Early American Wooden Ware & Other Kitchen Utensils

An authoritative and comprehensive history of wooden ware, including old New England kitchens, pantry tools, bowls, plates, mortars, buckets, tubs, the early uses of paint, means of identification, and much more.

“It would be hard to say how and where the material for this book was gathered. From my childhood I have been interested in early manners, customs, and sayings, and have retained as I have learned. It was natural, then, that wherever I went as a collector I questioned and listened, and no chance remarks slipped by unheeded. A notebook went with me and I began to keep a diary of the happenings of the days….

“With many happy memories of places I have visited, of acquaintances I have made, of hospitality shown me by those of an older generation and of interesting correspondence with all parts of the United States, I have written my book.

“This enlarged edition has been made possible by more research work and by helpful correspondence from those interested in recording this early history. A few more pieces of wooden ware have come to the museum which now numbers over 1,000 pieces, including the iron fireplace utensils.”—Mary Earle Gould