THE BUFFALO MOUND PRESENTS:
" Mama's Old Cook Stove,"
by E.C. Stangland, 1980
This stove is almost identical, or is identical to Mama Bergit's Cook Stove, so it seems to be hers as we read E.C. Stangland's fond memories of it. Permission to Republish Requested.
If I live to be a hundred, I never will forget
The days when Mama used to feed a most unusual "pet".
Her pride and joy for many years, became her treasure trove.
It was the family centerpiece, t'was Mama's old cook stove.
A cob she dipped in kerosene served to light the fire.
Sometimes lumps of coal would make the temperatures go higher.
But generally the fuel she used to light the stove up good
Was splintered on the chopping stump, just plain old kindling wood.
Now, Mama wqas a wizard at baking cakes and pies.
And I loved to watch the biscuit dough as it would slowly rise.
The homemade bread that we enjoyed will ne'er be duplicated
Upon the modern kitchen range that looks so complicated.
The old cook stove did not have dials or thermostats and such,
But Mama knew the formula to make it do so much.
It fried the meat and cooked the soup, for every meal it toiled,
And Mama's great egg coffee would warble as it boiled.
No microwave could do as well as Mama's ancient range.
When modern stoves came on the scene, she didn't want to change.
Why, it even heated water in the crusted reservoir..
“We used it for the dishes, and for scrubbing up the floor.
The friendly oven warmed us up when chilled by snow and rain,
It heated flat-irons and dinner plates when anyone had pain.
Sis came down with pneumonia, and the only cure Mom knew
Was to keep her warm with platters that the stove had heated through.
Quite often Mom made lefse upon the large stove top,
But first she'd shine it up with wax from bread wrappers wadded up.
Flour and potatoes would be mixed as she hummed a Norwegian song,
We'd sniff the air expectantly, we knew it wouldn't be long.
Although my Mama's gone now, and the stove has turned to rust,
I still recall the bygone days, and the kitchen range we'd trust.
To fix our food and cure our ills, it served us many ways.
And the memory of Mom's old cook stove recalls those bygone days.
Mama's old black cooking stove with shiny metal trim,
we kept it full with cobs and wood, and coal up to the brim.
I long for carefree days gone by as I let my memories rove,
And I recall those good things made on Mama's old cook stove.
"All this is viewed with Faithful mothers in view.
Who knew Jesus solely, now known to few.
Let’s treasure our memories and what we hold so dear.
What does the world have to compare? Do its things come even near?"--Continuation by Ronald Ginther, Grandson of Mama Bergit Stadem
*The pies, the wonderful meals, the lefse and other special Norwegian treats--all are golden memories, but the most shining of them all, which is like a star in their midst, is Mama Bergit's steadfast, abiding faith in Christ her Savior! Hers was a personal relationship, lived daily and lifelong, with Jesus Christ--a walking, talking, loving relationship! You can have it too! The following is taken from the Tribute to Estelle Rangen, by Nephew Ronald Ginther:
"Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ--that is, walking and talking with Him via prayer and studying and believing His Word, written and preached--saves us. Only being born-again by the Spirit and forgiven, then choosing to live a life of trusting in Him, surrendered to Him, guided by His Spirit--saves a person.
No amount of church and church attendance or participation can save anybody. Christ did not come to save in those ways, since people already could do that, without God! They had been doing it for thousands of years--all the while hoping to chalk up enough good deeds and offerings in the temples to satisfy God so that He would overlook their sins and admit them to heaven. How ignorant they were! They remained in their sin, and died in their sin. They missed heaven.
Earning entrance to heaven was just impossible. It is still impossible, though millions believe today they can earn their way to heaven by their goodness and good deeds. God is just too holy to accept the sinful works of men. One stolen paper clip--one lie--one look at a woman followed by a lustful thought--we break all the Commandments if we break just one. The Lord said so. "Works righteousness," then, was not going to work with God, so God sent His Son to pay the full penalty of sin, and also live in us the perfect Life, since we could never do it ourselves.
Beyond most other people, Aunt Estelle knew her Bible and the scriptures supporting her faith in the saving grace of Christ; but she also knew that her works would never, never, never get her to heaven, however good she was or however holy she might become with earnest effort and obedience to the commands of God. If you wish to know how she could believe that and be so joyful a Christian without the crutches many people hold to, of belief in one’s own goodness, of sacraments, tradition, church attendance, church affiliation, and ecclesiastical decrees and creeds, look into Colossians 1:13-23 and Colossians 2:6-10. These verses make it perfectly clear who Christ is and also warn us not to depart from the Christ who is the fullness of God, in Whom only we have completeness now and in eternity to come.
Are you, dear one, still trusting in something other than Christ? Only you and God know. Now, while you still can, take the opportunity to go to Christ, confess, and receive His forgiveness, and then accept a wonderful, truly personal relationship with Him, with the reward of eternal life in heaven with God which He gives free to all who surrender to Him their hearts and lives.
The Wondrous Cookstove of the Dralle Farm Family, Rural SD on the James River, Its Multiple Uses Fondly Remembered by Marion Dralle Kirschenmann, a Friend of Pearl Stadem Ginther for Many Years:
"This cookstove was the center of a lot of goings on in my home. It along with a wood and coal stove in the dining-living room heated our home. On it we cooked all our meals and meals for corn pickers and threshing crews. It had a a reservoir that heated water for daily use. It held a wash boiler that heated water for washing clothes every Monday and on this day there were usually a pot of beans cooking. All our baking was done in the big oven of this stove. As our family grew to 14 children we baked bread every other day--14 loaves of bread and 2 large pans of biscuits. Pies and cookies, cakes and cupcakes were a regular treat to make lunches to carry to school. Usually at Christmas time a batch of lefse was made on the top of this stove. From the time we were big enough to stand on a chair and reach the dishpan we washed dishes at this stove. This was our least favorite task and sometimes it took us much longer than necessary to get the job done. Saturday night was bathtime. Water was carried in and heated on the cookstove and poured into a round tin tub that sat in the middle of the kitchen and beginning at the youngest, one by one were put through the bath."--Marion Dralle Kirschenmann, 1989
For further fond cookstove memories, Estelle Stadem Rangen (Pearl's sister) gives her reminiscences of Mama Bergit Stadem's cookstove in her accounts, recorded on the Plain View Farm websites as God's Little Acres. Please go to the other sites for Estelle's God's Little Acres Series.
The Plain View Farm Home Page
The Buffalo Mound Home Page
"Mama's Old Cook Stove": (c) 1980, E.C. Stangland, Norse Press, Box 1554, Sioux Falls, SD 57101, All Rights Reserved
Format, and Ronald Ginther's Continuation to E.C. Stangland Poem, and concluding remarks: (c) 2009, Butterfly Productions, All Rights Reserved
