Turnspit Dogs

Spits for roasting large joints of meat at the hearth had to be turned constantly. Small servant boys were used in European kitchens, slaves in America. In the eighteenth century, and probably long before, a specially bred short-legged, large-chested dog called a “turnspit dog” was placed into a caged wheel that was mounted to a wall or suspended from joists. The dog then was made to run, sometimes for hours, like a hamster in its wheel. A long leather belt encircled the wheel and turned the smaller wheel of the spit. The English writer Thomas Hone in 1850 wrote that “[in England] the turnspit-dog and apparatus for cooking are now nearly out of use.” It is believed that these dogs were used in the United States well into the 1870s. The breed has died out, at least in name, but certain stocky mixed terriers resemble the short-eared, curly-tailed dog seen in old prints.