...for those who savor the look and flavors of yesterday's kitchen...
October 2006
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1. Welcome! Mama's Kitchen is a free newsletter about kitchen collectibles. This newsletter is designed to be entertaining and educational, but also a dialogue among those who have a fondness for kitchen items of all kinds. I hope you'll join us for a few memories, giggles, laughs and some useful information about kitchen collectibles. I am not an expert in any field, but I have been buying and selling kitchen items for over 9 years and loving them for a lifetime. Remember collecting anything should be fun. This is especially true when you can use your collection on a daily basis. Please let me know if there is a particular item you would like featured in upcoming issues.
....The word kitchen is thought to have been eventually derived from “Cycene” or one of its forms noticed in Old English scripts covering about 500 years.
....Monasteries enjoyed the finest kitchens, established in separate buildings........
....American blacksmiths and other metal workers preferred filling orders to a customers fireplace measurements.
....The word “range” of Teutonic origin, meaning herein a row or series of openings (wells) over fires, generally became “cookstove” or merely “stove” by the mid-1800’s.
....with the innovation of stoves saving time and energies for cooks, kitchenwares also entered a new field....Manufacturers began to producein quantities with slight or drastic changes and improvements, steadily adding a multitude of entirely new gadgets with advertising advantages.
....”utensils” almost always automatically brings to mind the idea of smaller “instruments” ...extending the range of our hands’ capabilities. with such boundaries restrictive and often confusing, that word also properly includes “vessels” covering a multitude of material things in kitchens from primitive to present.
....Crock: Housewives found these wares scarce as the clay was not universally found and transportation costs were high. Arrival of the Erie Canal and better roads quickly accelerated building of new potteries and availability for purchasing increased.
....Although known centuries B.C., butter was more widely used for lighting oils and medicinal ointments than for food.
....to help earn needed extra monies, or when their animals gave more milk for drinking and resultant cream products than the cooks could use up and the family consume, excess printed molded butter was sold by housewives at weekly “market stands” or from the backs of their buggies and wagons along the walkway in the nearest town.
....flax wheels were easier to carry and store than the larger heavier wool wheels.......
....When the family moved up from corn schucks mattresses into those stuffed with saved feathers, one or more chore for the cook was to smooth down the pads every morning.....
....Lamps were hung as close as possible to the fireplaces so that drafts might carry the offensive odors (and smoke) up and out of the chimneys.
Henry Scammel, Treasure-House of Useful Knowledge, 1891.
4. What is it?
Fish Scaler
Our What’s It this month was supplied by a reader. I believe it to be a fish scaler and boner in one. I have a similar one I acquired at a flea market that was on a card which was barely hanging together. I could make out the words fish scaler and France which I assume was the origin of production. I don’t know what the value would be as I believe it to be an utensil made in the last 20 years or so. I would probably price it at between $6.00 - $8.00 depending on condition.
Do you have an odd piece of kitchenalia that you'd care to share or ask others to help you identify? Just e-mail a picture and your thoughts to mamas@tias.com and we'll post it and any responses here.
Spreading the Word -- Cake Spatulas.
I don’t know who the genius was that invented this utensil and I can’t understand why it ever went out of fashion. This is absolutely the best utensil ever made for frosting a cake. One of the highlights of my youth was watching my mother and grandmother swirl and decorate frosting into peaks that I thought at the time looked like miniature mountains. The first one pictured was made by Androck and had a bakelite bullet shaped handle. This kind of handle is highly collectible and these have a book value of $15 -$20 depending on condition and market. The second has a green and yellow plastic handle and the maker and age is unknown to me. I would value it at $12.00 - $15.00 depending on condition and market.
The third is called a Get - Acquainted spatula and I believe it was made by either Rubbermaid or Tupperware. I can’t swear to it but I think these were hostess gifts for at home parties. The value on these are usually $6.00 - $8.00. The last is a newer example made in Japan. I don’t know the exact age but from the style I would think it was from the last 20 years. I would place the value at $12.00 - $15.00. Mostly because of the pink & black color combination which is very popular at the present time.
6. Mama's Kitchen Stories
I did a lot of fishing when I was young. My brothers and I would spend almost everyday of summer at the local creek, catching crawdads, tadpoles, & minnows to use as bait; then we would fish and swim all day. I liked using worms and crawdads for bait. If we ran out we would always use bread balls in a pinch. I don’t know how many pans of bony fish my mother fried up and we ate. We didn’t have a lot of money so the fish often came in handy. When we weren’t fishing we often were out hunting for rabbit and squirrel. My mama had a way of making rabbit and squirrel in a gravy that I would pay someone to reproduce. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I’ve certainly never been able to do it. My mama always said the rabbit and squirrel had to be wild and maybe she was right. The one thing she wouldn’t do is clean the fish or skin the rabbits and squirrels. My father usually did it but he traveled a lot when I was young; therefore, he taught me how to do it. I used to think I carried fish scales all over me from scaling those perch with my mama’s paring knife. We didn’t have fancy scalers. It’s funny but I don’t remember my brother’s ever doing it. They swear they did but the only thing I can remember is how it felt to take those pliers and peel the skin away from the catfish, rabbits, and squirrels. You would think I wouldn’t be able to face eating any of it; but I did and I did it with gusto, covering most of it with ketchup of course.
