recognize the
difference. Poor fireplace accessories such as these detract greatly
from the charm that surrounds a good hearth and mantel.

It is no longer easy to pick up original, cut-brass andirons at the
antique and junk shops,--that is, at a reasonable price. It is in the
country places, old farmhouses, and from people who have not yet learned
to gage their worth, that one can get a good bargain, bringing often
only three or four dollars a pair, and being of the best material. In
reproduction there are on the market to-day plenty of good, cast-brass
andirons, but they are expensive and cannot be purchased at less than
seven dollars, ranging from that to a hundred dollars a pair, while the
spun-brass kind may be purchased for two dollars and a half a pair.

Andirons come in a great many heights, and in the olden times two sets
were used, the one holding the forestick, and the other the backlog. In
addition to that, in the earliest American houses, creepers were used;
they were, in reality, of iron, small enough to be placed between the
andirons, and they helped out in holding the sticks. The first material
used for andirons was iron, and we find to-day occasional specimens of
this kind, many of them not particularly graceful, while others are very
ornamental in design. There are the Hessian andirons which are found
either in plain iron or decorated with bright paint; these came into use
about 1776 and were used to caricature the British soldiers who were
very unpopular in our country.

The most interesting of these old andirons show unusual shapes, a great
many of them having artistic ornamentation; occasionally we find them
with brass tops. It was fitting to use this metal, on account of the
fire frame, which was of cast-iron as well, and while many of these were
of foreign manufacture, yet not a few were fashioned by the village
blacksmith. In the choice of andirons, the size of the fireplace should
be considered; the small ones should not have the steeple tops but
small, ball pattern or some other design that is low enough not to crowd
the fireplace and thus give the impression of bad taste. The large
fireplaces need the high andirons, of which there are so many different
kinds. The modern adaptation of the Colonial has brought these
furnishings into vogue, so that to-day it would be almost impossible to
tell the old from the new.

Shovel and tongs were much used during the early period, but a poker
never ac