HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM 109 



older specimens, mounted to fit up tight one against the other at 

 the end of long tongs. The waffle molds were cast in obverse of 

 what the succulent waffle when properly baked would be when released 

 from the iron. Shorter handle waffle irons with square molds appear 

 to indicate that at a later period, when the gi"eat fireplace was more 

 or less boxed in with oven, water tank, etc., the shorter tongs could 

 be used. (PI. 92, fig. 1; Cat. No. 130312, Morgantown, W. Va. 

 (Virginia) ; Walter Hough; 37.7 inches (98 cm.) long; fig. 2; Cat. 

 No. 239098, Charmian, Franklin County, Pa.; Mrs. W. H. Comer; 

 24.8 inches (63 cm.) long.) 



XEAKBTTLB 



The teakettle was an indispensable adjunct to the old fireplace, 

 where it hung by a pot hook from the crane or sometimes was set 

 over the fire on a trivet. The old-time kettle was of beaten copper, 

 made with the idea of endurance uppermost, but always a subject of 

 the metal worker's conception of art. It is said that domestic ves- 

 sels made by the craftsmen in metal were copied by the potters in 

 their ware, the resulting teapots, sugar bowls, etc., being familiar to 

 collectors of old ceramics. (PL 81&, fig. 3 ; Cat. No. 329472, Colonial, 

 probably English manufacture; Victor J. Evans; 7.9 inches (20 cm.) 

 long, 6.3 inches (16 cm.) wide, 7.5 inches (19 cm.) high.) 



The materials used for burning to produce heat are of vegetal, 

 animal, and mineral origin. In the first stages of the use of fuel, 

 in which fires are in the open, wood is the common and usual sub- 

 stance for burning. Depending on the environment, we get a great 

 variety of fuels suitable for the open fire. The stage when fuel 

 is burned in a fire having the minimum of confinement between 

 walls or other surrounding devices may be regarded as primitive. 

 In this stage the fuel industry was undifferentiated; every group 

 gathered fuel for themselves. With the progress in housing and 

 knowledge of installing fire in various devices suggesting stoves, 

 proper fuel as to kinds, sizes, etc., became more important. Many 

 fuels suitable for the camp had to be discarded for employment in 

 the habitation. There appear here the rudiments of the manu- 

 facture of fuel. This is seen in charcoal, which was a product 

 known to all as derived from the incomplete combustion of wood. 

 The definite, intentional use of charcoal as fuel is the key to the 

 stove. Its importance as a social factor has been unrecognized. It 

 may even be called one of the world's greatest inventions. Upon 

 charcoal rested for a long period the world's advance in fire utiliza- 

 tion for heating and other purposes, especially metallurgy. Metal- 

 lurgy required a fuel freed from volatile constituents and capable of 



