of glaze. The glaze on yellow ware and some other forms of crockery is fused on in the first firing. History of Pottery The baking of clay to form pottery ranks among the oldest arts. When ancient tombs are opened, or other traces of vanished civilizations are found, pieces of baked clay are almost always discovered. Ancient Egypt was^ probably the first nation to de- velop this art, and theWjieces of both glazed and un- glazed pottery are found in a state of perfect preser- vation, but all the great nations of antiquity were proficient in pottery-making. The Bible refers many times to pottery. In medieval times both glazed and unglazed pottery were made as early as the twelfth century in Italy, and England doubtless learned the trade from European workmen. The English development of the art has been noted throughout the world for its beauty and superiority. EARTHENWARE AND GLASSWARE 75 In America no pottery works were established be- fore the end of the eighteenth century — about 1790; and until then the necessary supply had been imported from Europe. Rapid development has taken place in the manufacture of American-made ware, which now has a recognized standing in workmanship, design, and service. Purchasers find that American-made ware is always easily obtained and that they do not have to wait for shipments from Europe. Glassware Articles In this section are found Baking dishes Containers Measuring glasses Cream whippers Fruit jars Jelly tumblers Lemon squeezers Rolling pins Preparation of Glass The manual for the " Glassware Department " gives a complete description of the process of glass-making, to which the reader is referred for information on this subject. Fruit jars and jelly glasses, as well as containers, are made of bottle glass. They are often tinged with green, due to the presence of iron in the sand. The glass baking dish, however, is of a different composition. Borax is used in its manufacture to give 76 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT it the power to withstand oven heat without cracking or melting. The borax produces a ** low expansion glass/' that is, one which does not expand much with heat. Merits of Glassware No other substance is as satisfactory as glass for preserve jars, etc. The requirement for these pur- poses is an air-tight receptacle, which is not affected by acids. Glass is ideal in both these respects. Hydro- fluoric acid is the only acid which will affect glass and this is never present in any food. The special glass baking dishes have the advan- tage of being very attractive, and food may be served directly from the dishes. They do not " crackle," nor absorb flavors, and are very easy to clean. The transparency of glass makes it convenient for storing foods. One can see at a glance the amount and nature of the contents. Chapter VIII COMPARISON OF MATERIALS FOR COOKING UTENSILS Essentials for Cooking Utensils No one material is suitable for all cooking utensils. The purpose for which the article is to be used and the amount which the customer is willing to pay are im- portant factors in determining the kind of ware to be recommended. There are, however, four points which should al- ways be considered in every purchase of this kind : 1. Safety from poisonous compounds. 2. The ease with which it is cleaned. 3. Economy in fuel. 4. Durability. Safety Safety for all kinds of food is found in : Aluminum Enameled ware Glassware Earthenware Safety for foods without acids in : Iron Tinned ware 77 78 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Copper receptacles may be used for boiling water, but not for cooking acid foods. Aluminum has suffered many unjust criticisms based upon the false notion that it forms poisonous com- pounds when in contact with acids and certain foods. Exhaustive chemical experiments have disproved this entirely. Teapots and preserving kettles for cooking acid vegetables and fruits should not be made of uncoated iron or of tinned ware. Ease of Cleaning The ease with which the various wares may be cleaned depends upon the smoothness of their surfaces. Food clings more readily to rough than to glazed sur- faces. The easiest to clean are : Glassware Earthenware Enameled ware Earthenware, however, crackles. This is a disad- vantage because food particles and flavors lodge in the tiny cracks and not only discolor the ware but flavor the food. This condition makes earthenware vessels unfit to use for cooking. Iron ware is the most difficult to keep clean. Economy of Fuel The saving in fuel which may be made by using one COMPARISON OF MATERIALS 79 utensil rather than another depends upon the rate at which the material of which the utensil is made con- ducts the heat. In general, metals are good conductors of heat, but some conduct it faster than others. Materials arranged in their order of conductivity of heat are as follows : 6. Tin 7. Iron 8. Porcelain 9. Glass (ordinary) 10. Water 1. Silver 2. Copper 3. Gold 4. Aluminum 5. Brass This table shows why good kettles and boilers often have copper bottoms, and why aluminum is so success- ful as a cooking utensil. If three utensils made of copper, aluminum, and iron respectively are of the same size and thickness, the copper one will conduct seven times as much heat and the aluminum one four times as much as the iron one in the same time from the same fire. Therefore, if it is desired to cook rapidly, as in jelly-making, when quick evaporation is desirable, it is more economical and satisfactory to use an aluminum utensil than an enameled one. On the other hand, if a long, slow cooking at a low temperature is desired, as in casserole cooking, porce- lain or glass, which are poor conductors of heat, are better than aluminum. The aluminum ware conducts 11 8o HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT the heat so rapidly that the flavors are lacking which would have been brought out by slower baking. Moreover, when glass or earthenware dishes are once thoroughly heated, they transfer a constant steady vol- ume of heat to their contents for a number of hours, even after the fire has been turned off. Because of the greater conductivity of heat in alu- minum, sugar, milk, rice, and other easily scorched foods may be prepared in an aluminum utensil with less danger of burning than in one of iron or enameled ware. It is necessary also to consider the melting point of the various metals in connection with the cooking op- erations in which they are to be used. Iron melts at 3279° F. Copper melts at 2000° F. Aluminum melts at 1215° F- Tin melts at 442° F. Tin, therefore, is not suitable for the highest tem- perature, such as that necessary for frying. Iron or aluminum can stand this temperature without danger. Durability The durability of cooking utensils depends largely upon whether they will break or otherwise disintegrate. Aluminum is undoubtedly the most durable, since it neither melts nor rusts. COMPARISON OF MATERIALS 81 Iron will not melt at cooking temperatures, but will rust unless properly cared for. Tinned ware melts at comparatively low tempera- tures, and rusts if the tin is scratched off. The enamel coating of enameled ware will crack off. Woodenware warps and cracks when water is al- lowed to stand in it. Earthenware and glassware are easily cracked by sudden blows and falls. Earthenware crackles under high temperatures. Neither earthenware nor glassware is suitable for cooking on the top of the stove, where heat is applied to one part of the utensil only, and thus expands it unevenly. In the oven the heat is more nearly uni- form. i X UTENSILS FOR COOKING 83 Part II -Cooking and Cleaning Implements Chapter IX UTENSILS FOR COOKING Knowledge of the Elements of Cookery Essential In order to understand the merits of different shapes and styles of cooking utensils and to be able to advise customers upon purchases, the saleswoman should be fam>l.ar with the fundamental principles of cookery According to the cooking purposes for which they are used, there are utensils for ; Broiling, roasting, baking; in which heat is ap- phed by means of heated surfaces. Boiling, braising, stewing, steaming; in which heat IS applied by means of water. Frying, sauteing; in which heat is applied bv means of fat. Broiling The simplest method of cooking meat is by roast- mg or broiling before a fire. This can be done out of 82 doors with no utensil at all except a pointed stick on which the meat is spitted. In an ordinary kitchen only thin cuts of meat are cooked in this way. In hotels and restaurants fowls and larger cuts are roasted in the same way by means of tin kitchens. This method when applied to slices of bread is known as toasting. Utensils