Victorian Kitchens: I beg to differ with those who said Victorians didn't have built-in cabinetry. When I attended the University of Cincinnati, several friends rented rooms or apartments in old houses in Clifton, the university suburb. One professor was rehabbing one which had never been modernized. Houses there mostly date from 1860-1910. All I visited had kitchens where the only upgrades were electricity, stoves, and refrigerators. Two had marble-topped lower cabinets, one had metal (probably zinc) topped lower cabinets. One had matching upper cabinets; the other had a Hoosier cabinet on one wall. The prof's (the fanciest house) had only lower cabinets, but also had an adjoining butler's pantry completely lined in matching upper and lower cabinetry. The marble tops were practical for keeping food cooler longer and for baking as they make pastry easier to work. Since Cincinnati's population at the time was primarily of German descent, marble tops were probably a necessity for making the best breads, stollens, and kuchens. I lived in an apartment building so old that the walls still had visible connections for gas lighting. The kitchen was hardly bigger than a closet, but had a built-in Hoosier-style cabinet next to the refrigerator and over-the-sink cabinets above a replacement sink and stove. These were all painted wood, with glassed-in upper cabinets. Hardware on the cabinets matched the gas fittings, so they were definitely original.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Victorian Kitchens: One of the problems I have with dollhouse kitchens, esp. period ones is that everyone groups all the "appliances" and such in one room in an arrangement much like the modern kitchens we have today. The kitchens of today developed after WW1, through the 30's and 40's and were pretty well established by the 1950's (layout I mean).

We should remember that Victorian kitchens of this period were directly influenced by personal wealth and geographic location. The kitchens of the very wealthy in the cities, who had large numbers of staff, were far different then those of say a New England farm house. AND kitchens were not just one room, again in wealthy homes there could many different rooms for specific work, something that's hard to achieve in a dollhouse.

Even New England homes in rural areas had at least the sink in a wash room, a pantry, and a storage closet for pots and pans. General, The "Kitchen" consisted of a room with the cook stove, a table, small movable tables for work space and a cabinet. Canned foods were kept in the cellar, root cellars were used, and large bulk items would be kept in a pantry.

The working class homes of the late 19th century did not have formal dining rooms BUT would have 2 Parlors, 1 formal, 1 for every day use. Basically try to think logically when doing a period kitchen: Ice Boxes, I've seen them placed in dollhouses next to the cook stove and that would never happen. Think about; ice cost money, placed next to the cook stove the ice would melt faster -- you'd have to buy ice faster, and you'd also pay a lot of money. Not to mention, would you want the Ice man to trudge across your clean floors in his muddy boots? Ice melts and ice boxes had to be drained so you'd want to be able to empty the drip quickly and without a mess! That's why Ice boxes were placed as near the back door as possible, even if it meant it was in another room.

If Victorian kitchens had counter tops they were usually marble and were used only in wet areas, like around sinks. Think about making dinner in a Victorian kitchen and all the walking you would from various pantries, storage closets, the stove etc. AND remember people bought perishable foods daily, which meant shopping once a day, usually after the morning chores were done, and before noon dinner!!!!!!

StevenB

Detached Kitchens: Question: "I was told that during the Federal period, kitchens were separate from the house because they were a fire hazard. Didn't know if it was true, and my house wasn't even federal style, but it became a great excuse to do a small house that became the servant's quarters with a kitchen."

Answer: Kitchens in the SOUTH or in warmer climates (USA), basically Virginia south, to keep the main house cool were placed in separate buildings because the hot weather and the fact that kitchen fires were burning all day and created a lot of heat indoors. Also in Southern homes a lot of household work was done outside in the door yard of the kitchen like making candles, doing laundry, etc. This couldn't be done in the North which had separate rooms inside for those jobs in bad weather.

Up North, houses in urbane areas had kitchens in the basement to deal with the heat and rural area homes often had summer kitchens located in back sheds connected to the main house beyond the everyday kitchen. Each summer the cook stove was moved to these kitchens to keep the main house cool. Still, the majority of homeowners had to endure the heat because they had no place for a summer kitchen, this would often be the lower income families......Again as I said, kitchen design and use was largely determined by location, income, and social standing for instance. Rural Vs. Urbane for instance.

Also the Southern states had slaves up to the Civil War and they did the house work and cooking so kitchen design and even safety was not a concern to the slave owner. Up North people paid for hired up, which until about 1900, was cheap and plentiful if you could afford it. Since the wife of the house didn't need to be concerned with the affairs of the kitchen, change was slow in coming. Only when it became impossible to find good help did kitchens change as housewives took over the duties once performed by hired help.

