not suitable for wallpaper

In pioneer times, it took almost an hour per day to care for a "modern" up-to-date stove. During a six-day period (I guess you got to rest on Sunday?), one put 292 pounds of coal in the stove, sifted out 27 pounds of ashes, and used 14 pounds of kindling. Twenty minutes were spent sifting ashes, twenty-four minutes were spent laying fires, one hour and forty-eight minutes were spent tending fires, thirty minutes in emptying ashes, fifteen minutes in carrying in coal, and two hours and nine minutes on blacking the stove to keep it from rusting... -Susan Strasser in Never Done: A History of American Housework, 2000

Typically made of plumbago - or graphite - stove blacking was typically sold as a compressed dry cake in a box, or in a tin as a paste polish containing oil, kerosene, or other liquids. It was applied to the iron stove parts with a soft cloth and then brushed to remove residue and bring up the shine.

If you want to make a little bit of stove blacking for yourself, light a cheap candle with a too-long wick. If the air is calm, you'll see the black soot rising from the flame. Tilt a heat-proof glass into the sooty line and watch the lampblack collect on the glass. This is the same stuff that dirtied the inside of lamp chimneys and had to be polished away with a dry cloth.

Once the glass has cooled, you can remove the bit of lampblack and rub it onto the back of a cast iron pan. Rub in with a soft cloth and buff to a shine with a brush. Then imagine spending two hours and nine minutes doing something similar.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:59 AM