To clean hanging paper (wallpaper) with a loaf of bread

If your loaf of bread becomes stale, you can clean “wall-paper that has become darkened by smoke." Following are a sampling of instructions from 1831, 1885 and 1903.
A few food history virtual food talks at the end.

Dumb-waiters - table

There are several items which have been termed dumb waiters over the years - a table, revolving door with shelf/shelves or a small shelf to be moved between floors. Thomas Jefferson used all three types in his homes and while in the White House.

Upcoming zoom talks at the end.

Derricke's 1581 Ireland - dining and cooking

John Derricke wrote in his The Image of Irelande about English victories over the Irish... and describing an image of cooking and a feast. Not having a pot, the beef was cooked in it's skin.

Ladyfingers

By 1850, some sponge biscuits (cookies) were named Ladyfingers. “Fingers, or Naples Biscuits” combined the two names in a recipe by Francatelli in 1846. Their shape was described by Philadelphian Eliza Leslie in 1857 as “double ovals joined in the centre.” Later, Harland (see below) said they were long narrow cakes that were nice when dipped in chocolate icing or caramel. Leslie, and others, sprinkled sugar on the top before baking.

38 foot chocolate monument

During the World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago, the Stollwerck chocolate company of Germany created the Statue of Germania out of a 2,200 pound block of chocolate and the entire structure was made of 30,000 pounds of chocolate.
The small card is 2" wide by 3 3/4"

Stone sinks

There are many styles of stone sinks. This 1740s one by the window is in the Ephrata Cloisters kitchen, Pennsylvania. The second set of images is a stone sink in The Woodlands, c1780s in Philadelphia. Several 1800s descriptions are below. My favorite stone sink in a window will be in a future post.
Food history talks are listed at the end.

Peter Cooper's gelatine

Although Peter Cooper (1791-1883) of New York City may be more well known for designing 'Tom Thumb', the first American steam locomotive that lost a race with a horse in 1830 on the early B&O Railroad line from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City, MD). But there is more... Cooper Union, glue, iron and ... gelatin.