December, 1909 
come that Isaac Ware said of it in the year 1750: ‘‘With us 
no article in a well-furnished room is so essential. The eye 
is immediately cast upon it in entering, and the place of 
sitting down is naturally near it. By this means it becomes 
the most eminent thing in the furnishing of an apartment.”’ 
Many of these mantelpieces were of wood beautifully 
carved in elaborate designs. Others were somewhat more 
simply ornamented and were surmounted by fine paintings 
or beautiful old-fashioned mantel mirrors. In the homes of 
some illustrious old families the coat-of-arms appeared in 
the carving above the mantel-shelf and the same device was 
sometimes carried out in the decoration of the iron firebacks 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
491 
Fenders of brass or iron were generally used with these 
grates, a small one placed close to the fire preventing the 
ashes from scattering over the hearth, while a larger one 
surrounded the entire fireplace. Although hob-grates are 
to be found in some old-time Northern mansions, there 
were much more popular and widely used in the South. 
It was the stove invented by Benjamin Franklin in the 
year 1745 that superseded the open fireplace in the homes 
of the North to a great extent. These stoves were usually 
constructed of iron with trimmings of polished brass in 
the form of rosettes, railings and knobs of various sizes 
and shapes. In appearance the Franklin stove was some- 
The charm of this seventeenth century fireplace is its great breadth and the antique ornaments which surround it 
in use at that time. Another design which was occasionally 
employed in ornamenting these firebacks consisted of a 
medallion bearing the owner’s monogram and surmounted 
by the family crest. Floral patterns, too, were popular and 
adorned the back of many an eighteenth-century fireplace. 
About the middle of that century a number of innovations 
along the line of fireplaces made their appearance. Among 
these one of the earliest was the quaint little hob-grate, 
which was invented about 1750. ‘These grates were often 
fitted into open fireplaces which had been partially bricked 
up. The grates themselves consisted of iron bars, designed 
for burning coal rather than wood, and these bars were at 
first spoken of as “cat-stones’’ in contradistinction to the 
name “‘fire-dogs’’ which was applied to andirons for holding 
wood. 
what similar to the small open fireplace, with andirons for 
burning wood. As heat producers, however, they were 
a decided improvement on many of the poorly constructed 
fireplaces which had been in use previous to their introduc- 
tion. Many of these had smoked abominably and much 
of the heat had gone up the chimney instead of contributing 
to the warmth of the rooms. In this respect the new stove 
was far better, for it proved much more economical, as 
there was little waste of heat through the pipe connecting 
it with the chimney. 
Still another form of heating apparatus came into vogue 
somewhat later in the eighteenth century. This was the 
fire-frame which appeared about thirty years after the in- 
vention of the Franklin stove. It was something of a com- 
promise between the open fireplace and the stove, for it 
