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The Kitchen
The kitchen was the hub of the home for both the Gilberts and the
Donelsons. Naturally, it was used as a kitchen should be for food
preparation, but one cannot help but notice how this one is decorated.
Bill Donelson-Robertson left her mark on this "dear old house"
with her unique artwork where she painted trees, birds, flowers,
and charming sayings all around the room as well as her favorite
recipes inside the cupboard doors. Mrs. Gilbert was more practical;
she had the cupboards painted gray so that fingerprints would not
show!
The back door on the west side was the most used by the Gilbert
family. An addition was built on the north side, now the service
kitchen, to provide living quarters for two male Japanese servants
who helped Mrs. Gilbert with garden and house work. When the wrap
around porch was altered to become part of the living room and dining
room, there was a change in the kitchen, too, and more cupboards
were added on the kitchen wall. While Donelsons lived in the house,
they took out windows looking out to the back yard, brought some
in from the old Robertson house, and put in a back door and porch
on the north side. Now that has all been taken out and the original
two windows which had been stored all these years in the cellar,
have been replaced at the north side.
The big black coal and wood stove was the workhorse here as it
provided warmth, heated the water, boiled clothes, kept flat irons
hot, and did the cooking and baking in early times. Bill tells of
memorable New Year's Eve parties when guests, draped in furs, served
themselves oyster stew from a large kettle on the back of the old
cook stove. Because cupboards were built close to the counter, the
work table was necessary in the center of the room for making breads
and pastries with handy bin-type drawers full of flour and sugar
below. This is where the girls washed the dishes after meals, where
children churned the butter, and where any food preparation was
done.
When running water was piped up Yakima Avenue about 1910, the Gilberts
converted the old pantry into a bathroom, and the original fixtures
are still in use. Bulk foods had been stored in this place, and
an ice box used to keep food cool stood in there. A kitchen sink
was installed right in front of the west window, and only recently
has the window molding been replaced and painted where the sink
had been. The 'buttery", also used for storing milk, churned
butter, lard, and cooked food, was always cool because the cistern
for water storage was directly under the floor. Water was brought
up by a chain - cup device in order to fill pails to take care of
water needs indoors. Mrs. Donelson had the old cistern filled with
sand so that it would not deteriorate under the house, but the "buttery"
still remains cool even today. Note the spice tree painted on the
wall by Bill Donelson.
Mrs. Gilbert was not one to buy gadgets, but she did like labor-saving
devices, so when they became available, she acquired a refrigerator
and an electric stove which was placed next to the wood stove. She
even had an early dishwasher, and. there is a story that once a
guest put cornmeal instead of soap in the dishwasher! Mrs. Gilbert
was quite domestic, and her old cook book is said to be filled with
wonderful recipes, household hints, and even favorite verses. Her
White House Cookbook is now in the library. She canned fruit and
jellies for the family, using fruit that came from the orchard around
the house. It was so much better when the laundry room was built
which had a small wood stove where she could heat wash water and
do the canning to keep heat out of the kitchen. Jars were stored
in the cellar, and they were transported, empty or filled, to and
from the kitchen by means of a "dumb waiter" that was
in one of the lower cupboards. It is no longer in working order.
The small room on the north side of the kitchen was built on to
provide living quarters for two male Japanese servants who helped
with chores around the house and garden to lighten Mrs. Gilbert's
work The room is now the modern service kitchen.
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