Things you don't see in people's kitchens anymore

[jd_1138]

When I was a kid in the late 1970's, I recall going over to the neighbor lady's house with my mom, and they'd have coffee. The lady had 4 or 5 wooden boxes on the counter -- one for coffee, one for tea, sugar, flour, oats. No one has those anymore. We do have the ceramic canister version of it -- for sugar, brown sugar.

Also, the tea kettle is rapidly becoming a dinosaur in a lot of homes. Most people just put water in a mug and nuke it in the microwave. I think heavy tea drinkers still have kettles though so they can make tea for more than one person at a time. It is one of the first things I bought (at Target) in 1995 when I got my first apartment.

 

[Dawgluver]

I have copper canisters that I inherited for sugar, flour, etc., still use 'em. They have a bit of patina on them now. I also use my SS tea kettle regularily for boiling water for steeping jamaica (hibiscus) tea. I have a big pitcher of it in the fridge!

 

[Cheryl J]

I have a SS tea kettle that whistles, and I love it. My daughter bought it for me a few years ago. I also have storage canisters for flour and sugar, etc., but they're in glass containers with rubber sealed lids in the cupboards. I don't want them on the countertops and have to clean around them.

Hmmm....I'll have to think about my grandma's kitchen and things I don't see any more. Other than wood stoves, but some folks here might still have them. I'm lookin' at you, Rugged Dude.

 

[Dawgluver]

Both my gramma and my great aunt regularily made coffee in the percolator. Aunt's coffee could disintegrate a spoon, or a dead body, it was so strong.

They also both had citrus squeezers, a ridged glass thing that sat on a pitcher.

 

[blissful]

Things you don't see in people's kitchens anymore:

A mother giving birth on the kitchen table, that's how my dad was born.
(yes the same table we ate graham crackers on)
A paid maid and cook.
Slaves.
A table for the hired help.
A kettle to boil water for baths.
Salt and Pepper shakers that look like roosters.
A gun rack.
A bucket under the sink for the waste water.
A roll of toilet paper or the sears catalog next to the door for those visiting the outhouse.

 

[Addie]

I have copper canisters that I inherited for sugar, flour, etc., still use 'em. They have a bit of patina on them now. I also use my SS tea kettle regularily for boiling water for steeping jamaica (hibiscus) tea. I have a big pitcher of it in the fridge!

I have a RevereWare tea kettle with a copper bottom. I received it as a present more than 40 years ago. I use it all the time. When I make a pot of tea, there is a big difference between heating up water in the microwave and starting with cold water in the tea kettle to bring it to a boil.

I also have my mothers wire pastry blender and use it for making biscuits. I used to have a wooden cutlery tray for your tableware. It finally gave up the fight and fell completely apart.

I miss going out into the countryside with my sister and finding yard sales. I have a table cloth that was made from a sheet and is all hand embroidered. I treasure that.

Remember those kitchen service spoons with the green or red handle. I have one of the large spoons. Most of the paint is worn off. Perfect for scooping out the stuffing from inside the bird. Yeah, I prefer old to new any day.

 

[Dawgluver]

Addie, you reminded me of the embroidered dishtowels my gramma and her friends shared with each other. I also have a cute collection of Gramma's aprons. I use them decoratively.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My canisters are in the cupboards, they are airtight bins with scoops in them. I have 4 sets of Rooster S&P shakers, I also have a severe tea kettle/pot fetish. I have more than one sitting on the stove. My rolling pin is proudly displayed and used frequently. There is a dishwasher that I do mot use, do not want. A compost bucket on the counter. Although I do have an electric pressure cooker that I can also use to brown meat, cook rice and use as a slow cooker.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Parts of my kitchen look like they're out of the 1950's to 1970's! I have and use my folks old wooden bread box, I have an antique drying rack that holds all sorts of tea towels and an old flour sack. I have a collection of aprons, some of which my Mom made, that have been on display and/or put to work. I even used a couple as a valance over the kitchen window! I use my Mom's old wooden-knobbed sifter for powder sugar now, since I have my "new" one for flour. It was given to me at my wedding shower 40+ years ago. Lots of old stuff in my kitchen that still gets put to work - including ME!

...Also, the tea kettle is rapidly becoming a dinosaur in a lot of homes. Most people just put water in a mug and nuke it in the microwave...

Serious tea drinkers don't nuke water for tea, though. You need to start with fresh cold water, then bring it to the proper temperature for the tea type. Since I drink mostly black teas, a full boil is fine. Sometimes, though, we have green or white tea. Those are the times I wish I had one of those glass Chinese water kettles so I could watch the bubbles form just right. Mostly, though, because I'm a kitchen tchotchke freak.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I still keep my Revere whistling teakettle on the stove and use it every day!

In my kitchen the steam iron and the ironing board are missing. When I was growing up they seemed be a constant fixture along with the wooden clothes bars. The clothes bars were used to dry a few clothes that had been hand washed in the kitchen sink.

It is fun to play this game in reverse with a group of young children. Go around the room and point out all of the things that did not exist when you were a kid then discuss how you survived without them. It amazes the kids and makes you feel really, really old!!!

