Scenes from Bread and Burglary - Shanna Swendson

Scenes from Bread and Burglary

At the Museum of Frontier Cultures in Virginia, I was able to see demonstrations of blacksmithing and baking in a wood-fired brick oven, two skills that are central to Bread and Burglary. Here are some scenes of what that looks like. Click on the thumbnails to see bigger pictures and captions.

A white stone forge building with a thatched roof.

A stone hearth is in the middle of a forge guilding, with a pile of glowing coals in the middle and a chimney rising from behind it. To the left is a water trough with tools lying across it, and on the left of the photo is a workbench with tools and items made in the forge on display. A smith wearing 18th century costume digs in the coals with tongs.

A smith pounds a piece of glowing metal laid on an anvil next to the hearth. Coals glow in the hearth.

A half-timbered building, white plaster with dark brown timbers and a brick chimney.

An outdoor brick oven, covered by a wooden shed. The door is open, showing glowing coals. There are ashes piled below the oven, and there's a stack of firewood to the right.

An outdoor brick oven. Cloth-draped benches stand next to it, covered with shaped loaves of bread dough.

A close-up look at the rows of bread loaves laid out on the benches by the oven. The tops of the loaves have been slashed for baking. Some of the loaves are lighter and round. Others are darker and oblong.

A baker in 18th century costume uses a wooden peel with a long handle to put loaves of bread into the brick oven. Women in costume stand nearby.

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