474 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1907 



The Colonial Kitchen and the Diet Kitchen Beyond 



chicken jelly, sandwiches of stale bread and scarped beef, 

 and putting up sterilized milk, which is poured into half- 

 pint bottles made air tight with rubber stoppers. These are 

 placed in pasteboard boxes divided into partitions, and are 

 wrapped and sealed ready for delivery. 



Leaving the diet kitchen we retrace our steps into the end 

 of the low farmhouse kitchen with its peaceful atmosphere 

 and old time furniture. The 

 floor is covered with old- 

 fashioned rag carpet, while 

 the room is filled with an- 

 tique pieces of furniture, 

 picked up in Newport, Pet- 

 ersburg, Va., and Panama. 

 Genuine old Windsor chairs 

 and Dutch chairs all have 

 their history. The old settle 

 at the end of the room is 

 over one hundred years old, 

 and was found in a rickety 

 building on top of a heap of 

 rubbish. On one of the 

 whitewashed walls is a mir- 

 ror which once belonged to 

 Washington Irving, and be- 

 side the mantel there is a 

 lantern which hung in front 

 of De Lessep's house in 

 Panama. Many rare iron 

 implements and cooking 

 utensils may be seen around 

 the fireplace, while relics of 

 the war may be seen in the 

 old musketry above the man- 

 telshelf. 



One of the features of the 

 Home Bureau is the famous 

 farmhouse dinners which are 

 served in this kitchen from 



time to time to guests, when 

 arranged for, and are served 

 as were the old-fashioned 

 dinners of Colonial days. 

 The atmosphere of the room 

 carries one back to the days 

 of our ancestors. 



Against the side wall fac- 

 ing the entrance door is a 

 dresser, a duplicate of one in 

 the Van Cortlandt Manor. 

 Its shelves are filled with 

 treasures of china, pewter 

 and brass. An old coffee- 

 pot from Dresden, and old 

 willowware from Peters- 

 burg, Va., harmonize with 

 the old pewter, many pieces 

 of which are of great value. 



The window-seat beneath 

 the latticed windows is al- 

 ways gay and cheerful with 

 flowers and potted plants. 

 Tea is served at this end of 

 the room from four to six 

 every day. 



Leaving this room we ex- 

 perience the transition from 

 the old-fashioned homestead 

 into the up-to-date rooms 

 furnished with the latest ap- 

 pliances for carrying on the work of the house. Above the 

 old kitchen are the offices and sterilizing room, where the 

 bandages and appliances are stored and sterilized. The 

 walls are hidden by cases with glass shelves upon which are 

 placed the various outfits. Disinfectants, too, are stored In 

 these rooms. 



On the floor above are suites of rooms for Invalids and a 



Fireplace Copied from One in the Van Cortlandt Manor House 



