Introducing the kitchen bitch

This ingenious piece of engineering is called a ‘kitchen bitch’ and is used as an oil lamp in the poorer parts of Jamaica. Jamaica is accustomed to the odd power cut and the kitchen bitch was invented to remedy the black out.This quirky item is a prime example of how resourceful Jamaican people are because the ‘Kitchen Bitch’ did not start life as a lamp but rather a tin to contain sweetened milk. With a bit of imagination and soldering the milk tin is transformed into an oil lamp and usually kept in the kitchen.

Nottingham black Archive would love to find more obscure items that have an interesting story and reflect the black communities, email us at office@nottinghamblackarchive.org if you would like to donate or tell us about an item.