Eighty years ago, before the television became ubiquitous, kitchen appliance manufacturers routinely advertised their wares in movie theaters. I watched several of these “shorts” on YouTube recently, and discovered that kitchens of the 1930s and 40s were, in certain respects, even nicer than the kitchens of today.
Note: These films are definitely sexist. Nevertheless, since I’m presently re-designing a portion of my own kitchen, I found the films to be both fun and useful.
Here’s a series of short commercials from General Electric. Who doesn’t want a top-loading dishwasher that cleans and rinses in just 5 minutes? And check out the refrigerator that opens with the touch of a toe!
And here are several examples of beautiful, high-efficiency kitchens. I love the “thrifty deep-well cooker” at 13:03.
The “perfect” kitchen, as designed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Get a load of the revolving corner shelves, vertical “files” for baking pans, and built-in bins for flour and sugar.
And here is a push-button stove with a built in pressure cooker. The cooker easily converted to an extra surface unit, as described at the 10:18 mark. Do watch the entire video. It’s a hoot!
See any 1930s and 40s appliances or design features you’d want for your own kitchen? Want the frilly party dress the hostess is wearing in the first video? Talk to me in the comments field below.
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Phyllis says
My Mom had a range with the deep well cooker. She loved it and we had MANY stews and roasts from that cooker. Also, in the house we just sold a few years ago I had two dedicated drawers for both flour and sugar. They had metal inserts with sliding lids which could easily be removed for cleaning if necessary. I really do miss those drawers!
Sherri says
Oh man, I love that kitchen! The deep-well cooker and pull-out shelf especially. And in the credits of the first video … ‘functional housedresses…’
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Phyllis – My grandmother had a lined drawer that held 40 pounds of flour. Convenient!
Hi Sherri – Every cook needs a functional house dress. Mine was designed by Dior.
Tammy says
I LOVE that 1949 USDA kitchen — so many smart features. We still use my granny’s hoosier and love having the flour sifter, zinc bins, etc. I wonder why kitchens no longer have so many of these features?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Tammy – Yes — bring back the hoosier. It was the workhorse of the kitchen!
Amy says
I love that dishtowel drying rack! Much better than my solution of draping them to dry on an old Costco laundry detergent bucket under the sink 🙁
Tracy says
These films were hilarious. I especially loved the woman cooking and working in her kitchen in a cocktail dress with mink shoulders. God, no wonder housewives were either gritting their teeth, quietly getting drunk or popping happy pills in the 50s….!
Stephanie Harper says
A hoosier cupboard is one of the more brilliant inventions for the kitchen. I have had one for years, and especially in places with small kitchens they are a lifesaver.
The beauty and function of older stoves is also not to be believed. I routinely surf my ‘stove porn’ looking at sites that refurbish old stoves. Ovens were generally smaller, but so many more options there – rotisseries, warming drawers, roasters, grills… and the beauty and lines. *Sigh*
Vintage fridges are also wonders – sadly they do not lend themselves to refurbishment due to inefficiency and reliance on coolant that eats holes in the ozone – but there are companies making some gorgeous reproductions 😀
Janis says
My Aunt cooked using a stove with two ovens from the 1940’s. The thing was a perfect machine. The main oven was full sized and the second oven was narrow but the same depth and length as the main one. You could prepare any food or recipe using that stove. It worked like a charm up to her passing in 1993 at age 93. A modest 2:1 house in Coconut Grove with a truly perfect kitchen sporting a huge walk-in pantry. Preparing meals for family get togethers was such fun in that classic kitchen. And she was a truly amazing cook. Thanks for letting me take the trip down memory lane.
Janis says
Don’t go too contemporary in designing your new kitchen. Keep that old house charm you have going in the rest of the home. ❤️
Jake says
BWAHAHAHAHA… have watched every one of these, and a few more, while thinking through my kitchen refit. God help us both!
LOVE the toe lever idea on fridges.
There’s a superb TV ad with Lucy and Desi too – love the GIANT drawers and better organization than today’s insanity.
Joy says
OMG! ‘Women retain their youth and attractiveness with these kitchens’ Well then, I’ll take 2!!
