Stay Warm (and Healthy)!
In 1850, few houses had furnaces. At the time, some factories had central heating, but it would have been a luxury in a private home.
Dr. John H. Griscom (1809-1874) recommends good ventilation and a furnace in his book The Uses and Abuses of Air: Showing Its Influence in Sustaining Life, and Producing Disease; with Remarks on the Ventilation of Houses (New York, 1850). The first image shows an “air-tight” house with fireplaces in every room. The second image shows a house with ventilation and a furnace (this one patented in 1848) that can heat the whole house. The hand-coloring indicates which house is better ventilated (and warmer!).
According to Griscom, an 1832 graduate of the medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, “A pure atmosphere [is] the first requisite for healthy bodies and sound minds.” His book The Uses and Abuses of Air appeared in three editions between 1848 and 1854, and his ideas show the influence of Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852)—whom he quotes— regarding the connection between domestic architecture and health, happiness, and civic virtue.
- Connie King, Chief of Reference and Curator of Women’s History