Monday, May 21, 2012

The 1920's Kitchen Tour

As I was perusing the internet this morning, doing a little research on Hoosier cabinets, I came across some spectacular 1920's kitchen ads ... marketed towards the "modern" woman. I've always had a little obsession over these types of things, hand drawn ads from the 20's portray an idyllic kitchen fit for the finest of house wives, lol, can you imagine? I love the ads, despite their sexist nature, the taste in home and kitchen decor back then can not be topped! I will share a few of my favorites from Antique Home Style with you! 

What's not to love? The sink is totally to die for, the cabinet pulls are totally on trend even in the modern day, the little blue stool, and does anyone else see that stove! 

This is an Armstrong Linoleum ad. According to the source, the little eating nooks like the one shown above was an essential feature for an upscale, early 1920's kitchen.

The introduction of built in cabinets. You can see this ad shows a sort of built in cabinet that is structured around an old time Hoosier model. This whole ad fascinates me ... I simply must start ironing in heels! 

A Crane Plumbing ad, illustrates a top of the line sink during the 1920's. I find it very interesting that having a stool at the sink was the norm at the time ... I suppose you might spend a lot of time there before the age of the dishwasher. 

This late 20's illustration reminds me of my Hoosier Cabinet, which I will be revealing to you tomorrow, when it's finally fully cleaned, functional, and reinforced! I love the green and the stencil work here. Is that a garbage can under the sink? I noticed the same one in the first picture ... what is that??


Lastly, a modest and simple 20's kitchen. The blue linoleum is adorable, and the white and red accents are so fitting to the time. I think my favorite thing about this ad is the tiny icebox on pretty little legs. The modern day refrigerator just can't compete! 

I hope you enjoyed this 1920's kitchen tour! Happy Monday friends, and stay tuned tomorrow for our own 1920's kitchen addition!



10 comments:

  1. The stool under the sink might be so the little ones can climb up and wash their hands...or even help wash the dishes. The garbage can under the sink might hold table scraps or other stuff that would eventually get tossed in the backyard since they certainly didn't have garbage disposals then, either. I love the storage cabinet for the ironing board. I can totally see you ironing in heels. Once. LOL

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    1. haha! Yes, I would do it once ... and turn it into a photo shoot so that no one would ever forget it ;)

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  2. These are great! Very sweet--I think I'd like to have any of these kitchens. And those pulls in the first image are all over the place right now. Everything comes back around eventually, I think. Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to seeing your project.

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  4. Lovely post. I am searching around for design ideas to accent the inside of my old cabinets and highlight my apple dishes at the same time. I noticed I too have the same bin pulls in my 1940s kitchen that are shown in that first photo, and my kitchen is similar in colors to the green kitchen in the second to the last photo. Everything does come back in style. Thanks for posting the inspiring images.

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  6. Hello! Thanks for this lovely blog with such delightful photos which I am really enjoying :) I find it interesting how the kitchen has evolved over time and also the differences between North American and British kitchens. The traditional kitchen in the UK has typically included a central table for a work surface and the stool would have been used to sit down to work; also, there is the open dresser for displaying crockery of all types including plates and hanging cups; also, a dish drying wall rack, a kitchen scale, usually a smaller refrigerator, and sometimes a much desired but expensive item seen in posh houses -- an AGA stove.

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  7. My 1922 home in Montgomery, Alabama maintains the original floor plan. At some point in the early 50s, someone put in a "modern" sink. I haven't touched a thing.

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  8. Very nice post with great ads! I noticed you mentioned the kitchen stool for use while doing dishes, before the age of the dishwasher. You might be interested to know that the first domestic dishwashers actually came out in the 1920s! They were called "Electric Sinks" at the time, and were part of one large kitchen sink on legs, with either two or three separate "tubs." One part was a standard sink, and the section next to it was a top loading electric dishwasher! They were of course rather pricy for the time, but had we been able to avoid the financial catastrophe of the Great Depression, those 10 years, and then the 5 years that followed, involved in the defense and wartime economy and focus, the dishwasher would have come into its own much sooner than the early 1950s! I can't post pictures here, but if you look for electric sinks, or just 1920s dishwasher, you'll likely find several 1920s ads for them!

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  9. Here's one of many pins on Pinterest - https://pin.it/4xK61Ty33
    VERY interesting, as this one is a THREE section sink in a gorgeous blue - one end is the dishwasher, and the OTHER end is a clothes washer! The center is a sink with a stopper that eliminates the dish pan, and has a swing spout, like todays sink faucet, and the spray hose, likewise. Kohler was the first maker of electric sinks, and I saw a later 1940 ad for an "Electric sink" made by GE.

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