Dot From Memphis Wrote:
This month's "what is it?" jumped right out at me. The proverbial "GREASE Bowl" was ever-present on my mother's stove. I still have it and the Salt, Pepper, Sugar and Flour shakers as well as the Salt Box container. The set is cream with orange raised polka-dots all around the sides.On this note, the grease that was saved was mostly from bacon rendering, and when the popular 'Chex Mix' recipe first came out- to be enjoyed especially at holiday time - it included NOT BUTTER, but bacon grease to be added to the 3 Ralston Chex cereals, nuts, etc. before heating the mixture in the oven, 5 minutes at a time for 30 some minutes. This was delicious to munch on, as well as healthful.
This month's "what is it?" jumped right out at me. The proverbial "GREASE Bowl" was ever-present on my mother's stove. I still have it and the Salt, Pepper, Sugar and Flour shakers as well as the Salt Box container. The set is cream with orange raised polka-dots all around the sides.
On this note, the grease that was saved was mostly from bacon rendering, and when the popular 'Chex Mix' recipe first came out- to be enjoyed especially at holiday time - it included NOT BUTTER, but bacon grease to be added to the 3 Ralston Chex cereals, nuts, etc. before heating the mixture in the oven, 5 minutes at a time for 30 some minutes. This was delicious to munch on, as well as healthful.
Perhaps there are others who remember. Mother's saved grease made many a meal the utmost of enjoyment.
Do you have a kitchen memory to share. Please send it to Mama at mamas@tias.com
7. Tip of the Month
Polish brass items with a few drops of mustard oil to make them shine.
Sue from Canada wrote:
To thread a needle easily, coat the thread with a little wax, or spray a bit with hairspray.
Janet from Montana wrote:
To prevent garments from discoloring, soak the garments for 10 minutes in salt water prior to washing. An alternative is to add a few drops of vinegar to the wash cycle.
Have you got a great kitchen tip or question, please send it along to mamas@tias.com
8. What's New at Mama's Treasures
The owner of Mama’s Treasures has opened a second store on www.Tias.Com In response to many requests for items of a newer nature, she has decided to focus this store on newer gift items as well as collectibles. She also will be including vintage items that can be used in crafts and creating one of a kind gifts. Many items such as vintage postcards are now sought after for crafts such as scrapbooking or decoupage. The same can be said for old buttons and even kitchen items. There will also be a line of handmade Soaps and Lotions, crafted Christmas Ornaments, Tools, China, Pottery, Magazine Ads, Cookbooks, Signs & Plaques, Kitchen Items, Jewelry, Candles, Fountains, Windchimes and much more to come over the next few weeks.
Inventory in this store is still being added daily and this will continue for quite some time. Right now there is a 20% Off sale on every order no matter how small and this will continue through October 31st. Every order at the Bargain shack enters you in a drawing for one of two $25.00 Gift Certificates to be awarded on October 30th. Her goal is to keep prices as low as possible and have frequent sales so the savings can be passed on to the consumer. Mama's Bargain Shack is located at www.tias.com/stores/bargainshack She invites you to drop by and browse, shop if you care to, and remember she loves to get offers. So come on by and see the new place, Mama’s Bargain Shack , the shop where Bargain means Bargain!
Mama’s treasures has added a new category called the "Half Price Table." Any item from this category has been discounted 50%. I’ve recently added over 100 new items to this category so there are great bargains to be found. Joining my mailing list at Mama’s Treasures also makes you eligible for promotional coupons and advance notice of sales. New items added include a Speed - E – Whipper, Shawnee Flower & Fern Ball Jug, Kodak Cameras Glass refrigerator dishes, 50s Cosmetic and Medical Jars, Cookie Cutters, Holiday Postcards, Federal Red Gingham Checked Bowls, Unopened Duz & Vel Detergent Boxes, Hazel Atlas Strawberry Bowls, a Fire King Red Dot Grease Jar, Pyrex Aqua Mixing Bowls, Tipp City Range and Spice Sets, Vintage Christmas Ornaments and Nativity items, Aluminum Glasses, Vintage Cookbooks, Enamel Dustpan and Bowls, Red Utensil Box, Pyrex Primary Green Mixing Bowls, Juice Decanters, Pyrex Pink Bowls, Anchor Red & Black Stripe & Green Stripe Barrel Salt & Pepper Sets, Vintage Sewing & Hankies, Primitives, Christmas, Cookbooks, Jewelry, Potholders and much more. Drop by and visit me at http://www.tias.com/stores/mamas
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