How old houses did without a refrigerator

We are accustomed to the fact that every kitchen has a refrigerator and cannot imagine how to do without it. And this device was invented only 100 years ago. How was food stored in city apartments before, where there is no way to make a cellar?

Lumber room

Most of the pre-revolutionary apartments were designed in such a way that all premises were divided into zones:

· Residential - where the owners live;

· Economic - where the servant lives.

Such a room as a kitchen was not provided separately in the old houses. For cooking, a small room with a window was set aside, where there was a stove. Ready meals were served in the dining room.

Each kitchen had a closet or pantry. This is a small room without windows where food supplies were kept. It was always cool in it - thick brick walls did not allow the room to warm up, and the absence of windows contributed to the fact that it was always dark in the closet. By the way, you can still see such storage rooms in old houses - a refrigerator is ideally built into it!

Before they began to settle such apartments and convert them into communal apartments, they had two exits. The main one - to the central ornate staircase, with wide steps and carpets, and the black one - to the narrow staircase to the back yard. The closet was always built so that the wall was adjacent to the back door. It was never heated and the room was cold from the wall.

Niche under the windowsill

Another trick of the architects is a special niche under the windowsill. This method was maintained until the 50s of the last century during the construction of "Stalin". It consists in making the wall under the kitchen window sill with a niche. In winter, they put food there that quickly deteriorates and chilled them.

Double window frames

If you have ever been to an old house and saw old windows, you will notice that they have a double frame. The distance between the glasses is about 10-15 centimeters. The first flap opened, food was placed there and stored all winter. By the way, in many villages you can still see such windows - they keep warm well in winter!

What methods do you know? Share in the comments!

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