Think your bathroom is a problem? Let us not forget that until well after WWII, many homes in America did not have indoor bathrooms. My mom and grandmother, in Shenandoah, Pa. — outhouse out back until they moved to an apartment in 1950.  Dad — farm in Aneta, North Dakota — outhouse ’til about the same time. The poster at left, produced between 1936 and 1941 as part of the Work Projects Administration Federal Art Project, appears to indicate that many homes didn’t even have outhouses. Gulp. Image: Library of Congress.

In contrast to the sleek and modern 1938 Gropius kitchen, here is a June 1938 country kitchen that must have been an even greater joy to its new owners. This photo was taken as part of a U.S. Farms Services Administration project and is  now housed in the Library of Congress. Their documentation identifies the photo as, “Resettled farmer’s wife and daughter in kitchen of new home. Wabash Farms, Indiana.” This can only mean — resettlement from the Dust Bowl droughts of the Great Depression. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939. And the photographer, meanwhile, was Arthur Rothstein. When I google him, I find that he has been called, “simply the definitive photographer of the Dust Bowl.” Later, he went on to be the photo director for Look Magazine from 1946-1971, then Parade. He has a book  – which I’ve added to Pamazon.  Finally, here’s a link to a Library of Congress learning lab about that era. (Photo info: LC-USF34- 026361-D.)

In the early 50s, Duco paint featured advertisements that showcased beautiful interiors – as well as some gorgeous paint colors. This Early American living room is a classic. I love the paneling above the fireplace, and the pegboard for pewter mugs. Also notice the use of a small chest in the living room.  Moreover, this image inspired me to do some more research on Early American design, which  remained quite popular into the 1950s and even the 60s. Heck yeah there is more →

“America’s Kitchens” by Nancy Carlisle, Melinda Talbot Nasardinov, and Jennifer Pustz is possibly the only comprehensive book on the history of the American kitchen. I am reading it right now. This is just the stuff I love: How Hoosier cabinets, frozen food, open plan architecture and other tweaky things changed the way we live in, and use, our kitchens. And I like to hear the story right from the beginning, too…because virtually no development can be understood in isolation. For example, when I was busy researching “Why steel kitchen cabinets?” it took me all the way back to…Florence Nightingale…Another story for another day. I supported Historic New England by paying them full price.  You can get an even better deal at Amazon…via my Pamazon store, of course.

WOW, THIS IS AN AMAZING TREASURE TROVE: An online archive of 46 years of Aladdin Home Sales Catalogs, courtesy of Central Michigan University and its Clarke Historical Library. I’m serious: Complete catalogs: Page through for hours and watch the history of middle-class housing styles in the first half of the American 20th century unfold. The catalogs were the principal marketing method for the houses…. So also you get all kinds of little detail that paints a picture of how people lived, what they considered when looking for a house… See the dramatic shifts during the Depression and wartimes, for example. They are little social history books.  Aladdin’s were kit houses… manufactured houses like the famous Sears’  models. These kinds of homes are EVERYWHERE across America. Heck yeah there is more →