Saturday, October 3, 2020

Crawford Ranges from the Walker & Pratt Company

I am fascinated by the fact that American wood and coal cookstove construction varied so much by geographical region.  As I scroll through the various antique ranges that are for sale on eBay (something I spend too much time doing), I can pretty much tell at a glance whether the stove was made in the Northeast, the South, or the Midwest.

One of the giveaway traits of cookstoves made in the Northeast is that they continued to make 100% cast iron stoves long after the strategic incorporation of steel infiltrated stove construction in other parts of the country.  I've been told that all-cast iron ranges last longer and are easier to repair than their partly steel contemporaries, and my personal observation is that they seem to have greater longevity as well.

The Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts, is one of those northeastern companies whose ranges are still commonly found today.  Try as I might, I am unable to find definite dates for when the Walker & Pratt Company began and ended their manufacture of stoves.  One thing that everyone who talks about them likes to mention, though, is that the company manufactured cannon balls and other ammunition during the Civil War.  Once again, no date is present anywhere in this circular, but judging from the women's fashion depicted, the print fonts used, and the styles of ranges advertised, my best guess is that it was printed circa 1910.  

I actually had the opportunity to see two Crawford Ranges in person at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa.  You can read about them in this post.  The stoves shown in the circular below are considerably younger than those at Living History Farms, however.

















Gabriel and Sarah Chrisman of Port Townsend, Washington, have a restored Crawford Range in use in their Victorian home.  You can read about the stove and watch a video of Sarah baking cookies in it at this link.

Someday, I hope to get the opportunity to cook on one of these fine ranges.  Until then, if any of my readers are Crawford Range owners and operators, by all means please fill up the comments with your thoughts about these beauties!  Any additional information about the Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Company would also be greatly appreciated.

7 comments:

  1. We live in Maine and we have a Century Crawford that we cook on and that also partially heats our small house. Before I met my husband, the house that was originally here burned to the ground. When he was rebuilding someone he knew had this stove in their barn and sold it to him. Unlike the one pictured in your circular, ours has a shelf on the left-hand side where the ash bin door opens. This stove has had a lot of use and abuse in its life. We have replaced a couple of the lids on the cooktop as well as the heat shield between the firebox and the oven. The top is warped and shrunk in a couple places from overheating. But I love cooking and baking with it. I really miss it in the summer when wood heat in the house would be intolerable (I understand why people used to have summer kitchens!)

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    1. Hi, Cynthia! Thank you for your comment! I know what you mean about missing the cookstove in the summer; that's why I loved finally having our summer kitchen up and running this summer.

      The shelf on the left of your range was commonly called a hearth--a throwback to fireplace cooking days, I guess. That was another trait unique to cookstoves made in the Northeast.

      If you would be interested in me writing a Readers' Cookstoves post about your Crawford, just let me know.

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  2. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:rv042z935
    Hey Jim, a little struggle to post that so it may appear more than once. TP in SC

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  3. Sorry, it is a short bio of Pratt. TP in SC

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    1. Thank you! I had run across a very similar document in my research. Just wish there was more solid information about exact dates the foundry was making stoves.

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  4. I recently purchased a Union Crawford wood cook stove. After cleaning and giving her 2 coats of stove black, I would like to put her back together. However, the innards were given to me in a box and I cannot make heads or tails of what goes where. Any suggestions?

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    1. You could e-mail me pictures at rossnj8@msn.com and I'll do what I can, but as this is a brand of stove from the Northeast, I'm not as familiar with it as some. If I'm not able to help you, you may need to contact one of the many knowledgeable stove repair/restoration companies in New England for help. I don't know whether they would charge for their services or not.

      Another option would be to contact the people at coalpail.com. They are an online discussion group, many of whom have expertise with cookstoves similar to yours, and from what I've seen they are extremely willing to help.

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