 

[Andy M.]

I remember my Mom's canisters. Really ugly. I have no room for canisters in my small kitchen. Sugar and rice are in plastic half gallon bottles with screw tops. Born sugar and kosher salt are in their boxes, all in cabinets. Flours are in their bags in the basement pantry annex.

 

[Addie]

Addie, you reminded me of the embroidered dishtowels my gramma and her friends shared with each other. I also have a cute collection of Gramma's aprons. I use them decoratively.

Oh my! My father taught me to embroider on those dishtowels. Each day of the week was a different chore. My father did beautiful needle work. He did a peacock with his tail feather fully spread. My mother framed it and hung it.

He was the baby of five children. Spoiled rotten by his mother and four sisters. Hung onto his mother's apron until he married my mother. She was the one who taught him to do needlework. He was also the only child that had bright red curly hair. Certainly didn't look like any half breed Native American, except for his high pronounced cheek bones. Hmmm.... Makes one wonder.

 

[medtran49]

Oh my! My father taught me to embroider on those dishtowels. Each day of the week was a different chore. My father did beautiful needle work. He did a peacock with his tail feather fully spread. My mother framed it and hung it.
.

I remember a dresser scarf I did as a young girl, had peacocks with tails down and up on it, as well as the Taj Mahal on it. It was so pretty but I have no idea what happened to it. Think we bought the pattern and materials at Kresge's. Wish I still had the pattern (I've looked several times on-line, no luck). DD would love something like that.

 

[Mad Cook]

When I was a kid in the late 1970's, I recall going over to the neighbor lady's house with my mom, and they'd have coffee. The lady had 4 or 5 wooden boxes on the counter -- one for coffee, one for tea, sugar, flour, oats. No one has those anymore. We do have the ceramic canister version of it -- for sugar, brown sugar.

Also, the tea kettle is rapidly becoming a dinosaur in a lot of homes. Most people just put water in a mug and nuke it in the microwave. I think heavy tea drinkers still have kettles though so they can make tea for more than one person at a time. It is one of the first things I bought (at Target) in 1995 when I got my first apartment.

I have an electric kettle and an enamel stove top one, too, as back-up. I also have a tea pot - well, three teapots, actually. (Different sizes for different numbers of people.)

I also have a little gadget that makes just one cup at a time. More economical in use than the electric kettle.

 

[Addie]

I remember a dresser scarf I did as a young girl, had peacocks with tails down and up on it, as well as the Taj Mahal on it. It was so pretty but I have no idea what happened to it. Think we bought the pattern and materials at Kresge's. Wish I still had the pattern (I've looked several times on-line, no luck). DD would love something like that.

I just Googled the following. I do believe you will find what you have been looking for at Etsy. They have one pattern left. If that is not it, there are plenty of other peacock patterns to choose from.

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...43US543&q=Embroidered+peacocks+dresser+scarfs

 

[Steve Kroll]

My grandmother had a room just off the kitchen in their farmhouse that had a sink with one of these:

If you think about it, though, the pump in this painting couldn't possible be functional, as the handle would hit the cupboard behind it.

 

[roadfix]

We did away with whistling kettles. I love them but after a few incidents (over the years) of forgetting and leaving them completely dry, unattended, over the lit stove, we finally switched over to an electric kettle several years ago.

 

[sparrowgrass]

My Pittsburgh grandma had a big roaster on a stand. My Missouri grandma had a gallon Dazey churn on the top of her fridge. They both had tiny refrigerators, with just enough room for an icecube tray in the freezer.

Hand egg beaters and potato mashers. Granny forks--the kind with a wooden handle and 2 or 3 sharp prongs. Flat wire whisks for beating egg whites on a plate. I have all of those except the egg beater--and I use them.

 

[Addie]

I still keep my Revere whistling teakettle on the stove and use it every day!

In my kitchen the steam iron and the ironing board are missing. When I was growing up they seemed be a constant fixture along with the wooden clothes bars. The clothes bars were used to dry a few clothes that had been hand washed in the kitchen sink.

It is fun to play this game in reverse with a group of young children. Go around the room and point out all of the things that did not exist when you were a kid then discuss how you survived without them. It amazes the kids and makes you feel really, really old!!!

I had a Pyrex kettle when the kids were small. Also a Pyrex double boiler.
My mother had a Hoosier Cabinet with a flour bin that worked. I don't know what happened to it when my father died. My mother kept the dish towels in the top side drawer and the small wide front drawer was the junk drawer. She knew exactly what part of that drawer something was. She would ask me to get her something from it and I would tell her I couldn't find it. "If I have to get up and get it myself, you are going to be punished. You are not even looking. It is in the left corner way in the back behind whatever." Sure enough, there it was.

 

[Addie]

My grandmother had a room just off the kitchen in their farmhouse that had a sink with one of these:

If you think about it, though, the pump in this painting couldn't possible be functional, as the handle would hit the cupboard behind it.

We had one of them in the summer kitchen where all the canning was done. Always had a large jug of water sitting under the sink to prime it.