Ingredient 4: Wealth and Status

The early colonial kitchen greatly represented the importance of materialistic items in the household. While a wooden trencher, or bowl for holding fruits, vegetables or meats, was crucial for every kitchen table, silver spoons, now seen through almost all American kitchens, were used only by those of moderate means.

Most impressive at this time were items made of glass. Glass was scarcely seen and therefore only meant for the wealthy to own. The items owned in the kitchen were a symbol of class and ones place in society. This resulted in the idea of the kitchen as more than just a place to cook dinner, but a determining factor to who you were, and where your family stood economically. 

From the view of a servant, Spofford devotes a chapter of her book to “The Poetry of the Kitchen,” where she calls the kitchen a “simple place of meeting.” In addition, Spofford uses her poetry to comment on the idea of happiness. If the scullion, or servant in the kitchen is happy, then so is the family.