Bucks Gem #2

I have a gigantic Charter Oak wood cookstove in my kitchen, but I have been on the lookout for something a bit smaller that I could travel with to do demonstration cooking on. The rest of the year, it could be used in my workshop here on the farm.

 

 At a recent auction I found just the thing: an ornate Bucks Gem wood stove / box style with a flat cooktop!

 

 

 

It was made by Bucks Stove and Range Co of St Louis , MO at the turn of the century

 

 

 

This old letterhead shows the St Louis foundry in 1911

 

 

Interestingly, the storefront for the  Stove & Range Co is in Gaslight Square and  has been restored along with many of the other turn of the century buildings there. Bucks Stove & Range Co made numerous models of ornate parlor and cook stoves popular in their day and were known for their ornate casting and nickel trim.

 

My Bucks Gem #2  features the ornate casting popular in the Victorian era.   It was entirely intact, including the lifters for the cookplates; but it certainly needed some re-conditioning.  I had to go to several stores before I found stoveblack or stove polish.  Most places only sell stove paint now.... but my thought is to "feed" an old cast iron stove like you would season a cast iron pot... not just paint it. StoveBlack is basically lampblack (a very fine carbon or soot) mixed with oils and waxes.  This protects it from rust, but must be renewed each year.  I rubbed the stoveblack into every nook and cranny with an old toothbrush and that old stove just came alive!   

 

One more coat and it will be ready to install.  I will post again when it is in place and operational.