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Period room kitchen of Pietro and Maria Botto. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T37M093J
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Period room kitchen of Pietro and Maria Botto. 2006. American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark. RUcore: https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T37M093J

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TitlePeriod room kitchen of Pietro and Maria Botto
NameBeard, Isaiah (photographer), Botto, Pietro (former owner), Botto, Maria (former owner), American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark
Date Created2006
SubjectHousing, Historic buildings, Italian Americans
DescriptionThe kitchen was a major center of activity in the household. The large coal and gas range dominates the room. It was used as a heating source as well as for cooking foods. A worktable provided space for food preparation; a cupboard stored pots, pans and dishes; an icebox kept perishable food items cold; and a sink for dishes and laundry utilized indoor plumbing, a recent innovation for working-class households.

Even with the convenience of indoor plumbing and the gas range, the kitchen was the scene to virtual non-stop labor for Maria Botto and her daughters. In addition to meals prepared for the family, the Bottos fed a noon meal to boarders. On Sundays, the Botto women prepared food for as many as 100 people who came to recreate on the property. This, of course, provided an additional income for the family.

The Botto family's food ways reflected their home region of Biella, Piedmonte, Italy. Piedmontese cooks scorned tomato sauce, preferring wine and chicken brother to accompany such staple foods as polenta (corn meal), risotto (rice), and tortellini, a pasta. Generally, rosemary and sage were used as herbs and grown outside in the garden.

Some of the artifacts placed around the kitchen are the copper pot used to cook polenta, meat grinder, fish scaler, coffee grinder, rug beater, mousetrap, and wall calendars, which were used by working people as decorations.

The Botto women were generally charged with kitchen duties. Maria Botto hired a German woman to do the laundry. One special job was reserved for Pietro-stirring the polenta and cutting it with a string.
Time PeriodThe Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T37M093J
CollectionAmerican Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark Collection
Organization NameAmerican Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark
RightsThis object has been provided to the NJDH after a copyright, permissions, and usage rights evaluation. The object may be copyright protected. You may make use of the NJDH-held copyright information under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 license (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/). If undeclared, you may need to contact the rights holder for permission for further use. If you can provide further information on the rights or history of this work, please click on this link. For guidance on attribution or citing this object, please check at http://www.njdigitalhighway.org/contact.php.