Glossary A - G

Armoire

A large cupboard used for storing clothing.

Bedstead

Headboard, footboard, and rails with rope forming the base for the bed. (not the mattress!)

Bed Warmer

A covered metal pan (usually filled with hot coals) with a long handle, which was slipped between the sheets and gently moved back and forth to warm the bed on cold evenings.

Bed Wrench

A tool used to tighten ropes on the bedstead by slipping it onto the end loop of rope and giving it  a good turn. This was done all the way around the bed until all the ropes were tight again.

Beehive Oven

A cylindrical brick oven used for baking, roasting all food for the boarding house.

Boarding House

A private home that takes in paying guests and provides meals and lodging.

Cellaret

A portable cabinet for wines or champagne.

Chamber Pot

A pot, usually ceramic,  kept under the bed and used as a toilet.

Clothes Press

A cabinet used for storing clothing.

Consumption

A disease that causes a person to waste away (ex; tuberculosis)

Coontie Palm

A native plant whose roots were used to make flour by Native Americans.

Coquina

A sedimentary rock found along the eastern coast of America and was used as a building material

Dry Sink

A sink having no running water connection. The water is poured into the sink and when the dishes are washed, the water is drained directly into the pail underneath.

Feather Bed

A mattress stuffed with feathers: chicken, goose, etc. This would have been aired out over the railing on the porch on pleasant days.

Fly Catcher

A glass dome having an opening on the underside and filled with sugar water to trap insects.

Foot Warmer

A small metal box filled with hot coals and used as a portable heater.

Gallery

The porch.

Continue with Glossary H - Z