Irene Whitfield Chisholm's Dishes

Basically, for this page, I went through the cupboards, pulled out all of the dishes that had lived in this house longer than I have and photographed them. Since I've been around since 1954, a number of these have been around since the 1940s, and some are known to have been here since the 1930s.

Cooking

Big metal tea kettle
This was used on the wood stove mostly. It was very useful
during power outtages, and for taking outside to thaw out
faucets during subfreezing weather. These days, I keep it
filled with water and leave it on the wood stove as more mass
to heat up and then slowly cool off so that a little wood
heats the house for longer.

Big metal kettle
Irene used this for picking up fallen apples, for boiling
canning jars, for cooking large amounts of things on the
stove. I think this is probably one of the very oldest
kettles and there's two of them.

Copper Bottomed Kettle and Lid
Probably one of the more modern of the older kettles. This
was the right size to boil up potatoes in.

Double Boiler
Bottom filled with water, and top filled with whatever needed
to be cooked a bit more gently. This is how chocolate was
melted, or pudding was made. Favorite puddings were rice
pudding and spotted dog (rice pudding with raisins).

red enameled cast iron bean pot & kettle
These are enameled on the inside also. I'm sure they're
among the oldest of the dishes. They were around for years,
but she seldom used them.

glass baking pan
Pyrex. Probably among the most recent of the old dishes.

Serving

blue serving bowl
About the right size for a mound of boiled potatoes.

brown serving bowl
About the right size for a fresh batch of apple sauce.

iridescent bowl
This was for special occasions, like Christmas, and usually
had something like candy or fruit in it. If it was a really,
really special occasion, there were matching candle holders
to go with it.

raised patterns bowl
This was for special occasions, like Christmas, and
usually had something like candy or fruit in it.

white serving bowl
This was a little big for usual use, but sometimes we had a
bowl full of stuff in it, like if we had lots of stuff and
had guests over.

Miscellanious

ceramic tea pot
She was fond of black tea, usually Lipton's, and would have
tea several times a day. This pot used to be a lot newer
looking and also used to have a handle. I kept it because
I liked herbal teas, but never got into using a teapot, really.

bread bowl
Irene mixed up bread in this bowl once or twice a week for
decades.

variety of glassware
The yellow water pitcher that we kept on the table during meals with fresh water in it. A chicken butter dish,
which was seldom used because we usually used a small saucer instead. Transparent & blue willow sugar
bowls, both of which I remember being used for brown sugar usually on the table. The square cut glass dish
was what homemade berry or apple jelly was put into--to put on fresh homemade bread--yum! And a lemon
squeezer, which I now use to make homemade orange juice with.

various can & bottle openers
From left: bottle cap lifter for the metal caps on glass soda bottles, three punch type openers for metal
juice cans, one spear type can opener (punch in and then work up and down to cut the metal), three
rotary can openers with long handles. Bottom: two rotary can openers with short handles. Why so many
rotary ones? Because they seldom worked and you had to try the others before giving up and using the spear
type can opener, that's why.

Links

Irene & Jack
Chisholm's
Link Page

Credits

Photographer: Rowan Ainslie Chisholm

Author/artist/designer/programmer of page: Rowan Ainslie Chisholm