Great Western Banquet Stove

The first cooking stoves appeared in China during the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206/207 BC), these were little more than a simple clay structure with holes to add fuel (usually wood or charcoal) to the fire and vent to smoke. By the 1790s, the first modern kitchen range (a stovetop and attached oven) was invented by Sir Benjamin Thompson of Woburn, Massachusetts (he was a loyalist during the American Revolutionary War). His Rumford fireplace was a tall, shallow fireplace that became and created a sensation in London. Following on from this success, Thompson designed a kitchen range made of brick, with a cylindrical oven and holes in the top for the insertion of pots. When not needed, the opening could be covered over leaving the fire to smolder gently. However, these fireplaces were big and unwieldy to make much of an impact on domestic cooking.

By the 19th century, cast iron stoves replaced those made of masonry and their size shrank to allow them to be incorporated into the domestic kitchen. By the 1850s, the modern kitchen, equipped with a cooking range, was a fixture of middle-class homes. These stoves had flat tops and the heat was concentrated on one side of the stove top so that cooks could cook things at different temperatures based on where the pot or pan was located. This was called the "piano" system. These stoves were heated by charcoal, wood, or coal.

This Great Western Banquet Stove on display was manufactured by Great Western Stove Company of Leavenworth, Kansas under the "Banquet" brand. The company operated from the 1870s to the 1940s and manufactured coal, wood, and gas stoves. The large door in the center was the opening for the main chamber for the fire with small chambers on the left, with a piping on the very back to safely release the smoke. There are two round plates for heating and this particular stove even has a waffle maker. There is storage on top and some small shelves on the back panel, and on the right side of the stove could be a hot water reservoir.