Hello Friends,
I hope today finds you well wherever the world might take you. On one of my last posts, a follower Jim mentioned that I should talk about the warming oven cast iron radiator I had in my kitchen after a very long and painful restoration process. You can read all about the restoration of the radiator here: Warming Oven Restoration Part I and here: Cast Iron Warming Oven Restoration Part II and here: Cast Iron Warming Oven Part III
When Radiators Served Dinner: The Lost Art of the Warming Oven
There are certain objects that stop you in your tracks and not because they are rare or expensive, but because they reveal an entirely different way of living. The warming oven is one of them for me. What sits in my kitchen is not just a radiator to heat the space. It’s a cast iron warming oven, what period catalogs called a “hot closet radiator.” At first glance, it looks like an ornate Victorian heater with a box and decorative doors. But open those doors, and you begin to understand: this was never just about heat. This was about hospitality, essentiality of keeping food warm and also perhaps novelty of a new fangled object.
What Is a Warming Oven Radiator?
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as central heating systems began to supplement fireplaces, something interesting happened. Heat was no longer coming just from a single source. It could be distributed throughout the house and be more controlled, steady, and always keeping the house warm.
Manufacturers began designing radiators that did more than warm a room. Some incorporated shelves, racks, or enclosed cabinets allowing them to function as not only heaters for the room but also as a warming oven.
These were most commonly found in dining rooms and butler’s pantries as well as commercial establishments, and their purpose was simple but transformative: to keep things warm in an era of cold buildings.
Today, we hardly think of pulling a plate from a cabinet and setting it on the table. But in a Victorian home, particularly one built for entertaining, temperature mattered. A warm plate kept food hot longer. A properly heated dish elevated the entire experience. Even the act of serving became more refined as we probably know by the endless amount of utensils and serving pieces the Victorians made for a proper table.
These warming ovens allowed meals to unfold in courses without interruption and within the elegance and ritual a meal could be. Food could be held quietly in the background, neither overcooked nor cooling too quickly, while guests remained the focus.
Hello Matt, One of my chief complaints with "renovations" is that they replace everything that is old and original with the newest, trendy schlock. I want an old house to look old. Well, these warming ovens definitely look like a reminder of old days, when solving basic problems like heat did not preclude adding in a few luxuries.
ReplyDeleteStill, one can see why these were relatively rare. They would only work when the heat was on, and a number of kitchen ranges have their own warming ovens. I recall in Dorothy Rodgers book about building her new house, warming ovens (the electric kind) were included in her plans from the beginning.
Malvina Reynold's song The New Restaurant says that "they heated up the coffee cups with extra-pressure steam" and your article makes me realize that this was probably a steam-heated cabinet, something like yours, not that the cups were directly exposed to steam. Although my mother would sometimes run plates under hot water and dry them before serving hot food on cold days. And today's bathroom towel warmers and blanket warmers prove that few ideas are really new.
You are to be congratulated on having a house in which you cannot open your eyes without having them rest on a conversation piece.
--Jim
I agree Jim that in an old house, I want to see things that are old and sympathetic. I can be persuaded to accept newer amenities within a bathroom, provided they give off a classic or old vibe. Kitchens I could be persuaded a bit too, but it is not my taste to have a really beautiful old house and then a contemporary kitchen or bathroom in a house. It just doesn't feel like to vibes. I can even appreciate a good deco or 1950s bathroom in an old Victorian because of the design and style, but I have do pause on many contemporary designs, because I question if they hold a certain uniqueness that older period designs conveyed.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about why these might be rare, but your logic does make sense. I can't imagine many homes wanting to have this extra necessity. Your song reference I think you are spot on. These of course could be in steam or hot water, so that makes sense that the steam heater would keep the coffee cups warm. A really clever invention. I am interested to see how I will use it in my kitchen.