for Broiling True broiling is the subjection of food to the direct heat of a fire without the use of water, fat, or a heated surface. The utensils used in broiling are: Wire broilers or toasters Wire racks set on feet over a pan The simple, hinged, double wire broilers, made of heavy tinned wire, or sometimes of steel wire, are used over a wood or coal fire ; the meat or fish is held over the fire, which must be red hot to prevent coal gas from getting into the meat, and any fat or moisture in it allowed to fall into the flame. Broiling above the fire causes frequent jets of flame whenever the fat falls upon the coals and this sears or bums the surface. Many people prefer meat which has been charred in this way. These broilers are often called gridirons. The same style of wire toasters are used for toasting i <• 84 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT bread over the coals. These are usually lighter weight than the broilers. When gas or electricity is used in cooking meats the fat must not be allowed to fall on the fire. The food is therefore suspended in front of the flame or placed beneath it, and the fat is caught in a pan known as a dripping pan. Baking pans of Russia iron or enam- eled ware are the best for this purpose. When bread is to be toasted over a gas, gasoline, or oil flame, a four-sided toaster, upon which slices' of bread stand upright, is excellent. This construction distributes the heat evenly and produces a uniformly browned toast. By regulating the heat one can obtain a crisp toast with a moist center, or a thoroughly dry Electric toasters are a specialty and are used on the table. A process known as pan broiling is done in a hot, dry pan. The effect is very different from true broil^ ing, as the fat and juices of the meat ooze out and half fry it. The utensils used for this method are frying pans or skillets, which are discussed later in the chan- ter. ^ Roasting and Baking Roasting and baking are ordinarily done in an oven by means of heat radiated from its four sides; the oven is heated by a fire box. For meats the process is UTENSILS FOR COOKING 85 known as roasting; for vegetables, fruits, and batter foods, as baking. Roasting Roasting is the best method of preparing large cuts of meat as it preserves the juices and develops a fine flavor. The object is to form the hardened outer layer immediately. Meats need a very hot oven at first, and therefore the utensils are of materials like iron, which will stand high temperatures well. Utensils for Roasting The utensils used for roasting in an oven are : Roasting pans Self -basting roasters Roasting pans are made of Russia iron or enameled ware, and may be provided with a wire rack upon which to set the meat. They should be fairly heavy, for a thin pan is apt to buckle and cause the water used in basting the roast to collect at one end while the other smokes. The wire racks may be used for cake coolers also. Self 'hasting roasters are very popular. They are made of enameled ware or aluminum, and provided with a tight-fitting cover. The steam rising from the meat condenses on the cover and falls back over the meat and bastes it. Cheap cuts can be made tender in 86 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT these roasters. The round and oval-shaped ones are more easily cleaned than the square-cornered ones. In selling large roasting pans of either type, it is well to ask the customer the measurements of her oven. People do not carry an accurate mental picture of sizes and the pan selected may be too large and have to be exchanged. Tin kitchens are used in hotels to roast or broil with- out an oven. The meat is put on a revolving spit and slowly turned before the open flame. This method is much used in Europe. The flavor developed is very fine. Baking Foods consisting of a mixture of flour or meal, with a liquid and some " raising " material, such as eggs, yeast, baking powder, or soda, may be in the form of : Dough (biscuits, bread, pie crust) Thick batter (muffins, cakes) Thin batter (popovers, waffles, pancakes) The lightness of foods made from batter depends upon the amount of gas or air enclosed. This is de- rived from the eggs, yeast, baking powder, or soda en- closed by beating. Heat causes the gas to escape and as the bubbles rise the food rises with it. The mois- ture contained in the food is changed into steam and the food becomes dry. UTENSILS FOR COOKING Utensils for Baking The utensils used for baking are: 87 Baking pans Bread pans Pie plates Layer-cake pans Loaf -cake pans Muffin pans Angel-cake or tubed pans Pudding dishes Patty pans Bean pots Casseroles Ramekins Bread pans are made of Russia iron, aluminum, tinned ware, enameled ware, or glass. Those which have the top edge wired are stronger. If the bottom is slightly rounded they are not so difficult to keep clean. They are usually sold in sets of two or three. They may also be used as loaf -cake pans. Double bread pans are provided with a cover which catches, and the pans thus entirely enclose the loaf. These are made of sheet steel and of tinned ware. Pie plates, usually plain, but sometimes scalloped for fancy pastry, vary in depth from very shallow to deep. The average size is 10 inches in diameter. They are made of enameled ware, tinned ware, alu- minum, glass, or earthenware. Those of enameled ware have been found especially good for baking juicy pies. Layer-cake pans are shallow pans, either round, square, or oblong with straighter sides than pie plates. They are made of tinned or enameled ware. The 88 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT lighter weight of tinned ware is preferable to other ma- terials for cake-making, because the heavier materials retain too much heat and cause the cake to burn easily. The very shallow styles are often called jelly-cake pans, because these cakes must be thin to roll well. Some layer-cake pans have removable bottoms, so that the cake may be taken from the pans with less danger of crumbling. Loaf -cake pans are rather deep pans made of tinned ware, enameled ware, aluminum, or glass. They are round, square, oval, or oblong, plain or scalloped. Ob- long loaves of cake can sometimes be cut to better ad- vantage in serving, but many cooks maintain that it is more difficult to obtain a well-baked oblong loaf than a round or square one, where the " pull " between the batter and the sides of the pan is equally strong at all points. Loaf-cake pans should be used for pound cake. Muffin pans come in groups of six, eight, nine, or twelve cups on a frame. The cups are plain or scal- loped and vary in size. They are sometimes sold sepa- rately and unmounted. They are made of cast iron, aluminum, enameled, and tinned ware. The cast iron ones are often long and trough-shaped instead of cup- shaped. These pans are used for small cakes and pop- overs also. The size of the family usually determines the number of cups, but often when other food is being cooked in the oven at the same time two six-cup pans UTENSILS FOR COOKING 89 will be found more convenient to arrange than one twelve-cup pan. Pans of a special shape are maae for baking lady fingers. Angel'Cake or tubed-cake pans are deep, round, plain or scalloped pans with tubes in the center through which the heat of the oven rises and expands the air bubbles in the batter at the middle of the cake. They produce a very level, evenly baked cake, because the heat reaches the center of the cake as soon as any other part and because the " pull *' between the metal and the batter is more even than in any other style of pan. Pudding pans or baking pans come in various sizes and depths, both oval and round. They are made of tinned ware, aluminum, enameled ware, and glass. Patty pans, for baking fancy cakes, or for use as molds, are made in a great variety of shapes, round, oval and fancy, of tinned, enameled, or aluminum ware. Casseroles are unsurpassed for baking various kinds of food to be served from the cooking dish. They are made of earthenware in brown, blue, green or yellow ; vitrified china, glass, or aluminum. Glass is very at- tractive and may be used for baking either bread or cake. Earthenware is the most popular material. Aluminum ones are attractive, but it is impossible to cook slowly in them. The requirements of all casseroles are that they have 90 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT a tight-fitting cover for long cooking in a slow oven, and that the material does not crack or craze. If the surface glaze is broken, food lodges in the tiny cracks and the casserole is no longer fit to use. Pottery, glass, or china casseroles, before they are used for the first time, should be