Ranch Kitchen
By Glynda Pflug
Cooks in early day Moore County would have been fortunate to have a cook stove as nice as the one in the ranch house kitchen at Window on the Plains Museum.
The beautiful Majestic wood-burning range was a gift from Jimmy Wiseman and had been used by his family for decades. The stove was a "top of the line" for the early 1900's and probably cost around $25.
The Irwin Wiseman family came to Texas in 1908 and in 1918 purchased land in southern Sherman County. The Majestic range was part of the family home along with a counter-top cabinet, sometimes called "kitchen safe."
The counter-top cabinet provided the only work area for a cook except for a table. The cabinet has closed storage shelves at the top and behind the cabinet top are containers for flour and other cooking necessities. Below are drawers and additional closed storage along with a flour bin. The counter top will extend to give the cook more space.
One part of the cabinet is a "pie safe" with wire racks for the cook to store pies and perhaps keep the pies "safe from thieves."
Jimmy Wiseman, who donated the items to the museum, remembers his mother cooking some "mighty delicious" meals using the two items. Many other items from the Wiseman family are in the kitchen -- a pressure cooker, muffin tins, a waffle iron and some flat irons -- just to name a few.
The kitchen is filled with items from other early Moore County homes. One unusual item is a coal oil bucket with lid and dipper, a gift from Mrs. Roy Carroll (Gladys) Knight. Cooks would use a small amount of coal oil to help start the wood fire.
A gray wash stand near the door of the kitchen was also a gift of Jimmy Wiseman and was part of the Wiseman estate. A wash bowl and pitcher, a gift from Ellen Phillips Munkres, sits on top of the stand.
The kitchen tells the story of how early residents lived in the early days!
The beautiful Majestic wood-burning range was a gift from Jimmy Wiseman and had been used by his family for decades. The stove was a "top of the line" for the early 1900's and probably cost around $25.
The Irwin Wiseman family came to Texas in 1908 and in 1918 purchased land in southern Sherman County. The Majestic range was part of the family home along with a counter-top cabinet, sometimes called "kitchen safe."
The counter-top cabinet provided the only work area for a cook except for a table. The cabinet has closed storage shelves at the top and behind the cabinet top are containers for flour and other cooking necessities. Below are drawers and additional closed storage along with a flour bin. The counter top will extend to give the cook more space.
One part of the cabinet is a "pie safe" with wire racks for the cook to store pies and perhaps keep the pies "safe from thieves."
Jimmy Wiseman, who donated the items to the museum, remembers his mother cooking some "mighty delicious" meals using the two items. Many other items from the Wiseman family are in the kitchen -- a pressure cooker, muffin tins, a waffle iron and some flat irons -- just to name a few.
The kitchen is filled with items from other early Moore County homes. One unusual item is a coal oil bucket with lid and dipper, a gift from Mrs. Roy Carroll (Gladys) Knight. Cooks would use a small amount of coal oil to help start the wood fire.
A gray wash stand near the door of the kitchen was also a gift of Jimmy Wiseman and was part of the Wiseman estate. A wash bowl and pitcher, a gift from Ellen Phillips Munkres, sits on top of the stand.
The kitchen tells the story of how early residents lived in the early days!