Just some random memories of the first woodstove I remember. It was an old Ashley, something similar to this. We had this at the first house I ever lived in, a small almost trailer style home that we moved out of when I was in pre-school. The first time I noticed it was when we were moving and and my Dad, uncle, and Grandpa unhooked it to bring it with us. You can do that! I then sat on the hearth where I used to be and watched my mom and aunt sweep up. I'm sure there was a lot more involved, but I was very young and remember very little. In the new house I paid more attention. The stove had some sort of hood that Dad would open and he would then cook on the metal beneath. Or at least he did once-- I remember him cooking frog legs on the stove once-- man, I still love frog legs! We had a humidifier kettle on top of the stove-- I think we did with this stove-- and would throw snowballs in the kettle and watch them disappear. Shortly before we got rid of this stove Mom and Dad redid the wall behind it with thin slabs of brick, faux brick or whatever you want to call it. I remember distinctly NOT being pleased when we went to get the our next store, partially out of boredom since I was about 8, but also because I knew I was going to miss that brown behemoth. Does anyone else have some really early memories of their family's wood burners?
Had an Ashley too in our first home, when we first got married. I liked the thermostat rig a log! Wish the Liberty I have now had one. It worked really well.
We had an Atlanta Stove Works, looked a lot like that Ashley. I remember my Dad would unhook it in the spring and wheel the whole stove into a closet under the stairs to make more room in the living room for the summer.
Sure, great memories. My dad had a Jotul 602 in the mid 1970's. Oil embargo times. He had smaller logs delivered by the truckload and we hauled them outback to a pile. He would cut them with his Homelite XL and we would help cut and split when we were old enough. The baffle in the old 602 finally burned through and he replaced it with a new EPA 602. Back then I realized the value of having a stove for heating, cooking food on it, and drying clothes around it. I did not realize the troubling depth of gas lines and oil shortages had on everyone at the time, but it did teach us to work hard to get by. I still have the old Jotul side plate and door from the stove. History repeats itself as I teach my kids the value of having a stove and how to split and stack wood.
You know, I had forgot that my first wood stove was an Ashley. Most all my memories are of the alnighter.
We has two stoves over the years that looked like that. I think one was an Ashley and the other a King. As I remember they were hard to regulate. Probably because we burned GREEN persimmon and oak that was cut by the truck load as needed. It took quiet the fire to boil the water out and get going. Flue fires were a regular occurrence (several a year). I'm sure life would have been better with seasoned wood. It's a wonder we didn't burn the house down.
I remember an old plate steel stove called an Alpiner. I was probably 3 or 4 watching Roy Underhills "The Woodwright shop" thinking to myself how good life is. I've been chasing that state of mind ever since. The Alpiner in question is now in my basement, my own woodwright shop now. I have an ashley stove at my camp. My god can those things throw heat.