soaked in cold water and then boiled. This toughens and hardens them. The risk of breakage declines with use. They should not be placed on the stove or in the oven without hav- ing water or fat in them. They should not be placed in cold water, or on cold surfaces, such as a wet sink, while hot, because they are likely to crack. Boiling BoiHng is perhaps the simplest process of cooking vegetables and is an excellent way of cooking meat. The food is put into boiling water (water boils at 212° F.) and kept there until cooked. Vegetables, especially potatoes, and green vegeta- bles, need actively boiling water, else they are apt to become water-soaked. Meat, on the other hand, should have little real boil- ing. Meat is largely protein, or albumin, a class of food distinguished from starches, fats, and mineral substances. This protein is coagulated, i.e., hardened or made firm, by heat. Real boiling over-coagulates the protein and makes it indigestible, but simmering at a lower temperature softens the fibers. In cooking UTENSILS FOR COOKING 91 meat, therefore, it should be boiled rapidly at first for about five minutes to coagulate the albumin on the sur- face and to make a water-proof casing to hold the juices in the meat. The rest of the process should be at a moderate heat. Salted meats, such as ham or corned beef, should be soaked first to remove the ex- cess salt. Soup-making is quite different, however. The proc- ess must extract as much juice as possible from the meat. The meat is therefore cut into small pieces, covered with cold water, and brought gradually to a slowly boiling temperature. Stewing The stewing process for cooking meats is intermedi- ate between boiling and soup-making. Its success depends on a thorough coagulation of the outside of the meat and a slow finishing cooking. The tem- perature should never exceed 180° F. The meat should be cut into small pieces, thrown into a kettle containing a small amount of hot fat, and cooked until the surface is thoroughly coagulated. A thickening of flour mixed with water is added, and the whole brought to a boil. It is then allowed to simmer for several hours. This is an economical method of pre- paring cheap cuts, which become tender and digestible in the process. 92 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Utensils for Boiling and Stewing The utensils used for boiling and stewing are: Teakettles Coffee-pots Kettles of all kinds Coffee percolators Saucepans Teapots Stewpans Teakettles are used only for boiling water. They usually have a wide base. However, a deep, pot- shaped style is sometimes sold for use on a coal range, where the kettle may fit down into the stove hole. As they are usually rather heavy when full, the handle is in the shape of a bail which distributes the weight evenly. The bail is usually protected at its central part where the hand comes, by a wooden cylindrical covering, since wood does not conduct heat so rapidly as metal. Sometimes coiled wire is used for this cen- tral section, as heat takes longer to pass through the coils than through a straight piece of metal and thus becomes lost. The spout is curved to prevent the water from splashing when it is boiling and is placed at the bottom of the kettle to insure easy pouring. The covers are small, as no foods are cooked in. these kettles, and the water can be poured in through a small opening. They should be large enough, how- ever, to admit of cleaning. Double boiler insets are provided with some teaket- UTENSILS FOR COOKING 93 ties. This is a fuel-saving device, as water can be boiled in the lower part while food is cooked above. Teakettles are made of aluminum, enameled ware, cast iron, nickel-plated copper, and tinned ware. Those of tinned ware often have copper bottoms, be- cause copper conducts the heat so rapidly. In sizes teakettles range from four to seven quarts. Six quarts is the size for the average family. Kettles or pots for other uses are known under a great many names. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes and are made of enameled ware, alumi- num, tinned ware, and cast iron. The cast iron and tinned ware ones should not be used for cooking acid foods. Preserving kettle is the name applied to the deep, wide-topped, bailed shapes. They are usually lipped on one or both sides. A projecting ear on the side opposite the lip is a convenience in steadying the ket- tle when pouring from it. Preserve kettles usually come without covers, though separate ones may be easily fitted to them. Berlin kettles are those with roimded rather than straight or flaring sides. These also have bail handles in the large sizes, but the smaller ones often have ear handles on opposite sides. These kettles usually have covers. Windsor kettles are those with straight flaring sides. They usually come with covers. ' '1 94 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Soup kettles, stock pots, or stove pots are various names given to large straight-sided kettles used for cooking large quantities of any kind of food. They are usually covered. Fish kettles are long, narrow, deep, covered ket- tles for boiling fish whole. Ham boilers are oval, large, deep, covered kettles for boiling a ham whole. Asparagus boilers, also called corn boilers, are ob- long and deep and hold bunches of asparagus or ears of corn to better advantage than a round-shaped kettle. Saucepans and stewpans are made of tinned ware, enameled ware, or aluminum, have a projecting han- dle, a lip for pouring on one or both sides, straight, flaring, or rounded sides, and may be covered or un- covered. They come in a number of sizes ranging from one to five quarts. They are used for cooking small amounts of foods such as gravies, sauces, or vegetables. Many cooks like them for mixing cakes and batters, as they are lighter than crockery or earthenware and the handle is convenient to help hold the utensil when creaming butter. Wide, shallow, tightly covered saucepans should be used for cooking foods needing a small amount of water; deep, uncovered ones for strong-juiced vege- tables like cabbage which require a large amount of water. For candy-making, aluminum pans are good, UTENSILS FOR COOKING 95 because the heat is conducted so fast that the sugar rarely scorches and also because the smooth inside surface makes it easy to keep the sides wiped free from sugar crystals. Berlin saucepans are similar in shape to Berlin kef- ties, and Windsor saucepans to Windsor kettles, except that they have the projecting handles instead of bail handles. Double or triple saucepans consist of sets of two or three covered pans so shaped as to fit over one burner or hole in a stove. They are a fuel-saving device, as two or three kinds of food may be cooked with one blaze. Covers of aluminum, enameled, or tinned ware are sold separately for use with kettles or saucepans which are not provided with them, or to replace old ones. They come in several sizes ranging from about 8 to II inches in diameter. Sets of assorted sizes in wire racks are also sold. In fitting covers to pans the measurement should be taken inside the flange of the cover, not from rim to rim. Ladles and dippers are long-handled bowl- or cup- shaped utensils used for dipping up and pouring liquids. As dippers are used principally for dipping water, for example in the laundry, and the ladles for foods, as preserves, soups, etc., the ladles are smaller, and hold about a cupful. It is important that the handles be 96 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT strong and that the length be adapted to their use. Both dippers and ladles are made of tinned and enameled ware. Coffee-pots are made in three styles: Pots for boiling Drip pots, or biggins Percolators The pots in which coffee is boiled are deep, holding from I to 4 quarts ; larger sizes are sometimes called coffee boilers. The spout, which often has a strainer on the inside, is stubby and placed at the top of the pot so that the grounds will not get into it during the boil- ing process. This style of pot should be sold to those who drink substitutes for coffee, since these require hard boiling. These pots are made of enameled ware, tinned ware, aluminum, and nickel-plated copper. In the drip pots or in the biggins the pulverized cof- fee is put into a bag or receptacle in the top of the pot and hot water poured through it. This arrangement originated in France. The percolator is a later invention upon the same principle. Finely ground coffee is placed in a recep- tacle at the top. A tube leads from the bottom of the pot up through this receptacle. When the water is suf- ficiently hot it rises through the tube, strikes the cover, spreads over