Jennifer says
When are they going to bring back the foot-operated door feature? I want that too!
Jen says
I have to admit that while I’m not envious of their lives, I definitely envy the 1940’s housewife’s perfect kitchen. Love that compost slot in the counter and the outside door to remove the bucket! My dream kitchen will have a mailbox-like slot in the wall above the counter that deposits scraps directly into a worm bin outside.
John says
I collect 1930s and 1940s dollhouse miniatures and have a fabulous retro mini kitchen, but with none of these conveniences! Well, one of the dolls wears a satin evening gown, so there’s that…
Susan says
Hi Kevin,
About that toe lever…I knew someone who had one of those on their fridge back in 1970. Their dog learned how to operate it and they came home to many a mess before they finally resorted to putting a coated bicycle chain lock around the fridge…it was hilarious!
Barbara says
My first house had a matching turquoise fridge and stove from the 50’s
Fridge shelves swung out to get the stuff in the back. My stove was the ultimate workhorse. It had the coolest dashboard with colored lights. Still mad at myself for leaving it behind when I sold my house.
Kathy Campbell says
Kevin–Thank you for posting these. My mom had a MODREN (sic) Frigidaire kitchen with a mint green refrigerator and stove. The stove did have a deep well cooker, and it was remarkable. Basically, it was a crock pot that was integral to the unit. My brother is still living in that house and using that range.
I could sit here all morning and watch these videos. But I will have to return and do it in the “vague tomorrow” as I need to get into my garden and do some trimming NOW–that’s the “American Way!”
Maraya says
I was a very little girl in the early-to-mid 40’s, and we still had an icebox. Susan’s post about the dog and the toe lever is so funny! I do remember those levers, and they were also toe stubbers. Those doors didn’t close by themselves, either.
When I was 14, my first summer job was selling wraparound house dresses called “swirls.” They came in outrageously loud and busy patterns and broad stripes. Every woman asked the same question: “Does this make me look fat?”
Mary W says
Finally – commenter Tracy said they were ‘mink’ shoulders — I was just hoping the two cats on her shoulders wouldn’t fall! What a great way to spend my morning; glad I live now instead of the good old days. Some great features we now miss don’t outweight a whole lot more we’re glad are gone! Thanks, Kevin!
Jeanie says
Love the trumpet intros at the beginning of the first ones. Vaguely remember having a stove with drop down burner/cooker. Having arthritis the toe opening frig door would be a real joint saver for me!
Marsha Smith says
Enjoyed many meals cooked in the deep cooker on my aunt’s stove! In the late 40’s /early 50’s we had a clothes washer/dish washer combo that was interesting-you lifted the dish washer unit out -then put the clothes washer unit in. It was made by Thor.
Joan says
I would want nearly everything I saw. Makes so much sense. I especially liked that knife rack along the wall (Perfect Kitchen). Looks like a sculpture; practical and out of the way. I still see those revolving shelves in old houses when I go to estate sales. Everything makes so much sense…why did these conveniences disappear?
Florence says
I agree some things from the past would do well today. In the early 60s my father built my mother an island with a butcher block top. He included a drawer that leaned out at an angle. He was in the steel fabrication industry and had a split liner made from steele. Each section easily held 15 pounds of flour and sugar. I often think of that drawer and wish I had one in my kitchen today.
Elaine R says
Fun reading the comments. I grew up in a large city…and until we inherited a fridge my brother and I regularly had to carry the blocks of ice to the icebox . That would have been about 1949–51. I don’t think I ever saw such “fancy” equipment in anyone’s home! But I do miss the huge walk in pantries of the era ( or maybe because we always lived in older houses).
Marcia Colby Truslow says
My memories of my mother cooking always involve her using the deep well pressure cooker, along with plenty of lectures of why not to walk away while using it. Left unattended they could explode and she was a nervous wreck over that possibility. As an early responder stated, we too had hundreds of meals out of that cooker, some delicious, some not so appealing to a young child but all were healthy and filling during and after WWII. Thanks for the memories, Kevin!
