When browsing through hundred-year-old cookbooks, I sometimes see fireless cooker recipes. Until I saw this 1916 advertisement for a Rapid Fireless Cooker I couldn’t quite figure out how they worked.
Fireless cookers were the crockpots of their day, and were quite popular in the early 1900’s. Food was first heated on the stove and then placed into a heavily insulated container to continue cooking.
A Hundred Years Ago 
That looks a great idea, if a little cumbersome and huge in our not-at-all huge kitchen.
This piece of equipment must have been aimed at cooks who had lots of storage space.
I was interested to see “Wear-ever” aluminum mentioned. I have two aluminum pans that belonged to my mother. One’s marked “MonarchWear” and one is “Club” aluminum. I didn’t realize there were so many brands back then — and I’ve never seen such a thing as this cooker. It’s very interesting, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much fuel savings would be involved, since you have to heat up the gizmo.
My general sense is that aluminum pans were much more popular in the early 20th century than what they are now. I also wondered whether the fireless cooker saved much energy since most people had wood or coal stoves that were lit most of the time. Maybe people could let the fire go really low and were able to save energy when they used the fireless cooker. Now that I think about it, on hot summer days the fireless cooker might be a wonderful way to keep the kitchen a little cooler.
I had never heard of such a thing before either. How interesting.
I’m glad you liked this post. I also found the information about the fireless cooker fascinating.
Interesting, of course, as are all your posts. This is such a delightful project.
Thank you for the kind words. I’ve appreciated your support across the years.
I’m so glad you had the photo to go with the article. I never heard of a fireless cooker before. Wouldn’t the people who used it be amazed at our fireless cookers? — crockpots and microwave ovens.
Our modern fireless cookers look much more practical than this old-time version. 🙂
It looks quite big. Guess it could only fit in a large kitchen…
I won’t want to have to store this thing.
What was the point if you needed the stove to begin with? Interesting ad in many respects!
Maybe you could wonder off while something was cooking without worrying that it would burn.
Like my rice cooker :).
Very interesting. Somehow I missed this item.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed this post.
I would love to know after 30 days of use if the user loved it or returned it. I must say the writer had a lovely sales pitch.
The money back guarantee has been around for a long time. 🙂
So interesting!
I’m glad you liked it. I also found it fascinating.
Reading your posts is like visiting a cookery museum. Thank you Sheryl for all these amazing posts.
It’s wonderful to hear that you like this blog. I have a lot of fun doing it, and it’s always nice to hear when readers enjoy it.
Love reading your blog!
Interesting! Until your comment at the end, I was wondering what a fireless cooker was.
It’s surprising (though maybe it shouldn’t be) how long various types of kitchen gadgets and equipment have been around.