the coffee, and percolates through it. UTENSILS FOR COOKING 97 Coffee owes its refreshing properties to the presence of three substances : Caffeine, i to two per cent Volatile oils (the aroma), a trace Caffeo-tannic and caffeic acids These substances are extracted by boiling. When coffee is prepared by the drip or percolator method the hot water takes up the volatile oils, which produce the delicious aroma of coffee, and the caffeine; and the bitter acids — the most injurious ingredients, which attack the lining of the stomach — are left in the grounds. Percolators are very decorative utensils and are often sold in other departments than the Housefumishings Department. They are made of enameled ware, alum- inum, nickel, silver, or copper, and are designed for use with coal, gas, alcohol, or electricity. Their bases are sometimes wide and flat, sometimes narrow and curved and their handles are of wood or porcelain; wood is a poorer conductor of heat than porcelain.' Pieces of horn or ivory are sometimes inserted between the metal and the wood in the handle, as these mate- rials are extremely poor conductors of heat. Glass tops of percolators are also sold separately. Teapots are here grouped with boiling utensils, though tea should never be boiled. Boiling extracts I m 98 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT the thein and the tannin contained in tea, and these sub- stances afifect the nerves. Teapots are made of china, earthenware, aluminum, enameled ware, or silver. Many are fitted with re- movable tea-balls, or tea chambers, in which the tea is placed, and these are removed when the desired strength has been extracted. Separate tea balls of aluminum are also sold in this department. The spouts of teapots are longer than those of coffee pots and fitted on the lower part of the pot. They also have a strainer on the inside. Pots range in size from I to 3 quarts. Braising The process of braising meats is half way between boiling and baking. The meat is first partially browned and then cooked in a moist heat in a tightly covered pan or pot in the oven. At the end of the process the cover is removed and the stock reduced to serve as a sauce. This is an economical method of preparing meat, as all the meat juice is retained in the meat and gravy. Cheap cuts can thus be made very palatable. » Utensils for Braising The utensils used for braising are: Dutch ovens Casseroles Self -basting roasters UTENSILS FOR COOKING ' 99 Dutch ovens are cast iron bailed kettles with a tightly fitting cover. They are very good for braising purposes because they are suitable for cooking on the top of the stove, as well as in the oven. Casseroles and self -basting pans have been discussed earlier in the chapter. Steaming In steam cooking steam passes over the food and cooks it at a temperature of 212° F. All the soluble juices are retained instead of being lost as in boiling. Steamed foods therefore are highly flavored. Meats are usually better when boiled. Many vegetables and puddings are excellent when steamed. Utensils for Steaming Utensils for steaming require two compartments, one for the boiling water, the other fitted over this for the food. The utensils used in steam-cooking are : Steam cookers Steamers Poachers Double boilers Steam cookers are rather large, oven-shaped cabi- nets, provided with a copper water tank at the base and with shelves above, on which the food is cooked. Many varieties of food may be placed in such a cooker at one time. lOO HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Steamers consist of a perforated food chamber fit- ting* over a kettle-shaped vessel. The perforated part may be used as a colander or strainer, thus doing the work of two utensils. Poachers are a special variety of steamer used for preparing poached eggs. As the process is a brief one, the pan is very shallow and broad to provide a wide heating surface. A perforated removable rack holds 3 or 5 small-handled, shallow cups, each large enough to contain an egg. A tightly fitting cover goes over all. An advantage of poachers is that none of the white of the egg is wasted as in poaching in hot water when particles of it are lost. Double boilers, which are also known as milk boilers or rice boilers, are not really boilers at all, as the food does not come in contact with water or steam, but is in a dry heat. The outer vessel holding water keeps the food at a constant temperature. This vessel may be of tin, enameled ware, or aluminum. Tinned ware often has a copper bottom. The inner vessel is usually of the same material, but sometimes inner vessels of enameled ware are found with tin outer vessels. Double boilers are very good for cooking cereals, custards, and creams, as the food juices and mineral matter lost in direct cooking are thus preserved. Frying Deep fat frying is cooking by immersing food in hot UTENSILS FOR COOKING lOI fat at a temperature of 350° to 380° F. It is used for cooking small cuts of meat, vegetables, and made dishes, such as croquettes. The fat must be hot enough to form an impenetrable layer upon the surface, other- wise the grease soaks in and an indigestible food is the result. When croquettes or vegetables are cooked in this way they are often dipped in beaten egg and bread crumbs, because the albumin of the egg coagulates at once and protects the food. Sauteing Sauteing is the process of cooking meats, like liver, in a small amount of fat in a shallow pan. The utensil must be able to withstand high temperatures well. A thick pan is better than a thin one because the fat will not burn so easily. Fats The fats and oils used most frequently for deep fat frying are : Oil (olive, cottonseed, or a mixture of both) Lard Butter Beef or mutton fat Bacon dripping Olive oil can be heated to 608° before it will bum. Lard burns at 392° and butter at 266°. Butter is i 9\ I02 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT therefore a poor material for frying and olive oil is the best. A combination of butter and lard, or lard and mutton fat is used by many people who do not like the taste of oil. The nature of the food to be fried must be taken into consideration. Cold or watery articles lower the temperature of the fat very quickly, and therefore only a small amount should be fried at one time and the fat should be allowed to heat again before another " batch " is put in. Utensils for Frying and Sauteing The utensils used for frying in deep fat are : Frying kettles Frying baskets Utensils used for frying in a pan or sauteing are : Frying pans Spiders The utensils in which frying is done must be deep enough to allow the food to be entirely submerged in the fat, and must be capable of withstanding great heat — the highest temperature used in any cooking opera- tion. Iron and steel ware are especially desirable for this purpose. ( See Chapter II. ) Frying kettles are usually made of iron or steel, sometimes of enameled ware. When a frying basket UTENSILS FOR COOKING 103 is to be used with them they are deep and straight-sided, so that the basket may be lowered into them. The food should be entirely covered by the fat even when the kettle is two-thirds full. These frying kettles are often provided with supports from which the basket hangs while draining. The larger sized kettles have bail handles, the smaller ones straight handles. Frying baskets are made of woven wire or perfor- ated metal. Frying pans, skUlets, and spiders are diflFerent names given to the shallow, handled pans used for frying and sauteing foods. The length of the handle varies ; some styles have lips on one side, others on two sides. They are made of enameled ware, aluminum, cast iron, and steel. The inside surfaces of the two latter styles are often nickel-plated. The "spider'' originally had long legs to keep it from the flames of the open fire, whence its name. Steak or chop covers, high, round or oval tinned ware covers, may be used for covering frying pans when pan-broiling meat, especially the cheaper cuts. If the meat is cooked a long time in a pan partly filled with water and the pan is kept tightly covered, the meat will be as tender as the roasts which are cooked in the self- basting roasters. Griddles are flat disks, either round or oval, of alum- inum, soapstone, enameled ware, or iron, used on the top of the stove or over stove holes for cooking pan- i I04 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT cakes and other flat batter cakes. Sometimes they have bails, and sometimes a projecting handle or ear handles. The soapstone ones are unequaled when once " seasoned," but they require long service to become so. Aluminum and soapstone griddles can be used without