Kovels antiques: Rare and valuable veilleuse - Observer-Reporter

That is a descriptive word a seasoned auction-goer would understand, but the antiques meaning is not in most dictionaries. ” But the current meaning for antiques buyers is an object that is used to warm drinks near a bedside as well as serve as a nightlight. A small teapot was added to the veilleuse in the early 1800s. The teapot was heated by an oil lamp. The patents were granted to Charles E. Swartzbaugh, who invented the fireless cooker. He founded the Peerless Cooker Co. in Buffalo, New York, in 1884. The company was renamed The Toledo Cooker Co. about 1900, after it moved to Toledo. By 1916, the company was making two lines of fireless cookers, “Ideal” and “Domestic Science. ” The cookers worked something like today’s slow cookers, but were heated by hot stones, not a flame. Cooking could be started early in the day and kept warm to continue cooking for several hours, which saved fuel and kept the kitchen cool. A recipe booklet issued by the company in 1917 claimed The Toledo Cooker Co. was the largest producer of fireless cookstoves in the world. Value of your cooker, about $100. Q. I was given a set of dinnerware that belonged to my great-grandmother. Source: www.observer-reporter.com