Although fires were a constant danger, pre Civil War, they did not happen as frequently as its made out to appear! These people lived with these conditions on a daily basis and knew what they were doing. Fires happened because of accidents just like they do today.

So to sum up, Kitchens in separate buildings in the Southern US pre Civil War, Kitchens in the main house up North.

Another architectural element determined by Geographic location were chimneys. In the south, chimneys were located on the outside of the home to keep the heat out of the main living areas and in the North chimneys were located inside to conserve the heat and keep the home warm. Today homes are pretty standard, but older homes can be read like a book if you know what you're looking at!! Remember, everything on an older home was put there or designed for a specific reason.

StevenB

Detached Kitchens: [ instance. Rural Vs. Urbane for instance. Also the Southern states had slaves up to the Civil War and they did the house work and cooking so kitchen design and even safety was not a concern to the slave owner. Up North people paid for hired up, which until about 1900, was cheap and ]

I would take some exception to this. First, only the richest of Southerners had slaves. Average folk did their own housework and cooking. And, safety was a concern to slave owners-their homes were at risk, and slaves were expensive. If a slave were killed and had to be replaced, it was costly , as was a slave being unable to work, short term or with a permanent handicap. History. So, cooking for the average Southerner was done outside over an open fire in the summer to avoid heating up the house, which didn't have a kitchen in many instances: just a fireplace that provided warmth, light and a cooking means.

Martha Simpson

Backyard items: : how about a fishpond, some bushes, a tree, some flowers, some tiny animals like a squirrel, turtles, birds with birdfeeder or birdbath or both, a cat or dog, maybe the cat or dog got into the flowers and turned over a flower pot, maybe some discarded kid toys like a kite or sand pail and shovel? An Adirondack lawn chair or two, a sand box to go with the shovel and pail? Once you start on this the ideas will flow. Ask your pals at work what was in their backyards when they were growing up or have your kids ask their friends what is in their backyards. Have fun!!!

Linda in GA

Backyard items: When our six kids were little, our yard was where kids came to play. We had a little playhouse my Dad built. The kids spent as much time ON it as IN it. The roof was definitely the place to be. We had a tire swing hanging from our cherry tree and a vegetable garden in one corner. In the winter, there were snowmen and snow forts. For a long time, we had one of those big wooden cable spools rolling around out there. The kids found more ways to play with that crazy thing. Always there were baseballs, footballs, frisbees, etc. lying around. Various dogs, too. My son and his friend once built a 'fort' from wood scrounged from the garage. What a Rube Goldberg conglomeration THAT was! Sometimes they would camp out in a tent.

Linda in Leroy, OH

Backyard items: Back yards need somewhere to sit. If the kids are fairly young, you may need a fence so they can't wander. Other fun stuff -- sandbox, wading pool, hose and sprinkler, clothes line for soggy towels and bathing suits, playground type equipment (swings, slide, fort), lawn games (croquet, badminton). If there's room, a good shade tree with a tree house. Mom needs a chaise to sunbathe while reading a novel and "watching" the kids. Dad will need a radio to listen to the game while he cooks dinner. You could put in a garden, but with kids, why bother? They'll just stomp on it anyway. Window boxes and patio tub plantings are my choice near a play area. You can put the flowering borders and foundation plantings outside the fence or around front to wow the neighbors.

Chrissy the hyphenated

Backyard items: The backyard might contain a picnic table and benches to go with the BBQ grill, or a potting shed, or the lawn mower left out under one of the trees, perhaps a swing set, sliding board and/or sand pile for the two kids? A wading pool? trike / bike? If she rides out through suburban neighborhoods there are all sorts of ideas!

Olegator

Backyard items: The backyard might contain a picnic table and

Backyard items: bicycles - balls - buckets - a shovel - glass jars with insects - ropes - plant pots - a cart - garden chairs - garden table - a foot for a parasol - a tent (tipi for kids) - a watering can - a water cask - a garbage can - a bird's house on a (small) tree - garden shed with tools. Seasonal stuff like pumpkins, snowman etc.

Marjon de Haas (The Netherlands)

Applying Glue: I noted several people saying they use toothpicks to apply tacky glue. I found that the glue accumulates way too fast on the pick so I use a corsage or hat pin. When the glue builds up, (slower than on the pick) I just slide it off with my thumb and index finger and have a completely clean pin to work with.

Jeanette in Wisconsin