greasing. The cast iron ones are sometimes nickel- plated. Cake turners are flat tinned ware, enameled ware, or aluminum squares with long handles, for turning pan- cakes on the griddle. Waffle irons are also used on the top of the stove. They consist of two parts: hinged halves of iron or aluminum which contain the waffles, and a base which holds the halves together. The surface of the irons, which may be either circular or square in shape, is usually indented to raise a pattern on the waffles and to give a greater heating surface; a deep pattern gives a better radiating surface than a low one. It is necessary in cooking waffles to have an even dis- tribution of heat and the base concentrates the heat at one point, from which it spreads evenly over the whole surface of the iron. For gas ranges the base is higher than for coal, as the gas flame is more intense. The higher style also allows the waffle mold to be turned without lifting it from the base. This is an advantage with heavy irons. Omelet pans are made in two parts and hinged in the middle. The sides are perpendicular so that when UTENSILS FOR COOKING 105 the pan is closed one half fits exactly over the other. An equal amount of the mixture or batter is placed in each side, and when the omelet is half done the pan is closed and the double omelet is on one side. These pans are also used for preparing hashed brown pota- toes and other dishes. If Chapter X IMPLEMENTS FOR MIXING AND PREPARING FOOD Stock Many and various utensils are used in preparing food both for cooking and for serving. The saleswoman needs to be particularly well informed upon this stock for It IS here that newly patented goods are constantly appearmg. especially among the smaller contrivances In spite of the variety of stock, however, these imple- ments may be classed according to use. as implements for : '^ Chopping, cutting, grinding Stirring, beating, pressing, rolling Straining, separating Measuring Containing Implements for Chopping, Cutting, Grinding To this class belong: Food choppers or grinders Coffee mills Chopping knives and trays Cutlery io6 IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 107 Biscuit, doughnut, and cooky cutters Slicers Graters Can openers Apple corers Food choppers and meat grinders are of heavy, sub- stantial tinned iron. The principle upon which they are operated is known as the screw motion, which is used whenever it is necessary to produce great pres- sure. The food is fed into a cylinder through which a spiral rod — the feed screw — advances when the handle to which it is attached is turned. The feed screw carries the food to the cutting ends and forces it against sharp knifelike edges with openings be- tween, through which it falls into a receptacle. The screw carries all the food to the cutters and leaves the barrel empty. The degree of fineness with which the food is cut depends upon the distance apart of the cutting edges. If they are close together the food will be finely cut; if far apart, coarsely cut. Three sizes are usually provided with the chopper, fine, medium, and coarse. Sometimes an extremely fine cutter, called a nut butter cutter, is also added. A chopper should cut rather than squeeze the food apart. Choppers and grinders have long handles, which give greater power than short ones. Grinders come in three sizes. The largest size, which will chop two or three pounds of meat a minute. I08 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT is too large for ordinary family use, and the medium and small sizes are those generally sold. Grinders should be washed with hot water and soap immediately after use. Chopping knives and bowls produce the same re- sults but with more labor and time, as half the time and strength are wasted in raising the knife. How- ever, the old-fashioned method is preferred by those who wish to preserve all the juices of meat or fruit. The bowls are made of bass wood, cotton wood, and maple, turned out on lathes, and often sold in nests (one inside another). Some bowls are oblong in shape. Bowls should be cleaned as soon as used, and water should not be allowed to stand in them as it will warp and crack them. Coffee mills are of two styles. One style is a square, wooden, boxlike mill with an opening in the top of the grinder for putting in the coffee. These have a drawer at the bottom into which the ground coffee falls. The other style has a container, usually of glass, though sometimes of wood and glass, for storing the coffee and feeding it between the cutting knives. The cover must fit tightly to preserve the aroma of the coffee. The receptacle into which the ground coffee falls is sometimes marked with a graduated measuring scale. In both styles of grinders the cutting knives may be IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 109 regulated to produce pulverized coffee for drip coffee pots, medium fine for percolators, and coarse for boilers. Cutlery consisting of paring knives, boning knives, meat cleavers, and bread and cake knives, is described in another manual. Can openers are of many styles and there are few satisfactory ones. It is essential that they make a clean cut, be strong, and easily operated. The cut- ting edge is of sharpened steel; the handles of wood or steel. Graters come in many sizes. They are of tinned ware with sharp toothlike projections. A small one is less wasteful of food than a large one. Combination graters, round or four-sided, have coarse, medium, and fine graters all in one grater. Box graters are used for nutmeg. Biscuit cutters are round, sharp, tin cutters. Doughnut cutters have a small, round cutter fastened in the center of the larger one to cut a hole in the center of the doughnut; this provides a larger surface of the doughnut to be exposed to the fat. Cooky cutters come in a variety of fancy shapes. Vegetable slicers are fluted, hard wood, adjustable cutters for slicing vegetables, fruits, etc. Implements for Stirring, Beating, Pressing, Rolling To this class belong such implements as: i I H lio HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT If Potato mashers Fruit presses Bread, meat, and cake boards Rolling pins Butter paddles and molds Mixing spoons Bread mixers Cake mixers Egg beaters Mayonnaise beaters Cream whippers Lemon squeezers Mixing spoons are made of enameled, aluminum, iron, steel, and tinned ware and of hard wood. Enam- eled ones must be heavy or the enamel will chip oflF. They are good for all purposes, but in time the enamel will wear off the edges. Iron spoons are especially adapted to heavy use, but should not be used for stirring acid fruits or vegetables. Aluminum spoons are light for beating and stirring, but are not comfortable to use with hot foods, because aluminum conducts the heat so rapidly that the handles become hot. Wooden spoons are excellent for beating and stirring batter, because of their lightness, noiselessness, and long handles. Some styles are slit, like a fork, which allows the batter to run through and makes the work more efficient. Wooden spoons have also the advan- tage of not discoloring the hand. They will not scratch metal. Because of their extreme lightness, however, they are not so good for use with heavy materials as are the heavier spoons. Those which are used for IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 1 1 1 salads should not be used with custards or other foods that absorb odors readily, because wood holds and car- ries odors. Bread mixers are large, tinned ware buckets, pro- vided with a tightly fitting cover, and having a bent rod operated by a handle. When the handle turns the bent rod kneads the dough, so that it is unnecessary to touch it with the hands. The mixer is clamped to a table to hold it firm. This device makes simple the difficult task of bread-making. Cake mixers are similar to bread mixers, except that they are provided with beating fliers instead of knead- ing rods, and thus mix and beat a cake quickly. Egg beaters are of three varieties: Simple wire whisks: spoon, balloon, or spiral- shaped Dover beaters Those having glass containers Whites of eggs may be beaten to a froth because of the texture of the white, which stretches and encloses air. Each style of beater produces a different texture. The simple wire whisks make the airiest texture be- cause they enclose the largest amount of air. They are therefore especially desirable for making meringues and angel or sponge cakes. The Dover egg beater, which may also be used for whipping cream, and making mayonnaise dressing, is I i 1 1 2 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT composed of wire blades attached to two small, cogged wheels. These