Summer Kitchen
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Many farms in Wisconsin had separate small buildings situated just steps from their main home which they called their “summer kitchen”. In the summer months, this enabled the farm wife to keep the heat out of the main farmhouse when she was doing hot chores like baking, canning and preserving, churning butter, and ironing.
Images
Summer Kitchen
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
This 100+ year-old summer kitchen was originally located on the Andrew Knutson farm on Beach Road in Sister Bay. It was donated by members of the Larson family in 2006. The walls of the old building were taken apart and brought by truck where workmen rebuilt it with a new roof, floor and brick chimney. The old cabinet, table, and wooden plank counter are original.
When you step inside, take a look at the old items that your own mother or grandmother may have used — the icebox on the right, the wooden washing machine, the churn, the ice cream maker … and try to guess what that hand-cranked item is on the table. Hint: the instructions are imprinted on the top.
Sources
Summer Kitchen: https://sisterbayhistory.org/museum/summer-kitchen/
https://sisterbayhistory.org/museum/summer-kitchen/