Refrigerator at PK

An old dark photograph taken years ago within the Pine Knoll kitchen came to my attention this year. In it, I can see, dimly, part of a refrigerator that resembles an ice box. Something about it caught my attention, and then, on closer examination, surprised me. 

I have no specific memories of that refrigerator at Pine Knoll, nor of other details inside that kitchen, but do remember the location of the kitchen. It was in the basement, not far from the stairs, and adjacent to the dining room where the Nichols family gathered for festive meals celebrating holidays, birthdays, or other anniversaries. I have many childhood memories of that large basement dining room with its greenhouse windows along the south wall, fireplace on the north side, and tall china cabinets at the west end.

But I hardly, if ever, ventured into that kitchen space. No doubt children were discouraged from going there when big meals were being prepared and served. So, I have no knowledge of a refrigerator there, and probably wasn't even alive when that photo was taken.

Yet... that refrigerator is STRIKINGLY familiar to me.  

Guests at my current house often comment about the old "ice box" in our kitchen. We point out that it isn't really an ice box, because it has an on/off switch near the top center, and the brand name Kelvinator. But it seems designed to look like the former ice boxes.  Here are photos of OUR old refrigerator:

We think that this Kelvinator was added to our house in the 1920's.  We know that the kitchen had been remodeled in the 1920's after a serious fire. The house had been built in 1894. We first visited it in 1994 and marveled at the way the family there made creative use of the old defunct Kelvinator built into the kitchen wall: its shelves were stocked with crayons, paper, and other art supplies for their young girls to use. We bought the house in 1995, and have used the Kelvinator to store Tupperware and other containers. We've also sometimes used it as an ice box for parties, putting in blocks of ice to keep sodas, beers and other beverages cold. We learned – from the melted ice water leaking onto our kitchen floor – that this "ice box" lacked a drain. Oops! Since then, we've been careful to put the ice in buckets that can be removed and emptied.  

NEVER, in my years of using that Kelvinator in our home, did I guess that a very similar Kelvinator had once been used at Pine Knoll, the Nichols family homestead in Danvers. What a surprise to compare these photos and conclude that we indeed have the exact same model!

Cousin Stuart Brewster, who grew up at Pine Knoll, has reviewed these photos and concurs.