Karen L. says
Thanks so much for these video links. I really enjoyed them! I was speechless while watching at first except for the occasional “why don’t they still make them that way” especially when viewing the sliding shelves on the refrigerator and the wonderful storage ideas. We’ve come a long way baby (as the saying goes) but have left some great ideas in the past. I hope, Kevin, that you are studying these videos intently because there are a lot of great ideas put forth for a workable kitchen. Cannot wait to see what you come up with! Good luck with making decisions on this project.
Pam Gonzalez says
These were awesome. I had a smaller version of the frightening that you could open with your toe. Unfortunately it died. But I now have one of the last models of the monitor top frightening. It was made in 1937. It still works better than most refrigerator’s today. I also have a 1937 Detroit glass stove. Nothing fancy and I do all my cooking on that. Thanks for sharing the video’s.
Pam Gonzalez says
Sorry refrigerator, not frightening!!
Vicki says
Loved stepping into the past with these shorts! I too recall the deep well cooker in my mother’s stove (late 50s-early 60s), where she often simmered spaghetti sauce or beef vegetable soup. I had forgotten it until seeing this. Now I can almost smell them cooking again. We also happen to have the very same Monitor top refrigerator, complete with toe opener, in our basement, left by a previous owner. Still aren’t sure what to do with it…. Thank you Kevin. I truly look forward to your Sunday visits.
Vicki says
Just a quick additional note: for many years I collected cookbooks from the 1920s to ’60s. They’re a lot of fun. Great old recipes and advice on nutrition and “cookery.” They offer interesting insights about those times, too. Have fun designing your dream kitchen, Kevin.
Gale Dickert says
My first 1965 Kenmore washer & dryer (made by Maytag) was still working great 31 years later when I gave them to a friend and bought new Kenmore’s. Those old appliances were made in America with the pride evident in your videos! NOW, most, if not all, appliances are mass produced overseas with emphasis on quantity NOT quality! And this year, it was revealed that some overseas manufacturers outsource appliance production to third world countries, so who knows where our appliances are made!
Ten years ago, I purchased a new Kenmore (Whirlpool) dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer which are still working fine; however the new Kenmore dishwasher and a clothes washer (made by Whirlpool) which I bought recently for a vacation home both began having problems immediately –with the clothes washer requiring a new $400 timer the second time I used it. The repair man said without batting an eye, “those new timers are bad” , as he urged me to buy an expensive extended warranty.
When I bought these new appliances, I was pressured to buy an expensive five yr. warranty. I was told the new appliances are “not made like the old ones” and I’d need the warranty. The catch is the warranty is expensive and who can get excited about buying a “warranty” for such a poorly made appliance? Catch 22. No way one can win!!
As you discovered, Kevin, it’s hard now to choose a reliable appliance –if one exists. Like you, I researched appliances for ages before I purchased those for my vacation home. When I went back to Sears to tell them how disappointed I am in the quality, they told me to buy a warranty. Within a month, that Sears store closed forever –BUT, (not to worry) their online “repair services,” where they must be making plenty of money, is still available!!
Lynn says
Love that deep well cooker. Every cooktop should have one!
And can someone explain why, if they could make 5 minute dishwashers in the 1930s and you see similar in bars and restaurants, modern home dishwashers take an hour?
As for all the funky cupboards, I wouldn’t trade my modern sleek kitchen with loads of drawers.
Mary says
I love the deep well cooker! My mother-in-law had one. The hoosier is wonderful.
Loved the videos, they bring back memories!
Jane R says
Thanks so much for posting these films, they’re so much fun. We have an old Chambers stove with the deep well. It’s interesting to see those old appliances in a new light.
I especially enjoyed “It Happened in the Kitchen”, because the “before” kitchen reminded me of our kitchen when we moved into our 1908 house.
It’s always a pleasure to while away the time looking through your postings.
Amen Kahwajy says
One of my favorite posts. Glad you shared. A man named Rob owns a shop here in Richmond Va . He recently sold a beautiful Hoosier with a fine finish and all original hardware and hinges. Instagram. @Accoutre_richmond
He gets lots of old finds as well as a cute line of accessories for the kitchen.