1906 A Bachelor's Cupboard

A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD Stocking the Cupboard One bachelor who earned a scanty $15 a week made for himself a really attractive cupboard from a tall shoe box, perhaps four feet in height and half as wide and deep. It was stained, a row of brass headed nails driven around the edge, some shelves nicely fitted in, a few hooks added and a denim curtain, and in it was his whole outfit nicely concealed from inquisitive eyes. And he had some feasts too, if they were cooked in a ten-penny frying pan on his little gas stove. That he made his coffee in a woman's afternoon tea kettle with an alcohol lamp was his affair; and it was nectar. His tastes were simple, at the same time he had a va- In the morning, a cup or two of delicious coffee with condensed cream, one or two English muffins nicely toasted and buttered, a couple of eggs, fried, boiled, or scrambled, as he elected, or perhaps poached on a bit of toast, and a bit of fruit, made a splendid breakfast for a chap leading a sedentary life. The down-town luncheon and dinner were more elaborate, and if he wished a bite in the evening when a friend dropped in, or he came in late from his weekly night at the theatre, there were all sorts of appetizing things to be concocted in the tiny frying pan, in which a basin was set and surrounded with w^ater in lieu of a chafing Finally he bought a double boiler, thus escap- ing scalded fingers from too close contact with steam. What did he eat? The usual thing culled from a cookery book dedicated to the chafing dish — and some 27 buy a few feet of tubing and a tiny gas stove. riety. dish.