Inside the kitchen at the historical park are reminders of my grandparents' home as I mentioned in my last post. I remember when they didn't have running water. The food was cooked on a wood stove. I think I remember electricity in the house. There was a single light bult hanging from the middle of the room...no switches, though. I remember that my grandmother had a string from the light pull to the head of her bed so that she could turn the light out after she was in bed.I read a post the other day that talked about the essential kitchen...the items that you needed if you had no extras. I think this table would show that somewhat. We have so many appliances and conveniences today, but we don't cook nearly as much as our grandparents did, do we.
Notice the floor boards. See the light coming through? I don't remember that at their house, but you could see between the boards in the walls.
A little ironing to be done? Is this the forerunner of a steam iron? I didn't ever see one like this. My mother kept some of the cast iron irons that you heated on top of the woodstove, but I don't remember seeing one like this before. When I lived in Haiti, I brought home a beautiful charcoal iron. The top of the iron has a container for hot coals to heat the iron. I've never did use it that way. 
My grandma and grandpa had a pump a little way from the house. I always liked pumping water for them. My great-aunt had a house similar to the one in the photo below, and she had a wrap-around porch with a pump there at the porch like this one. We don't even think about it when we turn on a light, or turn on a faucet, knowing that we'll have power and water.
I love looking at these reminders of years gone by, but I'm not sure that I would have wanted to live then. A simpler life, perhaps, but not easier. When I lived in Haiti, we had a girl who cooked for us, a lady who came and did our laundry, and when I came home and told people that, some raised their eyebrows. Luxury? No, necessity. That's a topic for another day. If I ever get my slides from Haiti scanned, I'll have lots to blog about.
7 comments:
How I'm enjoying these photos! Less IS more, except where having children is concerned. ;~)
Happy Mother's Day, Beverly!
I would love to see your pictures of Haiti. Part of my heart is there too.
I think I prefer the easier way of living now to the difficulties of years ago.
I know I'd enjoy the Haitian photos, Beverly.
My great-grandparents home was like the one you showed. They had a well and they had electric lights, but they cooked on a cast-iron wood-burning stove and heated the house with coal fires in every room. I can remember sleeping there, under a feather comforter (on a feather bed) and listening to the rain beat down on the tin roof. It was great!
I have to tell you what my word verification is:
judeyzu
Beverly, I love the photos. It reminds me of my great-grandmother's house in MacClenney, FL. We would go there for family reunions when I was a child. We have some great memories.
Beverly, I'd love to have those old wooden bowls and the handwoven basket in that first picture! Very neat. But I agree with you that I wouldn't want to live in a time when those were the only utensils available!
You've made some changes since my last visit...I've always found the color blue restful!
I would love to have visited this place with you...I love looking at vintage items and am ever so glad I don't have to live way ;)
My dad tells of the time when he and his older brother Lewis were playing in the kitchen. Lewis climbed up into the cabinet and took down the big crock with the precious brown sugar in it. They hid under the table and started stuffing their little faces. Of course Grandma found them and asked what they were doing... Dad apparently knew that the punishment for a lie was likely more than that for the truth.... so he said... "Lewis was eating the sugar." Never mind the fact that he had it all over his face too.
The old farm house was over 100 years old. There was a bedroom for grandma and grandpa a big kitchen eating room, a living room and a built on room where all four of the boys slept. The lone girl had a separate bedroom. The bathroom was in the very back of the house and only built on just before I was born. I remember a pump like the picture, situated right next to her kitchen sink. She had to pump it for the water and then heat it to wash the dishes. I always thought it was the coolest house to play in.
These are lovely pictures.
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