In the 1800s and early 1900s, the lives of most women in Clay County revolved around a cast iron, wood burning stove, especially at this time of year.

Sears Roebuck introduced The Department of Stoves in their 1902 catalog. Sears sold almost four hundred different models ranging from the ornate nickel-plated Acme Regal at $24.85 to the starter model known as the Acme Wonder for $5.00. The terms of purchase were simple – “Cash in full with order, no COD”.

Cast iron stoves were known to last for generations. Many early settlers brought their stoves with them when they came to Florida. Occasionally the lack of cash for replacement justified transporting an extra 200 to 300 lbs. of household goods. More often the woman doing the cooking simply refused to travel without the stove she had learned to operate.

The bond between a woman and her cook stove was intense. Almost all of her many responsibilities involved that stove. The first thing she did every morning before daylight was stoke the slumbering coals back to life. The last act of her long day was to carefully bank the fire so it would last through the night. A cold stove could take hours to reheat and was the mark of a poor housewife.

Cooking on a wood stove required the technical knowledge of a mechanical engineer, the coordinating skills of a symphony conductor, and the upper body strength of a weightlifter.

Building up the heat quickly required the judicious combination of pine lighter slivers with cured, specifically sized oak logs, usually 4” by 4” and about a foot long, in the smoldering firebox. Precise adjustment of a series of damper vents regulated the flow of air and determined the rate and temperature of the burn. She cooked several things simultaneously and compensated for varying temperature requirements by placement on the cook top and manipulation of the hole-covers.

Each burner or hole had a cast iron cover that was moved by inserting an iron handle into a slot on top. A simmer or slow cook was produced in a pot sitting on a completely closed cover with careful placement of the coals below. For frying or boiling, the cover was removed from the hole. To keep food warm or save leftovers until the next meal she used warming ovens mounted on the iron back to catch the heat from the stovepipe vented through the roof.

To take the heat, the pots were cast iron too. When the stove was hot both the stove and the cooking utensils were hot all over. Folded pads of fabric were used to protect from burns.

There was as little actual picking up these heavy pots and skillets as possible. Rather there was a lot of shoving and sliding of pots on the stovetop. They were heavy. The average preserving kettle weighed over eight pounds empty and without the lid.

The fall season with its special homemade treats for family and church reunions meant double duty for both the woman and her stove.

Just as it is certain that women of the cast iron, wood stove days were thankful for those machines, it is guaranteed that cooks of today preparing Thanksgiving feasts are grateful those days are gone.