Chafing Dish Possibilities... by Fannie Merritt Farmer herself! from 1898
The Chafing Dish Supper by Christine Terhune Herrick (with an interesting attempt to look retro even for its date -- 1894 -- since the endpapers go with this look, I believe it is original to the book)
You can find a lot of free ebooks on chafing dishes through a search at archive.org: https://archive.org/search.php?query=chafing%20dish , where there are others by some of my favorite retro cookbook writers such as Mrs. S.T. Roper and Janet M. Hill,
Some I've checked out are also from the early 1900s, including this delightfully written one, available at https://ia800305.us.archive.org/27/items/cu31924000677223/cu31924000677223.pdf :
Alas, chafing dish at least in the US today has seemingly changed its meaning. I wanted some simple warming appliances for this American Thanksgiving, after the poultry and potatoes were cold by the time I got some last Thanksgiving, and I was excited to find "chafing dishes" at a department store's website, because I thought that they would be like the 1890s versions that would both cook and keep warm. They don't. In fact, they don't even come with pans suitable for cooking in a separate oven, let alone the stovetop, though they are designed to look like old-fashioned chafing dishes except with a short electric cord. I of course found very serviceable warmers from Cuisinart that utilize tea candles, which come with useable pans for both stovetop and even broiler use. However, if I find myself in need of any other warmers, I'm interested in trying something that needs neither candles nor electricity -- I saw a line of them at http://www.frontgate.com/stainless-steel-hot-2fcold-serving-trays-26-accessories/kitchen-entertaining/serving-accessories/stainless-steel-serveware/457659 . Even better, not only can you warm them in an oven (though you can't cook in them) and they'll keep your food warm for 2 hours on your table, but you can also chill them to keep things cool, like in the summer! They're not inexpensive, but hmm they're 30% off just today...
Back to the original chafing dishes (which really are original, aren't they, in that they're like truly ancient people used except over larger fires??) -- last year I made a few notes about how to adapt old recipes to them, while I was waiting for my disappointing not-really-a-chafing-dish to arrive, though then I added the note about not-cooking:
chafing dish dishesThe chafing dish was designed to work as a main event, to be served with say toasts and a simple salad. Was especially used for an easy Sunday supper in the 1890s. If doing as part of the dinner's entertainment have your bowls etc of prepped ingredients lined up.There are recipes that sound more useable than the 1890s ones in books such as Culinary Arts Institute's Sunday Night Suppers pp7-19. NOTE modern ones do NOT cook though :-(Dishes in a sauce/creamed type (already cooked meats, vegetables can work well in this) (inc curries if yours is fine against odors) (to be served over eg rice)Stovetop casserole-y type eg New Orleans rice typeThick stew type (already cooked meats, vegetables can work well in this)Fondue and other dipping sauce/fancy dip typeScrambled egg type inc w vegetablesSmall-meatball type made with ground meatSmall appetizer-y meats etc eg livers with fruit and nutsWould also work for a beverage if yours is large enough:a fancy hot beverage eg spiced coffeeWould also work for dessert:a cornstarch pudding (served with fresh fruit in separate serving bowls)chocolate or other sweet dipping saucefancy fruit topping eg to put over ice cream