Is This a Kettle?

Paul Havemann

New member
Hi, new member here. My historical society unearthed this rusty mess from a trash dump circa 1890s to early 1900s. I only gave it a quick cleaning with a nylon brush. I would guess it was a kettle -- you can see the ears on the sides where the handle was attached.

There is a small piece missing near the bottom, but that was the result of a clumsy attempt to wrench it out of the hard-packed dirt. What's interesting to me is that the bottom -- which is quite thin -- came out of it (in two pieces).

To my knowledge a kettle would have a thick bottom piece, but this is thin enough to bend (if I dared). I wonder why it ended up in a trash dump?
 

Attachments

  • Old kettle maybe 1.jpg
    Old kettle maybe 1.jpg
    96.7 KB · Views: 29
  • Old kettle maybe 2.jpg
    Old kettle maybe 2.jpg
    97.4 KB · Views: 27
Pre-mid-20th century, and early to mid-1800s in particular, cast iron hollowware was quite thin relative to that which came after, the result of automated molding line requirements. Long term rusting also likely accounts for some further thinning of the metal on this one.
 
I think that was probably the outside portion of 'glue pot'... normally they would have a smaller iron piece that fit inside the outer part, water would be added to the bigger piece, the smaller piece inserted and it would act like a double boiler to soften glue and keep it at a consistent temp without burning it.

here's a little marked marietta glue pot with both pieces. https://imgur.com/ZPfXHq4
https://imgur.com/1p1WmF4
 
Thanks for the info provided. I should clarify that the detached bottom of this kettle, or pot, sits neatly inside on a rim. It's obviously not watertight.

I had not before heard of a glue pot! If this was a glue pot, is that how it would have been designed, with a removeable bottom? Or perhaps it just indicates that the bottom became detached and the whole thing was then discarded?

Also, any thoughts on dating this relic? We've unearthed bottles and such which we can date fairly well to the late 1890s to mid-1910s in the area we are digging.
 
no, the detachable bottom wasn't how it was designed. the outside pot should be watertight. often you see these with the inside pot being enameled. I have no idea on time frame.
 
Back
Top