The History of the Potbelly Stove

The potbelly stove has had a long history of heating American homes and buildings. It reached its height of popularity in the 1800s, but stoves had been in use much earlier. Benjamin Franklin invented a stove in 1742, and the Franklin stove became popular, too. 

The cast-iron potbelly, named because it resembled a fat man's torso, was used well into the 1900s. It has no known inventor, but there are advertisements for its sale in the early 1800s. However, no patent was filed for it until much later. Some of the ads even said it could double as a cookstove when needed.

The potbelly became common, not only in some homes, but also in stores and public buildings, like train stations and schools.
It's amazing that the one stove managed to keep a large room warm, but it did. Sometimes the cast iron would glow red from the intense heat. In classrooms, it was part of the teacher's job to keep the fire going. My, how times have changed!

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