Today, while doing research on Roxbury history, I came across this black and white photo on the Library of Congress' website. There wasn't much more information other than that the photo was taken in Roxbury, MA; but damn if that doesn't look like my fireplace! I know it's not, but what I like about the old photo is that it gives me a good idea on how my home used to be heated. When I was renovating the living room, I guessed that a pot-bellied stove was the primary heat source (the round patch of plaster found in the recent photo was the giveaway). This stove has a flat front, which isn't to say that my place didn't have a pot-bellied stove, but chances are the heating systems in all these places were all the same since most buildings in Roxbury were all built around the same period of time. Now I see how the stove exhaust pipe was likely connected to the chimney, even though at the time of the reno I didn't think it made sense because the patch seemed too low in the wall. With all those bends in the pipe, I wonder how many people suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Anyway, I like having a mirror more than that medallion thing on their wall, but I guess that was kinda interesting. I guess. On the other hand, I pity the poor woman who had to use that stove to heat her iron and whatever that is in that flask (I'm guessing it's water or milk). I see we both like to keep lots of crap on the mantle, too. Guess some things never change.
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