EARLY 20TH CENTURY

In a traditional farmhouse an assemblage consisting of a vertical wooden support and hook-shaped hanger was used to suspend cooking vessels from a rafter over the floor hearth. The central square hearth, where family and guests gathered, was the one area of the house that was consistently warm during the winter. A kettle of water was always kept on the boil. A transverse groove has often been worn into the hanger by the rope suspending the kettle.