Angie and I went to Black Creek Pioneer Village to celebrate her birthday this year. It's always a jolt to realize how far we've come - we have central heating, electricity, lights, and so many more conveniences than they had back in the 1840s. It is likewise a jolt to think that a stove like this one would be used, not only for cooking, but for heating a room during depths of winter. Fortunately, after the visit we were able to return to our nice, warm home, and turn on the lights, and enjoy all the conveniences of the 21st century.
One night, at Lorne's sister's place over the Christmas holidays, we stayed in a 12 foot by 12 foot "room". It is his nephew's "camp" which is a few hundred metres back into the woods from their house. There was plenty of firewood but we had only a stove similar to this to use for warmth and light.
It has 2 removable round plates, which are part of a larger rectangular plate that can be lifted to insert more wood. There is also an oven and the remaining flat part of the stove top was used for cooking. It's amazing the heat that is generated enabling one to cook in this constantly heated stove. There was a bottle of frozen water there when we arrived that we set above the stove and it melted sufficiently for us to drink from it. The water on top of the stove heated wonderfully for a nice hot drink.
There was a loft built above (so smaller than 12' by 12') that was *so* hot when we first went up to sleep that we couldn't keep the covers on. But of course Lorne woke up twice to restart the fire which burnt down to coals throughout the night. Otherwise, it was fine...
It was a neat experience. I loved it. It took so much more effort just to "maintain" one's life that there's no time for all the extras. :)