In the fireplace was hung a swinging crane of iron. Suspended from it
were hooks on which pots and kettles were hung. The hooks could be moved
along the crane and were of different lengths and sometimes adjustable.
The crane could thus hold several kettles at once, some in the very heat
of the fire and some farther away. The fireplace was the center of the
home, the one source of heat, the one place for cooking and often the
one source of light at night. Many pioneers and their families had to do
all their reading on long winter evenings by the light of the open fire.
When a house was built and the chimney and fireplace finished, the
"hanging of the crane," the final step in preparation for housekeeping,
was sometimes part of a ceremony, with Bible reading, hymns and prayers,
followed by feasting and rejoicing.