cogs fit the cogs of a larger wheel turned by a handle. One revolution of the large wheel gives five revolutions of the small, and consequently five revolutions of the blades. This is known as the " wheel and axle " construction. The Dover beater is especially good for all-round use, as it works very quickly. It gives a fine close texture because it is not lifted from the mixture while it is operating and therefore beats in less air than the other type. The beaters provided with glass containers are of two varieties. One kind is very like the Dover beater, except that the whips are balloon-shaped wire ones; the other style, which is used for whipping cream, has a dasher which works up and down. The advantage of having a covered container is that the eggs or cream do not spatter; the receptacle also serves as a measuring glass. The cogs of an egg beater should never be wet as wetting washes out the oil and makes the beater hard to work. Mayonnaise beaters are essentially the same as egg beaters, except that they have a reservoir for holding the olive oil and regulating its flow into the beater, and also have a container for the mayonnaise. Lemon squeezers are of two varieties. In one style, which is especially good for rapid work, the lemon, cut IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 113 in half, is placed in a cup-shaped receptacle to which a long handle is attached and a duplicate is pressed against it. The juice runs through holes in the imple- ment. These are generally of heavy tinned iron which may be used safely with the acid lemon juice, because the juice is not heated and also does not remain long in contact with the metal. They are also made of wood, porcelain, or aluminum. The other variety is of glass with a domelike projec- tion having knobs on it, on which the half lemon is pressed and rubbed. The juice either collects in a trough at the base or runs through slots into a recep- tacle. This variety does not extract the oil from the lemon peel as does the other style of squeezer. Potato mashers are of two general styles. In the so-called ricer the potato is pressed through small per- forations in the masher — which may be cylindrical or wedge-shaped — by a smooth plate operated by a handle. The potato so mashed appears like grains of rice. This style produces a drier potato than the old- fashioned variety, which is of wood or twisted wire fastened to a handle and is simply pressed down on the potato. Fruit presses are similar to potato mashers and are used for making grape juice, and for pressing juice from fruits for jellies, etc. Bread, meat, and cake boards are made of hard wood, such as poplar, maple, Cottonwood, white cedar, 114 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT birch. The white poplar is said to be entirely odor- less. They come in sizes 12x14, 14x20, 15x22, 18 X 24, 19 X 28, 20 X 30. Rolling pins are made of hard wood — usually of maple — china or glass. The glass ones may be filled with cracked ice and are used for pastry. Butter paddles and molds are of hard wood, such as ash, birch, beech, or maple, with corrugated surfaces for rolling butter into balls or rolls. Implements for Straining and Separating These include: Funnels Flour sifters Colanders Strainers Egg separators Colanders are perforated utensils made of alum- inum, tinned ware, or enameled ware, or woven wire, for straining soups, vegetables, etc. They have ear handles. Strainers are smaller than colanders and used for straining gravies, tea, etc. They are made entirely of woven wire, or of tinned or enameled ware with either woven wire or perforated bottoms. Both colanders and strainers set over a kettle make excellent steamers. Sifters are used for dry materials such as flour or meal. Flour sifters usually have cranks, operated at IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 115 the side or through the handle, which revolve blades inside the sifter so as to break up lumpy meal and hasten the sifting process. They are of tinned ware, with wire bottoms. Funnels are in the shape of an inverted cone, fas- tened to a tube. They are used for filling bottles or other narrow-mouthed receptacles. Funnels with wide mouths are used with fruit cans. Egg separators are used in separating the yolk from the white of raw eggs. They are small, flat, round implements of either aluminum or tinned ware, with a slot through which the white of the tgg slips and a cuplike depression which holds the yolk. Implements for Measuring There are two methods of measuring: by quantity, that is by the quart, pint, spoonful, etc. ; and by weight! that is, by pounds, ounces. Measuring by quantity is the method most used in household cooking. Quart or pint measures are made of tinned ware or of glass, and are plain or lipped. They are marked to measure half pints, and sometimes ounces and pounds as well. A kitchen should be provided with two meas- ures, one for dry and one for liquid materials. Measuring cups hold half a pint, and are divided into quarters, halves, and thirds. They are made of tinned ware, aluminum, or glass. Measuring spoons come in one-quarter, one-half, 1 !f Il6 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT one teaspoon, dessert-spoon, and table-spoon sizes. " Nests " of one-quarter, one-half, and one teaspoon often come fastened together for convenience. Meas- uring spoons are of aluminum or tinned ware. Scales are either spring or balance scales. Spring scales are the kind sold for ordinary household use. At the top is a flat pan upon which the article to be weighed is placed. This pan rests upon a coiled wire spring, which is contained in the iron box beneath. A pointer connected with the spring operates over a dial which may be either upright or tilted backwards. The contraction and expansion of the spring with the weight of the article on the pan cause the pointer to move. Some of these scales are provided with tinned scoops ; others have an extra " tare " hand which gives the weight of the container separately from the article. Although spring scales are satisfactory enough for household use, they are not accurate enough for trade use, because the force of the spring varies, contracting and expanding with changes in the temperature. There is a variation of the spring scale on which the article to be weighed is hung from a hook attached to the end of the coiled spring. The spring moves a pointer over an indicator. For accurate weighing platform scales are used. In this style a small known weight at one end of a beam is made to balance a heavy unknown weight at the other end, on the lever principle. IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 117 Tables of Weights and Measures The saleswoman will often find it to her advantage to know some other rules of weight and measure in addition to the common : 4 gills 2 pints 4 quarts 16 ounces I pint I quart I gallon I pound and the following may be of use : 4 teaspoons liquid 4 tablespoons liquid I tablespoon liquid I pint liquid 2.gills liquid I kitchen cup I heaping quart sifted flour 4 cups flour I rounded tablespoon 3 cups corn meal 1% pints corn meal I cup butter 1 tablespoon butter 2 cups granulated sugar I pint granulated sugar I pint brown sugar 2^ cups powdered sugar Butter size of an tgg Butter size of a walnut 10 eggs I tablespoon Yz gill or 14 cup % ounce I pound I cup, or % pint %pint I pound I quart or I pound I ounce I pound I pound Yz pound I ounce I pound I pound 13 ounces 1 pound 2 ounces I ounce about I pound ai Measurements should be taken level. (fi , M ■! ■M Ii8 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Utensils for Containing Food The vessels used for containing food are : Bowls Jars Cups Pitchers Plates Boxes Cans Bread raisers Molds Bowls come in a great variety of sizes, made of earthenware, tinned ware, enameled ware, and wood. They are both plain and lipped. Jars are of earthenware or glass. The crockery ones, usually blue and white, are used for containing many kinds of food. They are attractive and help to carry out a color scheme. The glass ones have the ad- vantage of being transparent so that the contents may be noted at a glance. These can be labeled with black paint, shellacked over afterwards. Paper labels will wear well also if shellacked over. Jelly glasses are either plain or have a fluted inner surface to produce a fancy effect when the jelly is turned out. They are provided with tightly fitting tin covers. Preserve cans are of three varieties : I. Screw top, in which the top is either of tin with a lining of porcelain, or with a tin screw and glass top which screws down over the jar. IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD I19 2. The kind having a glass top which is held in place by a simple wire spring. 