Ken Dilda, director of the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum, describes various antique items displayed on a cream-color, enamel Bengal Range made by Floyd Wells Stove Company. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
This 19th century pie safe is ‘probably my prize, of all the antiques,’ says Ken Dilda, director of the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum. It belonged to a Wayne County plantation owner, William Atkinson. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
This mat, made from corn shucks, demonstrates impressive workmanship. It was crafted by Rosa McQueen, of Calypso. The stoneware bowl was owned by Emma Lane. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
At the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum, director Ken Dilda holds a glass rolling pin. It would have been filled with cold water and/or ice chips to help prevent it from sticking to the dough. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
This is a fine example of a straw-and-twine broom. It belonged to Cora Winn, a member of a local, prominent Black family. It would have been used to sweep the yard, a practice common in some areas of the south during the early 20th century. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Old enamelware is highly prized by some collectors. This blue and white swirl pitcher is from the early 1800s and belonged to Mr. and Mrs. William Daniel Lane of Mount Olive. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Ken Dilda, director of the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum, holds two old water dippers made from gourds. He recalls his grandmother using similar ones. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
This icebox has two separate compartments: one at the top for holding chunks of ice and one below for holding food. Its owner was Annie Oliver Kornegay, a private music teacher in Mount Olive. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Most items displayed in the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum have been donated by local families. This cast iron kettle, enamelware pail and cast iron skillet were donated by Mount Olive native John Robert ‘Bob’ Lane, Jr. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
This wooden slicer is currently on display in the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum. It belonged to Mount Olive resident Mary Hatch Davis. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
The David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum is located at 137 E. Main St. in Mount Olive. The museum is open the second Sunday of each month, from 2 to 5 p.m., and other times by appointment. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Kitchens are already the hustle-and-bustle hub of most homes, but from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, they hustle and bustle even more, as we prepare holiday feasts, host out-of-town guests, and bake goodies to share with friends and neighbors. And never, it seems, have we been more prepared for these culinary demands than now, with all sorts of 21st-century gadgets to make our tasks less taxing: automatic pan stirrers; temperature control mugs; contraptions that scramble eggs while they’re still in the shells; cut-resistant gloves for meal prep; and mini, tabletop, crumb-sucking vacuums. (Yes, those are all real things.)
Then there’s the fact that all the stuff in our kitchens — our microwaves, pressure cookers, air fryers, meat thermometers — well, it’s all so smart now. Refrigerators are being built with internal cameras, so you can tell what’s in your fridge and freezer without even opening the doors. Touch screens pull up recipes based on ingredients you have on hand. Want to preheat your oven before you leave the office? Go for it. How about changing the oven temperature while you’re outside chatting with a neighbor? No problem (assuming you’re willing to pony up the cash for this technological wizardry).
Our ancestors had far less sophisticated gadgets and contraptions — yet they still managed to navigate the holidays with aplomb, whipping up dishes and meals so delicious that they’ve become the mainstays of family lore. So, at the Tribune, we decided to pay tribute to the our foremothers (and forefathers) with a visit to the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum, where one room is filled with antique kitchen equipment like they would have used, and most of which is from Mount Olive and surrounding areas.
“That’s probably my prize, of all the antiques,” says museum director Ken Dilda, nodding toward a tall piece of furniture commonly referred to as a pie safe. This item, although purchased by the museum from an antiques store in Raleigh, has Wayne County roots. “This came from William Atkinson, a prominent landowner between Rosewood [in Wayne County] and Princeton [in Johnston County],” explains Dilda. “He was a major plantation owner. We think this dates from 1860, so it’s an old, special piece…It’s old, it’s local, [it’s in] pristine condition. I mean, what more could you ask for…I just love this piece.”
“Pie safe” is actually a bit of a misnomer, according to Dilda, as many other food items would have also been stored in the safe, to be protected from pests like rodents and insects. It’s made of yellow pine, and features twelve pierced-tin panels, which served two purposes: The panels added decoration, but, more importantly, they provided ventilation within the safe.
