What is it?

Here's an object from the Benton County Historical Museum's collection that is probably unfamiliar to you.  It is made of metal and about 8 inches long.  It is a tool that would have been found in most homes from the 1820's until after the 1920s.  I didn't know what it was.  Do you know or can you guess?

Featured artifact

 You wouldn't recognize it if you are like me and have only cooked on a gas or electric stove. This tool was used with a wood or coal burning stove and is called a stove lifter.  You don't actually lift the stove itself. Wood stoves have several round plates that sit flush with the top but have a small hole in one side.

Wood stove in museum storage

The curved end with the “ears” on either side fits into the hole on the stove lid and the ears keep it from slipping. The end with the spring wound around it is the handle. The tool allows the cook to lift off the plate in order to add more wood to the fire or to put a skillet directly over the fire. You can see a stove lifter inserted in the hole in the close-up above.

To learn more, I watched an on-line video on cooking on a wood stove.  This tool seemed easy to use but cooking on a wood stove seemed to me to be quite challenging.  It made me appreciate the convenience of modern gas or electric stoves.

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon