Notice I said it was built in the 1960's not the 1860's... We didn't even see this little hooky-cooky thingy until the "Brick Doctor" came out to caulk up the fireplace.
When we bought the house it had a brass firescreen attached to the fireplace. I opened it up (it was a bit rusty and only opened about ten or so inches), looked in and saw one charred log, lots of ashes, and a few spiderwebs. The building inspector told us he couldn't certify the fireplace as usable and explained how we would need to get a plumber out to check the gas line, a chimney sweep, and also we would have to hire someone to caulk up the cracks in the brickwork. Still, the house was in a great neighborhood and it did (technically) have a fireplace (two things to check off our wish list).
Now, fast forward six and a half years... Spring is here and we are finished with cold weather so I am closing the fireplace damper, dusting, sweeping up, and just plain cleaning the hearth. I usually only think about "it" on days like this.
I didn't even know what "it" was called until Wednesday morning (that's right, yesterday) - It's a fireplace crane. I was getting this post ready to link up with ColoradoLady's Vintage Thingy Thursday and wanted to know the name of the vintage treasure I planned to show off. You can 'google' anything - even things you don't know the name of...
Tell me, what's in your house that makes you wonder "why did the builder add this little beauty?"
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15 comments:
Was Joy, you would expect th see that in a much older house as you say. Was the house built from scratch or maybe re-built conserving an old chimney and fireplace. I wouldn't have thought a 60s chimney would need re-caulking yet. How intriguing.
Hope your week is going well. We have had the most wonderful sunshine and 70 degree temps this week. It's as good as it gets this time of year.
Di
X
Goodness that "thingy" does look ancient. It would be interesting to know how that came to be there. We have a wood burning fire place in the living room, and a wood stove down in the family room. Since we are supposed to have snow today, we won't be shutting these down yet. Our 1970's split-level ranch, alas, does not have anything intriguing.
I Love it! Don't you like surprises like that? There was a "revival of the "early American" look in the 1960's, so maybe they bought this antique to add some authenticity. We built our house in the 1980's but have a woodstove from the late 1800's that came from Sweden installed in our dining room!
Blessings
Linda
well, i guess if you ever lost power and needed to cook up a pot of soup or boil water for coffee, it could come in handy. of course, you'd need the cast iron hanging pot to go with it! :)
Interesting..what a mystery?
I can join you very easily. My house was being built when we bought in in 1964. So I have a lot of things different than the new homes. I still enjoy it and it is built better than some of the others.
I thought the same thing that TexWis Girl said.
MAYBE a scout master lived there and planned to teach open fire cooking to his scouts!
Thank you so much for your visit and nice comment, The mantle lace is just the bottom of some old lace curtains. I just cut it off and hemmed each end. Just a remnant.
Love your fireplace. The thingie hook looks like it's for hanging a kettle.
Unusual for the 60's.
We have a 100yr old house with lots of bits and pieces we are not sure about. Gradually after 17yrs we are uncovering more and more, Problems usually though HA HA, have to laugh.
Have a nice day. xx jeanetteann
My daughters would have loved to have had the fireplace crane in our fireplace when they were learning fire building skills and cooking over an open fire in Girl Scouts! In fact, my whole troop would have liked using it. They all became expert fire builders and could cook great food in everything from a paper bag to a box oven (made from a cardboard box) to a Dutch oven with three legs.
How fun! I hope you give fireplace cooking a try sometime!
You know, Early American Style was really popular in the 60's and I'm thinking it was the builder's attempt at recreating a functional cooking fireplace. Early Americans would hang a pot from a hook like that in the fireplace. I think it's a very cool touch!
LOL! That is funny, maybe to cook a leg of lamb?! I like it though...when we had a big house and big fireplace, we did cook leg of lamb once after a friend taught us how and let me tell you, it was great! So try it, heheheee..Thanks for your lovely and kind visit.
FABBY
HOw interesting...never seen one of those thingy's... lucky you!
Good point -we are really glad our old 50s house doesn't have an old drafty fireplace... At least we don't think so!
Nothing fascinating like that I am afraid.
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