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Antique coal and gas stoves are Baldwin man’s longtime hobby

By Jill Thurston 5 min read
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Russell Smith of Kiefer Coal & Supply in Bethel Park shows an ornate 1893 Red Cross coal stove, part of his collection.
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Russell Smith of Kiefer Coal & Supply is shown with the topper for a coal stove dating back to 1845. Smith found the topper, missing from the stove when it was donated, at a flea market.
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An advertisement for Red Cross, “the champion of all parlor stoves,” out of Schenectady, N.Y., is displayed as part of Russell Smith’s collection at Kiefer Coal & Supply Co. in Bethel Park.
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An array of antique coal stoves collected by Russell Smith, of Kiefer Coal & Supply Co. in Bethel Park
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This 1887 Germer coal stove, made in Erie, is considered the “Cadillac” of stoves.

The jewel of Russell’s Smith’s antique coal and gas stove collection is an 1887 Germer coal stove, made in Erie and considered the “Cadillac” of stoves back in the day, with decorative medallions of the manufacturer’s three daughters across the front.

His collection of about 20 antique stoves, along with display cases of associated items, is housed in the upper portion of the Kiefer Coal & Supply Co., 5088 West Library Ave. in Bethel Park. He and his wife, Jane, are third-generation owners of the company that supplies concrete for commercial and residential projects.

Smith, of Baldwin, loves all things antique, but he has a particular appreciation for the turn-of-the-century stoves. Over the years, he has pieced together many antique stoves he’s found at flea markets and auctions or that people have hauled in to sell or donate.

“What I like about these is you can fix them up, assemble them, paint them, re-plate them. You can take a piece of junk and turn it into a brand-new stove again,” said Smith.

And he enjoys guiding patrons through the mini museum of antiques he has curated, pointing out his favorite, his wife’s favorite and telling the back story of how each came to rest in his showroom. Some he keeps for sentimental value, and others he will sell.

The 1887 Germer coal stove, with six separate doors and 50 small glass windows, at one point was stolen from the owner’s home in Illinois and later found in Florida, according to Smith. After purchasing the stove, Smith replaced all of the glass, a specialty glass called “isinglass,” provided by an Amish vendor that Smith contacted via the U.S. mail, as the Amish vendor didn’t have a telephone.

The oldest stove he’s found that can still be assembled was made in Vermont and dates back to 1845. “An older man came in one day and I was showing him the stoves, and he said, ‘I’ve got one of those in my barn.’ A week later he hauled it here and gave it to me,” said Smith. Otherwise in good condition, Smith pointed out to him that there should be a fancy piece sitting on the top to fill with water to put humidity into the room.

“Sure enough, a piece I found two years ago at a flea market belongs on this stove. The person I bought it from thought it was an urn for ashes,” said Smith.

The children’s stoves are favorites as well. Working stoves, only smaller, children could set them up on the front porch and use hot coals from the parents’ stove, cook and bake on them, he said. Those date back to 1902.

His wife has a favorite that her father found and bid on at an auction. It’s a Sears & Roebuck model from 1908 that sold for $5.08.

“It’s such a well-made stove. Even the glass has a screen behind it. I’ve never seen that. Most stoves, it’s just the glass. This way, nothing can fall against it and break the glass.”

Many times the stoves are missing the fancy tops, he said. “The scrap wagon would come down the street collecting scrap for the war effort and people would toss them in. That’s why the tops are so hard to find.

“There was a certain time period in the 1890s and early 1900s when they just went crazy with how much beauty you could put into one of these. Once you got into the 1900s, then all that disappeared and they started making them plain. In the process, they became more efficient. The cast iron was very labor-intensive and expensive. As they progressed, they needed to make them lighter and cheaper,” Smith said.

The ornate 1893 Red Cross stove made in New York is an example of the type of elegant, parlor stove of the era. Smith used chrome for the plating rather than nickel to accentuate the beauty. The Red Cross brand was known as the “champion of all parlor stoves.”

The 1895 “No. 50” stove, named for the 50th anniversary of the Estate Stove Company in Hamilton, Ohio, is among his collection as well.

He has a combination stove from the 1920s that offered both gas and coal, “when it wasn’t certain which way the country would go,” he said, in regard to heating sources.

All of the coal stoves burn wood as well, and actually need a high-heat wood fire to start the coal burning. Smith sells the hard, anthracite coal, which burns without smoke and comes from the eastern part of Pennsylvania. “It’s totally like burning natural gas: The ash is considered agricultural; you can use it in your garden. It’s a clean fuel.”

He also carries the modern Hitzer stoves, built by the Amish, that can heat an entire house.

The Kiefer name has been associated with coal as far back as 1930, when Jane Kiefer’s grandfather, Charles Kiefer Sr., used ACME trucks he assembled, but could no longer sell (due to the 1929 stock market crash) as a fleet to transport coal. The family transitioned to cement after coal phased out in the 1950s. Smith’s sons, Russ and Daniel, are the fourth generation to own the business.

As for the parlor stoves, Smith knows people aren’t “beating down the doors for them,” but they are a unique piece to put in the corner of your house. “A lot of people remember them, maybe from when they were children, or their grandparents had one. There’s a lot of nostalgia associated with them,” Smith said.

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