3. Self-sealing jars in which no rubber is required. In the first two styles rubber rings are used to make air-tight joints. Black rubber is more durable than white ; but red rubber is best. Only thick, strong, elas- tic " live " rubber ones should be used, as the poor ones shrink, crack, and let in the air. The principle of preserving is the prevention of microscopic plants or bacteria which are the cause of the decay of all foods. Heat destroys the bacteria in the food and sealing prevents the entrance of others. Cups, pitchers, and plates are used for holding left- over foods, etc. The heavier, less expensive grades of china or earthenware are used (see manual for " Chinaware Department"), and also enameled ware and glass. As these articles are for utility only, they should be plain and substantial. Pitchers should be wide-mouthed to admit of easy cleaning, and should have a lip that pours well. Bread and cake boxes are made of japanned ware. Some have roll tops, others are plain square or ob- long boxes, while others are like small cupboards with shelves, the door opening out in front. They have ventilating holes to prevent the contents from molding. " Tin storage receptacles are good for keeping I20 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT cookies and cake, but stone crocks are better for bread. " The difference lies in the fact that the process of growing stale is a different one in each case. Cookies turn stale by absorbing moisture from outside; there- fore they require that that moisture be kept away. The impervious tin cake box does this, especially if a few pieces of charcoal are placed in the box to absorb what little moisture may accumulate. " Bread grows stale by the shifting of its own moisture from crumb to crust. A fresh loaf has a crisp crust and a soft crumb, while in a stale loaf the reverse is true. In a tin box, especially if it be un ven- tilated, this moisture, held in the crust, soon makes a musty loaf. In a stone crock, which is porous, the moisture has a chance to escape, the crust becomes less soggy, and the flavor of the loaf is better maintained. In cake, where there is less diflference in texture be- tween the outside and the inside of the loaf, staleness consists in a gradual general loss of moisture. Cake is therefore better kept in tin, with the addition of a receptacle containing water, to be daily renewed. If cake and bread be stored in the same box, the cake will take up moisture (and incidentally a bready flavor) from the bread and remain moist longer, while the bread will dry faster than when stored by itself." * 1 From Farm House Series No. 5, Cornell Reading Courses, " Choice and Care of Utensils," by Ida S. Harrington. IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD 12 1 Spice, Hour, sugar, coffee, tea, dredge, pepper, and salt boxes are made of japanned ware. Some flour containers have sifters attached. Flour, cereal, and salt boxes are also made of earthenware. Wooden buckets of varying sizes are sold for sugar, flour, meal, rice, tapioca, crackers, barley. They are not suitable for cereals, however, because they are not air-tight. Bread raisers are large vessels of either tinned or enameled ware, with ventilated covers, into which bread dough is put to be raised. v CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 123 Chapter XI CLEANING IMPLEMENTS Articles In this section belong : Brooms Brushes Mops Dusters and cleaning cloths Beaters Carpet-sweepers Dust-pans Scouring and polishing materials Garbage cans, pails, ash cans, etc., are also included in this chapter. All the articles are simple in construction, and gen- erally inexpensive. Brooms There are several kinds of brooms: floor, ceiling, children's, and whisk brooms. All of these are made of broom corn, a canelike grass of India, cultivated in the middle west of the United States for this purpose alone. Kansas and Oklahoma supply the largest crop ; 122 Illinois the best. The plant somewhat resembles ordi- nary maize. The top part of the stalk and head are used for brooms. There are many grades of this com. Some of them are known to the manufacturers as : Green hurl corn Green self- working Medium quality hurl Medium quality self-working Sound good common Dwarf corn for whisks Common red tipped insides and covers Stained and damaged The handles of the floor brooms are of hard wood, chiefly maple, birch, and beech. They are turned out on lathes, and then smoothed in a " sander," a machine which revolves the handle in contact with a belt which polishes it. A great many handles are given no fur- ther finishing. Others are stained and varnished or painted. The handles of whisk brooms are usually rough wood, covered with the corn. For fancy handles, bone, celluloid, or silver is used. The process of making brooms is very simple and a large number are still made by hand, especially in prisons and penitentiaries. The largest broom factory in the world is in Amsterdam, N. Y. The corn is sorted into equal lengths, bleached, and 124 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT dried. It is then placed around the end of the stick and fastened by wire in a winding machine. The broom is conical at this stage, and must be flattened in a vise. It is then sewed by hand, or by power, with stout twine, usually flax twine which was formerly imported from Europe, but is now made in the United States. The broom is then run through a scraping machine to remove any seed left on the corn, after which it is trimmed and the plush or velvet guards are placed over the wiring. This is omitted in the cheaper grades. The brooms are then labeled and bunched in dozens for shipment. Customers will appreciate being told that new brooms should be soaked in hot salt water. This toughens the corn. Brooms should always be hung up, not allowed to stand on the floor, as this ruins their shape. They will last longer if washed in hot soapy water fre- quently. This keeps them soft and pliable. The wires at the top should not be wet, as they will rust and break. Brushes Brushes are used for two general purposes: (i) to apply something, paint for example, and (2) to remove dirt. As each variety is suited to some particular ser- vice, their number is almost unlimited. Some of them are: CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 125 1 . Brushes for cleaning and polishing wood : Scrubbing brushes Dusting brushes Floorsweeping brushes Balustrade brushes Floorwaxing brushes Window and blind Dust-pan brushes brushes 2. Brushes for cleaning porcelain and glass : Bath tub brushes Window brushes Sanitary brushes Bottle brushes Hearth brushes 3. Brushes for cleaning metal surfaces: Scouring brushes Radiator or spring Silver cleaning brushes brushes Stove cleaning brushes 4. Brushes for furniture and clothing: Stair carpet brushes Doilie brushes Furniture brushes Whisk brooms Mud and spot brushes Crumb brushes Shoe brushes 5. Brushes for food: Pastry brushes Vegetable brushes Chapter XVI of the manual for the '* Leather Goods Department '* describes methods of making brushes, materials used, and tests for distinguishing them. Coarser fibers, which are not injured by water, are used for brushes of the House furnishings Department. These are: 126 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Tampico (a tropical South American plant) Rice root Coir (the husk of the cocoanut) Palmyra (an East Indian Palm) Cocoa fiber Piassava (a coarse fiber from the inner stalk of a palm) Bass Bassine Kittool Union fiber (a mixture) There is a wide range in the quality of the woods used in the backs because of the varying quality of the brushes. The backs of scrub brushes are chiefiy made of birch, beech, and maple. The brush-making industry centers in Pennsylvania. Ohio, New York, Maryland, and Maine are also large producers. About 13,000,000 feet of wood are used annually for this purpose alone. Brushes should always be dried with the bristles down, not with the back down; otherwise the water is allowed to soak into the back, which loosens the set, and cracks the wood. When brushes are used in connection with food, as for greasing pans, it is desirable that the ** set '' be of such a nature that the brush may be sterilized without injury. CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 127 Mops Floor mops are of two general kinds : Wet mops for use with water in washing floors Dry mops for polishing hard wood floors Both varieties are made of waste cotton yarn which is soft and absorbent. Wet mops are often provided with self-wringing de- vices. The handles are usually made of