1900 Kitchen

This middle class kitchen from 1900 seems very basic compared to modern kitchens. Yet, it has the latest appliances of the day. All the work in the kitchen was done at a large wooden table, set in the middle of the room. The surface was carefully scrubbed down after each use.

Crockery was usually stored on the open shelves of a large wooden dresser, with table linen in the drawers below. Food was kept in the pantry, a large room off the kitchen. Fresh food was generally stored on stone or marble shelves to keep it cool.

Food was cooked over an open fire until the invention of the kitchen range in 1770. Made of cast iron, the range consisted of a raised open fire with ovens at the side. Hooks and cranes were used to hang pots over the flames. Items were roasted in front of the fire on a spit, with a large tin underneath to catch the fat. To prevent one side from becoming overdone, either a clockwork motor or a servant boy turned the spit.

In the 1870's, closed ranges were developed, with an enclosed fire. This meant that all the heat and gases were trapped inside the range, leading to a better, more even temperature.

The kitchen range was not only used for cooking food. Before the invention of piped circulating hot water, all the hot water for the household's cooking and washing needs had to be heated on the range. It was then carried upstairs, when needed, in special cans.

Few labour saving devices can be found in a kitchen before 1900. All the work was done by servants which were in plentiful supply. The lady of the house rarely entered the kitchen. Large houses were staffed with a team of servants.

Small houses had one servant a maid of all work who you can see here. She was expected to do all the tasks herself. She had to prepare and cook the food, lay the tables, serve all the meals and wash-up afterwards. She was expected to clean all the rooms as well as keeping the kitchen clean and tidy. The range had to be raked through daily, and cleaned and blacked once a week. Other tasks included lighting and tending all the fires, carrying the water upstairs for baths, scrubbing the front step, cleaning shoes, sewing, baking cakes and making preserves.

It was a hard life. The maid of all work was expected to do all the dirty chores around the house and yet still be clean and immaculate to wait on table and answer the door. She worked a seven-day week with one afternoon or evening off. If lucky, she would be allowed one week off during the summer unpaid, of course. A maid of all works would expect to earn about £18 a year, or £22 if she was over 25 years of age.