Dark Satanic Saucepans -- A review by Susan Price
The Domestic Revolution by Ruth Goodman Courtesy Paul Harrison, Wikimedia Here's a quiz for you. All the questions have the same answer. These days most of us sleep on a bed that's raised up on legs, instead of a mattress on the floor. Why? And why do we sit on chairs with long legs rather than on the floor or on a low bench or stool? The first houses, no matter where they were built, had much the same plan: a large room where everyone worked, chatted, cooked, ate and slept around a central fire. This form of dwelling lasted for thousands of years. Then, fairly recently, houses were divided up into many small rooms. Why did this change happen? And why are many people now returning to 'open-plan living' with large, undivided spaces combining kitchen and living-room? Consider your cooking pots. Why are they made of iron instead of copper or brass and why do they have flat bottoms? Why don't they stand up on their own little legs any more, or hang from a hook, and