Pie safes were eventually replaced by iceboxes, the precursors of modern refrigerators, and the museum has a beautiful oak icebox on display; it originally belonged to Annie Oliver Kornegay, a private music teacher in Mount Olive. A large chunk of ice would have been placed in the top compartment of the icebox, resulting in cold air sinking to the bottom compartment, where food was stored. “Depending on the weather, [the ice] would keep a few days,” says Dilda. A drip pan, in place to catch the melt water, had to be emptied regularly. By the 1930s and ‘40s, iceboxes had largely been replaced by refrigerators.
Sitting in the corner of the museum’s kitchen, is an early 1900s baked-enamel, cream-color Bengal Range made by the Floyd Wells Stove Company out of Royersford, Pennsylvania. “The cast iron stove, you see more often, so that’s why we were attracted to this [enamel]; it’s something a little different,” explains Dilda. While the vast majority of the museum’s items were donated, this stove (like the pie safe) was actually purchased. The stove came from a local antiques dealer and nothing is known about its previous owner.
The stove was coal-burning, with chunks of coal being placed into the firebox, to the left of the oven. Today, stovetop and oven temperatures are determined by the turn of a knob, push of a button or tap of a screen, but cooks of yesteryear had a far less precise means of “controlling” temperature; they placed pots on the stove and pans in the oven either close to or far from the firebox, depending on whether they wanted more or less heat.
Of course, it isn’t just large appliances that have changed over the years. Smaller kitchen items have undergone major transformations, as well. Take slicers, for example. There are countless styles on the market today, each claiming to get the job done more effortlessly and efficiently than any of the others. The one on-hand at the museum resembles a long, wooden tray, with an open, box-like compartment at one end; food was placed into the compartment, which was then slid along the length of the tray, across a series of metal blades. The original owner of this slicer was Mary Hatch Davis of Mount Olive. “I remember her very well,” says Dilda. “She was just a matriarch. She was one of those special people in town who, well, people were just so fond of.”
He also shows off a glass rolling pin that he estimates would have been used “in the 1950s, if not before.” It has Mount Olive provenance, having belonged to a member of the well-known Summerlin family, Minnie, and donated to the museum by her granddaughter, Norma Carole Summerlin McDonald. The rolling pin has a metal, screw-on cap, allowing it to be filled with cold water and/or ice chips, which would have helped to prevent it from sticking to dough. The most obvious disadvantage of glass rolling pins would, of course, have been their fragility, but with the manufacture of more durable glass, they are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity.
As any host or hostess knows, it isn’t just cooking that sees an uptick during the holidays, but also cleaning. Propped next to the hearth in the museum’s kitchen is a homemade straw-and-twine broom that belonged to Cora Winn, a member of a local, prominent Black family. The broom would have been used for sweeping the yard, a common practice in some areas of the early-1900s south, according to Dilda. The broom and other items were donated by Winn’s granddaughters, Lavon-De Driver, Leonel Smith and Cliffornia Wimberley.
The museum’s kitchen is filled with numerous pieces that were donated by Mount Olive native John Robert “Bob” Lane, Jr., many of which belonged to his ancestors, including his grandmother, Emma Lane, and his great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Daniel Lane. These include an enamelware pitcher, a cast iron kettle, a cast iron skillet, and a stoneware jug, all from the 1800s. He also donated a mat made from corn shucks, crafted by Rosa McQueen, a Black woman from Calypso. The fact that the mat was made locally and with such impressive workmanship makes it a treasure, notes Dilda. It is displayed on the kitchen table, holding a stoneware bowl that belonged to Emma Lane.
The kitchen appliances, equipment and accessories used by previous generations have been replaced by items that have more bells and whistles, that get the job done faster and easier. But is the turkey any tastier? Are the mashed potatoes any creamier? Is the pecan pie any sweeter? Most people would agree that our ancestors did a darn fine job — with their iceboxes, their coal-burning stoves and their glass rolling pins.
The David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum is located at 137 E. Main St. in Mount Olive. It is open the second Sunday of each month, from 2 to 5 p.m., and other times by appointment.
