Stove-makers

"Brick-making is carried out all over Siberia," the Siberian Leaf newspaper wrote at the end of the XIX century. — Having found a suitable clay, a brick shed is immediately built from poles, covering it with bark, the clay is dug, sand is added and this mass is kneaded in a pit with their feet, then it is molded in wooden molds and the formed brick is laid in rows on stands in the barn, where it is dried for several days in a through wind; then the brick is fired or in a specially arranged stove, or simply in pits, where bricks are stacked in the form of a furnace, in which firewood is burned, the pit is filled with earth, leaving an opening for air. In this trade, pickles and shovels, a wheelbarrow for transporting clay and bricks, and at least two wooden molds are needed — each for 4 rubles; a shed costs 50 -100 rubles and a stove from 20−40, but all this is usually arranged by the owner himself. They work in the summer, from May to August, burning out from 2 to 8 thousand bricks over the summer, taking an average price of 8−13 rubles per thousand, net earnings will be 30−50 rubles if the owner himself works without the help of hired workers; in Western Siberia, bricks are priced cheaper — a thousand from 4−6 rubles. Bricks are mostly made by order, they are sold at the place of production; this work is considered difficult, unprofitable and harmful to health."

A peasant’s house is a small universe, its walls are oriented to the four cardinal directions; the basement, log cabin and attic correspond to three levels — hell — earth — sky. In the center of this world there is its own sun — a hearth or oven.

The oven is always affectionate warmth, delicious food, and home comfort. Each part of the Russian oven has its own name. In front it is "mouth", "brow" (ledge above the "mouth"), "vyushka", "borovik" ("shestok"); on the side — "okhabchik", fireplace and ladder. Each part is adapted for household needs, for example, there is a broom, bucket and rag in the "okhabchik" for mandatory Saturday cleaning, shoes are dried on the "borovik", etc.

In ancient times, the furnace was thought of as a protection on earth for the heavenly fire, its house, its small fortress, and in accordance with this, it was also represented as a deity. Perhaps this is most fully characterized by the saying "I would say (I would tell you) yes to bake in the corner."

A brownie and other household spirits live behind the stove, hiding from the bright light; devils have fun on the "shestka" in the bylichki when the fire is not burning.

With the adoption of Christianity, the oven became diagonally from the red corner in which the icons are kept. During prayer, the person turned his back or sideways to the stove, and during cooking, his back was to the icons. Thus, the furnace embodies the sacredness of another otherworldly world.

The chimney is a specific exit from the house, a passage from another world to this one: a fiery serpent and a devil enter the house through the chimney, and a witch flies out, hurrying to the sabbath.

During a thunderstorm and at night, it is customary to close the oven with a flap so that no evil spirits can enter the house.

The stove plays a special role in folk superstitions: "A hum in the chimney — the soul of the deceased has come"; "A bird will nest in the chimney — to the death of a household."

During the Yuletide divination, a bowl of water was placed at the mouth of the furnace, having previously measured it with spoons, if the water ran out in the morning, someone from the household would die, if he arrived, he would be born.

The stove and the stove smoke perform a special function in conspiracies. In love magic, they turned to the first smoke rings: "as the first smoke curls, it wraps around the tree, so that the servant of God wraps around me, the servants of God…" They also turned to the oven itself: "The oven is baking, bittersweet grief, light a fire in the heart of the servant of God about me, a slave …"

In family life it was forbidden to put a poker to the stove, otherwise the husband would walk away from his wife.

Cooking was a specific female occupation and proceeded as if unnoticed by men. The stove diligently serves only one mistress, the old saying "Two daughters-in-law at one stove" depicts discord in the family of two married brothers.

The masonry craftsmen were called stove makers. To practice the craft of a stove maker is to bake. The secrets of the craft of stoves were inherited, but baking could also be learned. The peasants revered and feared the stoves, because warmth and comfort in the house depended on a well-built stove. When the stove maker was invited to put a stove in the house, then everything should be prepared for the owners (bricks, clay). The master came only with his tools. Immediately after the first row of bricks, the stove maker was treated. It was also done when the oven was half done, and the third time when the oven was finished. The stingy owners could be punished by the stoves (fold the stove so that it will not heat, or it will start to smoke altogether).