Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Charter Oak Cooking Stove, c. 1895-1944 |
Object Name |
Stove, Wood Heating |
Description |
Charter Oak Cooking Stove, c. 1895-1944. Royal Charter Oak cast iron cooking stove. Stove is black with chrome side doors and trim. Top has two pull-down doors with brown colored painted metal knobs and white fronts. Lower oven door has a white front, large wooden handle and Royal Chartered Oak label. Black iron top has four round covers and four burners covered by open grillwork. Stove has a white porcelain backsplash and four white porcelain handles for adjusting the flame. |
Date |
1895-1944 |
Creator |
Excelsior Manufacturing Company |
Role |
Manufacturer |
Catalog Number |
2008.064 |
Dimensions |
H-63.5 W-41.25 D-34 inches |
Collection |
3D - Tempurature Control Equipment |
Inscription Text |
"ROYAL / REGISTERED / CHARTERED OAK" (printed on front) |
Provenance |
At the end of WWI, Frank Dematteis purchased a section of U.S. Army barracks at Camp Fremont in Menlo Park and had it moved by horse trailer to 530 Cedar Street in Redwood City. The Structure was a frame building and in his spare time, Frank almost single-handedly did all of the work to construct the interior into a three-bedroom home with kitchen, bath, living room and dining room. The Charter Oak kitchen stove remained in the house at 530 Cedar St. until Frank moved out to live with his son Louis in the early 1960s. The house on Cedar was at that time rented out and a new stove was installed. The old stove was stored away, at first in the basement at 530 Cedar, and then in the garage of the home of his grandson Louis Frank Dematteis in San Francisco. Frank Dematteis passed away on March 1, 1965 at the age of 85. Louis Frank Dematteis donated the stove to SMCHA in the name of the Dematteis Family in 2002. |
Notes |
First Model Invented 1851 By Giles F. Filley, Became Increasingly Popular Until 1895 When Filley Retired and Company Became Charter Oak Range and Iron Company. Firm Survived Until 1950s Excelsior Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, manufactured G.F. Filley pieces. They were originally known by the Excelsior Stove Works and were the makers of the famous Charter Oak Cooking Stoves. Their hollow ware was marked G. F. Filley after the president and founder Giles F. Filley. In 1849 Giles Filley established a company to manufacture stoves and stove accessories and products. It appears that cast iron cookware was most likely made soon after the company was established in 1849. Giles Filley also invented and introduced the Charter Oak Cooking Stove while in St. Louis, Missouri. The Excelsior Stove Works was incorporated in 1865 as The Excelsior Manufacturing Company. In 1895 it was reorganized under the name of the Charter Oak Stove & Range Company. Charter Oak stoves were manufactured until 1949. The Excelsior Manufacturing Company produced an extensive line of cookware. This included ports, kettles, spiders and griddles. St. Louis Hollowware was also made by Excelsior; it was apparently larter and unfinished. A large amount of Excelsior skillets were marked only "G.F.F." Excelsior also produced toy-size teakettles marked G.F. Filley. There are also toy size skillets, pots and griddles that are of similar design, and some believe to be Filley, but these are not marked. They do fit into the openings of the Excelsior/Filley toy stoves. [http://www.gcica.org/mfg_history/excelsior_manufacturing_co.htm 4/2/2003] |
Search Terms |
Cooking Cooking Equipment Stoves |
Subjects |
Kitchens Stoves |
People |
Dematteis, Francesco (Frank) Dematteis, Louis F. (Lou) Dematteis, Maria Ermida Gamba |
Credit line |
Courtesy of the Dematteis' Family |