A kitchen frozen in time
Not sure if this is the place for this, but I woke up this morning thinking about this kitchen I saw years ago.
Wheeling, West Virginia was a wealthy boom town until the depression hit in 1930 and it never did recover. Because no one ever had money again, a great many buildings were largely unaltered and un-remodeled until the present day. Years ago, I attended some kind of awards banquet in a Masonic building--I couldn't even tell you anymore what the award or the organization was. The event was unremarkable until I had to go into the kitchen to consult with the caterers for some reason.
The caterers had brought in the food and were using the kitchen only as a staging area. And, oh, what a kitchen it was. Except for heating ducts added near the ceiling this kitchen was a large commercial kitchen that was still exactly as it was in the 1920s when it was built. Even now, years later, I remember a wall of built-in oak ice boxes, what seemed like miles of zinc counters with warming ovens and shelves underneath. There were these large metal vats with spigots set over burners to provide hot water to the massive stone sinks.
I wish I could remember this kitchen more clearly. I hope it's still there.
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