Home comforts

Revolution in the kitchen
In the space of about 25 years, the kitchen was transformed from a transient place for the preparation of food to the new heart of the home. By the end of the 1950s it was a multi-functional living space as well as the powerhouse and nerve centre of family life. The availability of new materials and finishes, as well as modern electric appliances came together in the fitted kitchen, changing the look and layout of a space which was now clearly to be enjoyed rather than merely endured.
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Scene from a 1950s promotional kitchen set.
1930s kitchen
The 1930s kitchen was smaller but lighter than its Edwardian counterpart. It was now no longer the domain of employees but of the housewife herself. Click on the 'Explore 1930s kitchen' button above to see what a1930s kitchen might have looked like in a newly-built three-bedroom semi-detached house.
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'Happy in the Morning' a promotional film for the Ascot water heater, 1938.
Explore 1930s Kitchen
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A 'modern' kitchen featuring gas stove and coke boiler combination, linoleum and double sink. From The Housewife's Book, (1937).
Flooring
Rubber blocks or sheet linoleum in 'battleship brown' with a modest inlaid pattern to camouflage dirt. Square-tiled patterns and marble-, jasper- and granite-grained designs were also popular.
Tiling
Tiling was highly desirable but tended to be expensive. It was essential to tile the areas around the cooking stove and sink. If possible, cream tiling was carried from the floor up to dado height only and topped off with a narrow band of black and white chequered tiles.
Walls
The space from tiles to the ceiling was either painted in oil, enamel, or gloss paint for repeated washing, or lined in wallpaper, which was then varnished. A popular paper was the tile pattern. Pastel colours were fashionable; white, cream, apple green, pale grey and powder blue were particular favourites.
Ceiling
The kitchen ceiling suffered from rising steam, so gloss paint was best. To avoid condensation sometimes whitewash was used but it was apt to crack and flake. Therefore it was better to paper the ceiling first, then apply whitewash to the paper.
Windows
In the 1930s kitchen the window was low and large and placed over the sink so that the housewife could keep an eye on her children in the garden while washing-up.
Lighting
It was important that the housewife did not stand in her own light when cooking. For daylight work the cooker would ideally be placed so that the window was on the left-hand side. An electric filament lamp was recommended - centrally sited to illuminate the whole kitchen. Lamps were totally enclosed in spherical opal shades to prevent steam or dust gaining access.
Boiler
The coke boiler would stand on a quarry tiled base. It would heat the kitchen and circulate hot water to the sink and a hall radiator via a copper or galvanised cylinder in the upstairs airing cupboard. The coke-burning boiler also incinerated kitchen rubbish. All such items as egg shells, tea leaves, fish bones etc. could be promptly burned instead of being left in the scullery or dustbin to attract flies and vermin.
Sink
A white glazed earthenware butler's sink or 'Belfast' pattern sink, flanked either side by teak draining boards. The sink would ideally be at least twelve inches deep, and if space permitted a double sink would be installed. One side was for washing-up and the other for rinsing.
Refrigerator
A small refrigerator with a flat table-top, useful in a small kitchen. The machine cooled by evaporation and therefore no ice was supplied from outside sources. A 1 cubic foot Electrolux model could be purchased in 1932 for £19.10s, equivalent to the average monthly wage at the time. Hire purchase facilities could spread the initial cost of payment. Sales of refrigerators were given a boost in 1926 when the use of preservatives in food was prohibited by law.
Cooker
A gas stove. Gas was ubiquitous, clean and economical to use. The stove would have controllable 3-position taps for flame adjustment, or even better, a Regulo thermostat to maintain a fixed heat. This prevented food burning and made basting and constant inspection unnecessary. Gas stoves were now enamelled inside and out making cleaning easier. They stood on legs to raise the oven off the floor in order to reduce stooping and allow easy cleaning underneath.
