A view of the Koravos family kitchen. Courtesy of Historic New England. Used on this site with permission.

THE 1957 KITCHEN from the Koravos family home in Andover, Massachusetts is the eye candy of the America’s Kitchens exhibition. Imagine original robin’s egg blue metal cabinets, stainless Westinghouse wall oven and cooktop, and canary yellow Formica counters with space-age patterning, all in near pristine condition. Mrs. Koravos preferred to cook in a second full kitchen in her basement, leaving this one on the first floor, which her guests would see, clean and clutter-free. According to curator and co-author Nancy Carlisle, show kitchens were popular in Greek- and Italian-American homes during the twentieth century. And take heart, retro renovators: Historic New England acquired the Koravos gem when a relative of co-author Melinda Nasardinov saw it posted on Craigslist!

Erica Donnis is an independent historian and museum consultant based in Burlington, Vermont.  This is her fifth and final vignette reviewing America’s Kitchens — the book and now,  a traveling national exhibition. Thank you, Erica!

Readers, click on the image below THREE times and it will get very big so that you can see the detail.

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Kitchen accessories from the trade catalogue “243 New Ideas for Your Kitchen", ca. 1955. Kalamazoo Stoves and Furnaces, Kalamazoo, Mich., publisher. Promised gift to Historic New England from a private collection. Used on this site with permission.

ACCORDING TO AMERICA’S KITCHENS, many of the things we take for granted today in our kitchens were introduced or became widely available in the 20th century, driven by emerging technologies, consumer demand, and commercial marketing that influenced people to update frequently and to buy the latest gadgets.  Electric stoves and refrigerators made their appearance in the 20s, 30s, and 40s.  The postwar years brought freezers, refrigerators with freezer compartments, and an explosion in small appliances like mixers, blenders, and waffle irons.  Tupperware, Saran Wrap, and plastic sandwich bags were introduced in the 40s and 50s, and the first countertop microwave oven arrived in the 60s.

Erica Donnis is an independent historian and museum consultant based in Burlington, Vermont. This is her fourth vignette from America’s Kitchens — the book and the traveling exhibition.

Click on the image below several times to enlarge and see the detail:

Related posts:

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2. A 1957 Time Capsule Kitchen THE 1957 KITCHEN from the Koravos family home in Andover,...
3. The Gropius Kitchen THE AMERICA’S KITCHENS EXHIBITION profiles the sleek, black and white...

A view of the Gropius House kitchen. Courtesy Historic New England. Used on this site with their permission.

THE AMERICA’S KITCHENS EXHIBITION profiles the sleek, black and white kitchen and pantry designed by Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius for his 1938 Massachusetts home. According to curator and co-author Nancy Carlisle, the adjoining galley spaces are “models of efficiency” that function almost as “laboratories.” They contained the latest appliances, including a General Electric dishwasher and garbage disposal. The kitchen and pantry, in the rear of the house, worked well when the family employed a cook. But when Mrs. Gropius took over the meal preparation, she found it difficult to interact with family members or guests. Consequently, Mr. Gropius would often spend time with his wife there, assisting by loading the dishwasher or simply sitting and chatting while she worked.

Erica Donnis is an independent historian and museum consultant based in Burlington, Vermont. This is her third vignette taking a look at America’s Kitchens – both the book and the traveling national exhibit. Find out more about the Gropius House, which is now owned by Historic New England, here.

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“Kitchen No. 7,” from the trade catalogue “Kitchen Hints,” 1947. The Kitchen Maid Corporation, Andrews, Ind., publisher. Collection of Historic New England. Used on this site with their permission.

THE 20th CENTURY WAS A TIME OF RADICAL CHANGE in kitchen design. As Nancy Carlisle and Melinda Nasardinov describe in America’s Kitchens, a focus on efficiency in the early part of the century transformed kitchens into compact units, with matching cabinets and built-in appliances topped with spans of countertop. Efficient kitchens were meant to reduce workloads, but their small size and usual location in the back of the house also distanced cooks from their families and guests. The open floor plans of the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s were a reaction against that isolation. As Nasardinov frames it, they “transformed kitchens from service spaces into social spaces” by blurring the boundaries between cooking, eating, and living areas.

Erica Donnis is an independent historian and museum consultant based in Burlington, Vermont.  This is the second installment of her week-long look at America’s Kitchens — both the book and the national traveling exhibition.

Related posts:

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2. The Gropius Kitchen THE AMERICA’S KITCHENS EXHIBITION profiles the sleek, black and white...
3. Modern Kitchen “Wife-Savers” ACCORDING TO AMERICA’S KITCHENS, many of the things we...

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Office of War Information Poster No. 57, “We’ll have lots to eat this winter, won’t we mother?” Alfred Parker (1906–1985), graphic designer. (Washington, D.C.: United States Office of War Information, Division of Public Inquires, 1943). Promised gift to Historic New England from private collection. Used on this site with permission from Historic New England.

Reviewers generally don’t gush, but I can’t help myself! The America’s Kitchens publication and exhibition both nimbly cover a broad topic without bogging down, and they touch on important issues (think slave cooking, Irish servants, and women’s roles) along the way—without hitting you over the head with it. Both are filled with great quotes and visuals that readers of this blog will eat up (no pun intended, of course). In the exhibition, I especially enjoyed the opportunity to browse through vintage American cookbooks in a reading area set aside for that purpose. There are even recipe cards on hand in case you find something to try at home. Enjoy! — Erica Donnis

Erica Donnis is an independent historian and museum consultant based in Burlington, Vermont. This is the first installment in her week-long look at America’s Kitchens — which now encompasses both a book and a national traveling exhibition.

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2. Mid-Century Kitchen Design THE 20th CENTURY WAS A TIME OF RADICAL CHANGE in...
3. The Gropius Kitchen THE AMERICA’S KITCHENS EXHIBITION profiles the sleek, black and white...

On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart,
the kitchen is the place you can find it;
it dries the wet socks, it cools the hot little brain.”
—E.B. White, 1956

Need a place to point the station wagon this summer vacation? You’ll be sure to torture the pre-teens at “America’s Kitchens,” a new traveling exhibition organized by Historic New England. It has just begun its national tour in Concord, New Hampshire, where it will run through January 17, 2010. Next stops will be Long Island and Cape Cod. 

Here’s what the website says about the exhibit:

Kitchens tell stories—about families and women’s roles; preparing food without running water, electricity, or refrigeration; new technologies; changes in gadgets and appliances; and shifts in values and everyday life. The exhibition features vignettes of historic kitchens in colonial New England and 19th-century Illinois, as well as a traditional adobe kitchen in the Southwest, and a 1950s bright blue, “show kitchen.” Through interactive experiences, visitors can learn what it was like to churn butter, share a kitchen memory, or jot down a recipe from one of the many cookbooks available.

Each item in the exhibition tells a story and excerpts from letters and diaries reveal both nostalgic memories as well as despair at the endless drudgery of kitchen work. Although kitchen chores have changed from the multi-tasking of colonial and early 19th-century households—cooking, laundering, making soap and candles, spinning, and minding children—to common activities taking place in kitchen today—paying bills, doing homework, entertaining, and microwaving popcorn—the kitchen remains the “heart of the home.”

Amen. See more information about the exhibit here.

Related posts:

1. America’s Kitchens: Fascinating AND Entertaining Reviewers generally don’t gush, but I can’t help myself! The...
2. A 1957 Time Capsule Kitchen THE 1957 KITCHEN from the Koravos family home in Andover,...
3. Mid-Century Kitchen Design THE 20th CENTURY WAS A TIME OF RADICAL CHANGE in...