We'll start at the North Wall (top of the diagram above) and work around the room counterclockwise (West, South, East...)

The North Wall

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The North "Wall" is merely pass-through to the kitchen. The bookshelves provide a psychological separateion from the kitchen. On the topmost shelf, you'll see the aluminum lunchbox that Mrs. Atlas carried to her job in a defense plant at Sparrows Point during World War II. Our cup collection hangs from the bottom of each bookshelf. On the countertop, seen from left to right are: The Hobart Coffee Grinder, the MilkShake Mixer, the Family Scale, and the Hamilton-Beach Model 6 Blender. All are in good working order and are used regularly. Hanging from the center post is a Stempel Fire Extinguisher, a lovely confection of brass and copper. A leather fireman's helmet from the 1920s is displayed near the extinguisher.

The West Wall

  

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The West wall of the Breakfast room is home to our Art Deco poster for the play "Spooks". The star of the show was Billy B. Van (1878 – 1950), a MOST unusual man. He was a prominent entertainer in the early decades of the 1900s. He was a star, progressively, in minstrel shows, vaudeville, burlesque, the New York stage, and movies. At the same time under another name he was a well known dairy farmer and agriculturist. And, at the same time he was a manufacturer of soap products. And later in his career he reinvented himself as a nationally known motivational speaker, and a Yankee goodwill ambassador. Van often performed with the Beaumont Sisters, Rose and Nellie. These were also then well known vaudeville and variety show performers. For a while he had a company by the name of Billy B. Van and The Beaumont Sisters Co. I have been unable to find out much about the play Spooks, but I have come upon an edition of the New Orleans Bee (L'Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orleans) dated February 16, 1916 that indicates that Billy B. Van and the "soeurs Beaumont" were playing in it at the Orpheum theater. (Click here to read the page in its entirety.) This is a fairly high-style poster for 1916. The artwork is signed "Tonelli".

The South Wall is simply two windows and a door, with no room to display anything.

The East Wall

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This view shows that the entire East Wall is made of glass block that admits a wonderful light in the morning. The blonde art waterfall table holds service for two, including Russell Wright cups, Fiesta salt shakers, and a Harlequin sugar and cream set. There is also an ash tray from Niederst's Restaurant, one of my favorites when I wqas growing up in Pittsburgh. At the center of the table is the Manning-Bowman Twinover waffle maker. There is also a copper stand that holds a newspaper.

Four corner shelves hold: the Dulane Fryryte, the Sunbeam Mixmaster, the Sunbeam T-22 Toaster, and, our pride and joy, the Toast-O-Lator.

A Hunter Century Fan stands in the corner.

This completes the Breakfast Room. Where would you like to go next?

The First Floor

The Second Floor

The Basement

If you don't like clicking on pictures:

You are in the Kitchen

• Go to the Living Room
• Go to the Hallway
• Go to the Dining Room
• Go to the Kitchen
• Go to the Florida Room
• Go to the Master Bedroom
• Go to the Guest Bedroom
• Go to the Upstairs Hallway
• Go to the Library
• Go to the Office
• Go to the Basement Storage Area
• Go to the Dance Studio
• Go to the Workshop
• Look at the Exterior and History of the House

OK -- Go someplace else

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