Turnspit dogs

[ergophobe]

I almost put this in the Technology forum since it is a technology article... just old tech.

One of the things about being a historian is realizing that no matter how much you read, you could learn more in a week, maybe an hour, of time travel to the past than you can in a lifetime of reading.

Until today, I had no idea that there were breeds of dog whose sole job was running around in a dog wheel (i.e. large hamster wheel) to turn the spit.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211105-the-bizarre-dog-breeds-time-forgot

[buckworks]

I have seen turnspit dogs mentioned in historical novels. I didn't know there was an actual breed for the task.

I've also seen mentions of young boys responsible for the spit, looking after the weights on a geared gizmo which turned the spit as the weights descended on a chain. When the weights reached bottom they'd need to be raised to repeat the process, similar to raising the weights on a cuckoo clock. The job might last all day for a large roast. Tedious, but easier than turning the spit with a hand crank.

Another thing that happened by boy-power was pumping water into an attic holding tank so the house could have running water for a few days.

Still another was pumping the bellows to power a pipe organ. When an organist played, at least one other person was behind the scenes working the bellows. Would-be organists were expected to master their keyboard skills on a smaller instrument such as a harpsichord or virginal before they were allowed to even try the organ.

[ergophobe]

I've seen the weighted mechanism for turning a spit in museums or historic houses.

I expect you have never been to Shelburne Museum? It was one of my favorite places as a kid and I went there for the first time since childhood just last month. It is not old like some of the historic houses of Europe, but the Dutton House is from the 18th century and is furnished out like an 1820s house. They also have a toy shop with late 19thC and early 20thC toys, a sidewheel steamer, an old lighthouse, a general store and apothecary, a blacksmith shop and so forth.

I was sad, however, that you can no longer go inside the coal furnace :-)

Anyway, it's interesting to see long-forgotten devices. One of the ones that always fascinated me was the door to the Dutton House.

Question: why did the drunken carpenter hang this door all askew?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pxjcih48hCcZ2A6y8


In any case, there are aspects of material culture that are notoriously hard to reconstruct, let alone things like the smells of the past. I remember going to India in 1984. I had a camera, but it broke on the first day and I threw it away and I didn't miss it a bit, but I did really wish I had a device for recording the smells.

[buckworks]

>> all askew

So it would close by itself?

[ergophobe]

Exactly! No springs. Works on gravity alone.

When I was a kid, this fascinated me more than almost anything at the museum. It's always stuck with me and it was fun to see it again after close to 50 years since my last visit.

[Brad]

> historic homes

It's interesting observing how old houses were built to deal with summer heat and lack of indoor light.  Tall ceilings, tall double hung windows to let in light and also to vent hot air at the top, transoms above doors, and bedrooms that had additional saloon type doors for summer that provided visual privacy but allowed air flow.  Many homes also had screened sleeping porches.

[buckworks]

Add thermal mass to that list, such as a brick house vs wood frame. And ceiling fans.

We will incorporate many of those features into the house we're planning. We believe that savvy design will enable us to (mostly) maintain hot-weather comfort without mechanical air conditioning.

The house we're in now has aircon but we only turn it on a few days in a year. Our biggest design parameter is staying warm in winter.

[rcjordan]

>summer

Some antebellum homes around here have a central, open staircase to act as a chimney.  There is a small, windowed-on-all sides 'shed' with extra-wide soffits on the roof over the stairwell that acts as a vent.  People confuse these with a seaman's "widow's watch" but many of these are no where near the waterways.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50697352@N00/5589103791

I built my home with 10 ft ceilings on the first floor to help with the cooling. Works well.

[buckworks]

Also of interest - solar chimneys:

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Solar_chimney

[Brad]

Even how we plant trees around the house.  Planting a deciduous tree on the East and West sides of the house to shade it in summer but allow the winter sunlight through.

> antebellum

Also notice the porch in that photo RC posted.  A deep covered porch gives you a sheltered area to catch the breeze or excape kitchen heat.

A lot of people tell me about their plans for a deck and my advice is always to add a screened in porch instead of a deck if architecturally possible.  Keeps bugs out, provides shade, protection from rain and will last longer and be used more often than a deck.

[rcjordan]

>kitchen

Most of my dad & his siblings' families grew up with detached kitchens because of the risk of fire as well as to control the heat of cooking.  In the 30s, the kitchen outbuildings were moved to adjoin the rear of the 2-story main house and an open porch with pantry added on the side of the kitchen. (Lots of rough food prep was done out on the porch.)  You'll still see a lot of early 1900s farm houses with the single-story kitchen on the back.