flapper
Decor
Kitchen
Floor space shrank during the twenties; extraneous rooms and foyers
disappeared, the dining room was scaled down and on its way to oblivion. The
kitchen had been either a family gathering place (or a part of family living
space) in the old farmhouses, or a large food preparation area staffed by a
cook and helpers. Those days ended as the century turned, and the kitchen
shrank to accommodate the lone housewife.
Kitchens in the twenties were designed for efficiency, a characteristic that
still applies today. The biggest impact on the kitchen was electricity. The ice
box had been placed in an alcove or porch off the kitchen so that the ice man
didn’t come into the kitchen. The electric refrigerator made it possible for
the cold storage unit to move into the kitchen, to a much more convenient spot
in the food preparation layout.
There were quite a few other electrical gadgets, from flat toasters to electric
griddles.
And then there was the range. The old wood cookstove gave way to the modern
range which used either gas or electricity. Several of the new models offered
the convenience operating on multiple fuels, such as gas, wood or coal. With
such a range, the owner could use whichever fuel was cheapest and/or most
available at any given time. Pictured is Buck’s Sanitary Porcelain Enameled
Combination Range, which never fails “to brighten monotonous days for
weary mothers and housekeepers. They burn gas, coal or wood . . . and thus
insure (sic) a kitchen cool in summer — warm in winter. Moreover, they banish
dirty blackening. Sanitary porcelain enameled finish wipes clean with just a
moist cloth. Choice of colors — pearl gray, blue or black.”
Much was made of efficiency and the clean look. White or gray enameled walls
seemed to proliferate.
Floors were covered in some type of linoleum. Porcelain was a favorite for the
large appliances. There was even a garbage disposal of sorts available: the
Kelvinator, which was a shoot leading to a natural incinerator. The unit had to
be included in new construction; it could not be added to an existing
structure. The Walker Dishwasher Corp. introduced the electric dishwashing
machine for home use.
Perhaps the handiest step-saver in the servantless kitchen was the Hoosier
Cabinet.
Never requiring the housewife to take a step when a reach would do, the Hoosier
Cabinet provided bins for flour (with a built-in sifter) and sugar; spice
racks, shelves, cupboards and drawers; as well as a porcelain-enameled work
surface.
One last feature of the twenties kitchen: the breakfast nook. It might be
tacked on to the back of the kitchen or simply a converted porch. It often had
built-in benches flanking a trestle table. And so, even in the downsizing, the
kitchen managed to remain, at least to some degree, a family gathering-place.