plain hard wood, because they are so often in contact with strong soapy water which would injure better finishes. Dry mops are of two varieties, the plain mop and the mop which is permeated with an oil or a chemical which holds the dust and polishes the floor. The advantage of the latter is that the dust is not scattered through the house. Mops may be washed and reoiled with a special oil sold for the purpose. The frame, to which the handle is attached, may be round, triangular, or heart-shaped to reach into cor- ners. Some styles have rubber tips on the ends to prevent marring furniture. When the handles are adjustable the mop can reach under furniture and it also stays flat on the floor. The handles of these dry mops are often stained by the use of logwood, copperas, or nut galls, to look like the black wood, ebony, or are enameled with japan. Mop zvringers are made to fit upon pails for use in wringing floor mops. Some pails are made with spe- 1; 128 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT cially fitted attachments for the purpose. These save labor. Cleaning Cloths These include dish, scrubbing, dusting, and polishing cloths. Dusting cloths, treated with a chemical to hold the dust so as not to scatter it around, are known as " dustless " dusters. Feather dusters are also sold. Chamois for washing windows are made of sheep- skin. (See manual for the "Leather Goods De- partment'* for a description of the preparation of chamois.) Dust-Pans These receptacles for holding dust and dirt are usually of japanned ware, sometimes of galvanized ware. The style which has a hood-shaped top is bet- ter than the open style, as the top prevents the dust from flying up as it is swept into the pan. Dust-pans now come with long handles, so that the person using them does not have to stoop over. The better grades have a firm steel edge, so that the pan will lie flat on the floor. Carpet-Sweepers Carpet-sweepers are a combination of mechanical broom and dust-pan. They consist of : CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 129 A revolving brush A wooden dust-pan A long handle The small rubber-covered wheels rest in ball-bearing sockets and in the better-quality sweepers they are covered with a protecting metal case. These wheels, which project far enough from the dust-pan to rest on the carpet, are attached to the revolving brush. When the sweeper is pushed along the wheels rotate the brush, which brushes the dust into the closed pan. The wooden cases or pans are made of many dif- ferent kinds of wood, the most common being maple, birch, and oak. Mahogany veneer is also used. Two million ** board feet " * of lumber are used annually in this industry alone. A woven braid band usually encircles the case to prevent the sweeper from marring furniture. Carpet-sweepers scatter less dust than brooms. Carpet-Beaters Carpet-beaters are made of rattan or wire and consist of a flat, racquet-shaped top fixed to a handle. Scouring, Cleaning, and Polishing Materials Many different powders and pastes are sold in the 1 *' Board foot is the common unit of measure for logs and lumber in the United States. A board foot is the contents of a board one foot square and one inch thick. ■i I30 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT Housefumishings Department for cleaning and polish- ing metals and other substances. Metals tarnish because they are acted upon by both air and water. Abrasion, or rubbing, with a material harder than the tarnish itself, will remove it. The es- sentials of any good polishing powder therefore are: 1. That it be harder than the layer of corroded or tarnished matter. 2. That the particles be so fine that they will not scratch the metal. The cleaning powders best adapted to diflferent metals are as follows, for : Iron and wood — white sand Steel knives — Bath or Bristol brick Copper, brass, and tin — tripoli, or rottenstone Silver, aluminum, and tin — whiting White sand is the polishing material in most scouring soaps and powders. It is a very cheap and pure sand made by crushing quartz, sandstone, or other rock to fine powder. It is also made into solid scouring bricks known as Bath or Bristol bricks. It should not be used on gold or silver, as it is too coarse. Tripoli, rottenstone, electro-silicon, and diatomaceous earth are various names for an earth made up of the widely distributed glassy skeletons of microscopic plants, which are nearly as hard as sand, and yet are so fine grained that they do not scratch metals. CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 131 Whiting is finely powdered English chalk. The chalk is sifted through muslin and floated in water; the heavy particles sink, and the fine part which floats is used for the whiting. This is the basis of nearly all silver polishes. It can be used mixed with am- monia. When mixed with oil and an acid it forms a paste or liquid, which is excellent for cleaning brass and copper, but should not be used on silver. Sand soap is a mixture of fine clay, alkali, and fat. Stove blacking is graphite (a form of carbon) mixed with molasses or other sticky substances. Electrical silver cleaners are special devices for clean- ing silver, consisting of an aluminum plate which is put into boiling water in which baking soda or salt are dissolved. The chemical reaction which takes place reduces the tarnish ^ to a pure metallic silver. Experiments have shown that cleaning by rubbing with an abrasive material removes 25 times as much silver as the electrolytic method. This electrical method of cleaning silver does not leave the silver with a high polish, and if this is desired it may be secured by rub- bing. The method is suitable for both sterling and plated silver. Silver-plated ware should not be scoured or rubbed hard, as the plating is softer than ordinary sterling sil- 1 Tarnish is a black substance formed when silver comes in contact with sulphur compounds which are present in air, water, gas, in many foods, especially eggs, and also in rubber and wool. ' J 1^ • •' ^'i 132 HOUSEFURNISHINGS DEPARTMENT ver and wears away more easily. (See manual for " Silverware Department.") If silverware is lacquered no abrasive substance should be used in cleaning it, as this will wear away the lacquer and expose the silver. Steel wool is used for polishing metals in the same way as sand or emery. It consists of sharp-edged threads of steel which curl up like wool or excelsior. It should not be used on soft metals, as it will scratch them. Furniture polishes have various oils as a base. The formulas are usually kept secret by the manufacturers. Pails and Buckets Water pails, scrub pails, fire pails, and coal hods are made of galvanized iron, enameled ware, wood, or fiber (see "laundry tubs" in Chapter XII). They vary in size, holding from 6 to 14 quarts. Ash Cans Ash cans are always made of heavy galvanized ware. Some are made with hard wood staves, others with steel ribs. Some are reinforced with iron braces around the center. Many are corrugated. Ash cans are usually either 24 or 26 inches in height, and in diameter vary from 15 to 18 inches. CLEANING IMPLEMENTS 133 Garbage Cans These are made of galvanized ware and of enameled ware. The covers should be tight fitting to prevent cats and dogs from ravaging the contents, as well as for sanitary reasons. There are patent devices for this purpose. The cans come in many sizes, holding 4, 6, 8, and 10 gallons. Oil Cans Cans for holding kerosene oil may be small with long spouts for filling lamps, etc., or in larger sizes for storage purposes. The former are usually of tinned ware, the latter either of tinned or galvanized ware. Miscellaneous Accessories Bedroom accessories, consisting of wash bowls and pitchers, chambers, slop pails, candle sticks, toilet stands; and a few bathroom accessories, as foot tubs and baby baths, are sold in this section also. These are made of galvanized, enameled, tinned, and japanned ware. Chapter XII LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT Divisions Equipment for the laundry falls into two general classes : Articles for washing clothes Articles for ironing clothes To understand the merits of the appliances for laundry work, the saleswoman must also understand the pnnciples of laundering. For this information the reader is referred to Chapter XXVI of the manual for the " Cotton and Linen Departments.'* Washboards or Rubbing Boards The corrugated boards upon which clothes are rubbed to remove the dirt are of three varieties : Glass-covered Zinc- or brass-covered All wood The cheapest and least desirable boards are all wood. The wood is apt to splinter and become rough from the friction of use. 134 ^5>