Antique Kitchenalia Treen Bath Thermometer Wooden Floating C 1900

We do love Victorian kitchen and Victorian laundry items as they look fabulous displayed in your laundry room. . This handsome encased wooden thermometer will look fabulous suspended from a vintage or farmhouse laundry room wall, a nice conversation piece.

It dates to the late Victorian period. Its purpose was a floating thermometer that could be used in hospitals and in domestic and commercial kitchens for checking the water temperature in both baths and laundry vats. After all you would not wish to scald your patient taking a bath, or scald your hands when plunging your laundry into the heated water!! Because it is made from a tight grained beechwood, the wood is light and would easily float.

The glass thermometer housed in the centre has a rolled paper chart inside with temperatures ranging from 0 to 230 on one side, the other side has Dr John Forbes specifications for each temperature range. We see 0 to 30 = Freezing, 40 to 60 + Cold Bath, 65-70 = Cool, Tepid= 80-90, Warm 90 to 100, Hot 100 to 170, Spirit Boil at 175, and finally Water Boil at 210.

Size: 13 3/4 inch (35 cm) in total to tip of handle, actual glass thermometer approx 8 inch (20 cm)

Condition: Well used, a few small drying cracks to the beech wood. Nothing detrimental for display.

A nice piece of Victorian treen, a good piece of social history as this would have been a vital piece of equipment in the Victorian kitchen, hospital and laundry.

Item id:16191