1950s kitchen
Homemakers of the 1950s would have childhood memories of their parents' 1930s kitchens. Twenty years on the kitchen had been transformed by new materials, a plethora of gadgetry and the growth of electricity (both in terms of the numbers of houses wired and its perception as the clean and efficient power source for a wide range of domestic appliances).
In 1951 a Mass Observation study found that the average housewife worked a 75-hour week - spending about a quarter of her time in the kitchen. In an increasingly prosperous decade it was perhaps little wonder that women wanted new kitchens and more labour-saving gadgets. Rationing ended completely in 1954 and the export drive was over. Many longed-for goods became more widely available and mass-production techniques made them more affordable than ever before. If they could not be bought outright, hire purchase was popular.
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Promotional film for the Kitchen Phone c.1957.
Explore 1950s kitchen
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English Rose kitchen by C.S.A. Industries of Warwick. This company and others, such as Redwing and Paul Craft were popular makes of fitted kitchens in this decade.
Flooring
Stoneware tiles, or as a cheaper alternative square polyvinyl plastic flooring tiles, such as Redimix or Vynoleum.
Walls
Fitted kitchens like this one left little unused wall space. For the many without a fitted kitchen there were still exciting options, such as Congowall 'tile-look-a-like' sheeting glued to dado height. Congowall came in bright colours, with a tough glossy cellulose finish costing less than 10d. (4 pence) a square foot. An alternative was polystyrene wall tiles, for example Everine, secured with Evo-Stik.
Above dado height painted with one of the new polyvinyl acetate emulsions, such as Polimul, Pammastic, or Berger's Magicote one coat gloss gel paint.
Food storage
The fitted kitchen solved many of the housewife's kitchen problems associated with space-saving, hygiene, time- and labour-saving. It provided floor level and wall cupboards for storing tinned food and kitchen equipment out of sight, still enabling larger units such as a washing machine or refrigerator to be slid under the work-top giving a fully integrated look to the kitchen.
Work surfaces
The fitted kitchen provided ample melamine-covered surfaces for food preparation which only needed to be wipe-cleaned rather than scrubbed or scoured like the wooden surfaces they replaced. For those unable to afford a fitted kitchen, a range of adhesive-backed plastic fabrics could be stuck on to table-tops, shelves and draining boards. Fablon was the best known, followed by Stix-On, offering colourful cheap alternatives. A similar product, Marleyfilm, was hailed as a popular vinyl asbestos wonder surface.
Clock
The electric wall clock was a welcome addition to a room where more and more machines and processes were timed.
Pressure Cooker
The modern-looking pressure cooker was a relative newcomer in the kitchen. Its use increased as people gradually became more familiar with the benefits of steaming. Companies such as L G Hawkins boosted pressure cooker sales through heavy press advertising.
Ceiling
Emulsion paint, such as Siscomatte velvet finish which was fungicidal and steam-resistant.
Windows
Venetian blinds now replace the nets and towelling curtains of the 1930s kitchen, giving a less fussy and cleaner look. Extractor fans to remove unwanted cooking smells and excess condensation. Vent Axia and Min-Ex were popular do-it-yourself models.
Food Mixer
The Kenwood Chef food mixer took some of the chore out of food preparation as well as being something of a status symbol.
Appliances in the 1950s
As prosperity grew for many in the 1950s more families could afford to buy new kitchen appliances for the first time. Refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, food mixers and stainless steel sinks were popular choices.
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Frigidaire refrigerator, 1950s.
Goblin advert, 1950s.
Advertisement for Fisholow stainless steel sink from The Practical Householder, April 1957, p.373. New stainless steel sink units were formed from a single sheet of steel eliminating dirt and germ-collecting joins.
Hoover Model 0307 Mk 1. 1949, was a small electric washing machine, with a single tub and an integrated hand-turned wringer. It cost £31.5s. (about a month's wages for most people).
Hoover washing machine, model 0307, 1949.
Servis Superheat washing machine, c.1957.
Advertisement for Hoover model 0307 electric washing machine, 1951.
Russell Hobbs CP1 automatic electric coffee percolator, 1952.