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Keeping the Home Fires Burning
Century-Old Parlor Stoves Still Serve a Purpose
By Leslie C. McDaniel
Most farm collectibles are carefully restored, displayed at an occasional show or parade, then taken to the barn where they're kept under tarps. But the relics Glen Litke restores perform the same vital function today as they did when they were built 100 years ago: Generating heat.
Glen salvages and completely restores antique parlor stoves. At least four are used to heat his family's home in rural Marion County, Kan., a converted loft in a granary, and the farm shop.
"We heat the entire house with wood," he said.
"It's kind of like the way Grandpa lived," Glen said. "You have to use a match, paper and kindling to start a fire."
Starting the fire is just the first step.
"There's kind of a trick to it, knowing how to keep a fire, bank a fire," he added. "It's a little bit of an art form. You've got to 'keep the home fires burning'."
Keeping a fire may be an art form, but it's one quickly learned.
"When you wake up cold too many nights in a row," Glenn said with a smile, "you know something's wrong."
Parlor stoves, most dating to the turn of the century, were designed in nearly 30 styles. Most collectors concentrate on "Oak" stoves (a style of parlor stove) or base burners. Oak stoves typically feature a cylindrical body, a decorative finial on top, and ornate foot warmers (often resembling logs) protruding from the sides of the stove about a foot off the floor.