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

[Addie]

My mother's first fridge was a used Monitor with the motor on top. Before that we had an icebox. It was my job to empty the drip pan every day. My best friends father was our iceman. When I moved in here, his son lived here also. He took over the business when his father fell ill.

When I got married, I got that Monitor and my father bought her a brand new one from Sears.

 

[medtran49]

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

Thanks, but unless I missed something, didn't see anything that had both the taj and peacocks on it.

 

[Cheryl J]

My grandmother had a huge 2 story house with maid's quarters right off the kitchen. It was the cutest little tiny bedroom with adjoining bath. My brother and I used to argue over who got to sleep in there when we'd go visit her as kids.

One thing I don't see much in kitchens anymore, thank goodness, are those hideous appliance colors such as harvest gold and avocado green. We lived in a house out in the country when I was a kid that had a turquoise stovetop, oven and refrigerator.

 

[Addie]

How many of your mothers' had a big brown bowl for mixing? Mine did and it was passed around with all the neighbors. That bowl made for some great stuffing.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My grandmother had a huge 2 story house with maid's quarters right off the kitchen. It was the cutest little tiny bedroom with adjoining bath. My brother and I used to argue over who got to sleep in there when we'd go visit her as kids.

One thing I don't see much in kitchens anymore, thank goodness, are those hideous appliance colors such as harvest gold and avocado green. We lived in a house out in the country when I was a kid that had a turquoise stovetop, oven and refrigerator.

You been peeking in my kitchen....

 

[jd_1138]

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.

Well we have a paid cook/maid for 2 days a week anyway. Wife has a crushed disc in her back and can barely walk let alone do any chores. And between me working 50 hours a week, taking care of her, her disabled brother, the dogs, the house, the laundry, cooking, shopping, etc. I was kinda tired. I hired a young mother who goes to our church. She has another client.

She cleans the house, organizes it, does all the laundry, makes up the beds, makes casseroles for 3 or 4 nights of dinners. Pretty much a Godsend. I'd probably be pushing up daisies if I had to do all this work.

People don't hire maids/cooks anymore. I think that's partly why unemployment is so high the last 30 years. There used to be a lot more people employed in other people's homes. I think like up until the 1940s(?) even most middle class people had at least a PT maid. Granted the percentage of people in the middle class was probably low back then. Most were barely making it.

 

[jd_1138]

My grandmother had a huge 2 story house with maid's quarters right off the kitchen. It was the cutest little tiny bedroom with adjoining bath. My brother and I used to argue over who got to sleep in there when we'd go visit her as kids.

One thing I don't see much in kitchens anymore, thank goodness, are those hideous appliance colors such as harvest gold and avocado green. We lived in a house out in the country when I was a kid that had a turquoise stovetop, oven and refrigerator.

Yep, now those colors are popular for cars! And appliances are white, off white, and beige.

My mother's house was built in 1905. There's a tiny bedroom right around the corner from the kitchen. Maybe that was the maid's quarters? It's the most original room in the entire house -- has original hardwood floors and wood trimwork around the doors and windows. And the bathroom next to it has the original clawfoot tub and a small pedestal sink.

 

[Cheryl J]

You been peeking in my kitchen....

Gold is better than turquoise! JMHO. Back then our neighbors had pink appliances. Things sure have changed over the years!

I read an article on FB recently that said the pink tile and sinks in bathrooms is making a comeback. Old is new again!

 

[Dawgluver]

Gold is better than turquoise! JMHO. Back then our neighbors had pink appliances. Things sure have changed over the years!

I read an article on FB recently that said the pink tile and sinks in bathrooms is making a comeback. Old is new again!

My parents' house was decorated in pink and turquoise many eons ago. Everything, including the sinks, tub, and toilets were pink. And when DH and I got together, he had Harvest Gold and Avocado appliances, along with an orange shag carpet at his house! Eventually we fixed that.

 

[Janet H]

Stuff you don;t see in kitchens these days?

Pie safes
A wood stove
A ice box (that takes block ice)
Long drain boards
A pantry cabinet with built in bins for flour and sugar storage
Oil cloth table covers
real linen towels

 

[jd_1138]

That old faucet is pretty cool.

My uncle lived out in the woods. His "kitchen" was a piece of plywood screwed into some 2x4 ledgers on the wall. There was a meat grinder bolted to the edge. He had 3 or 4 rifles on the kitchen wall, sink was a metal washtub. I opened the pantry and there was only like a salt shaker, pepper shaker, garlic salt, and a few cans of veggies.

Flies buzzing around. It was like something out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sheesh.

 

[Aunt Bea]

When I was in about the 5th or 6th grade my mother remarried and we moved into a little village. The house was a precut bungalow, built in the 1920's, from a company called Aladdin Homes. In the kitchen floor was a small hole that had been the drain for the old oak icebox. The large white wall hung kitchen sink had a porcelain drain board and three taps, one for hot, cold and cistern. The cistern was a large copper tub in the attic that collected rain water from the roof. The cistern had been disconnected by the time we came along. The sink remained for many years after we moved in, then came the big remodel in the 1970's complete with avocado green appliances!

 

[Cheryl J]

Dawg....my first house had green shag carpeting - well, can't really call it carpeting because it was those stick on 'carpet tiles'. LOL. Those went away very soon after we moved in.

JD....wow, you are a very busy guy. I'm really glad that you make the time to come in here and visit with us. Sending hugs to you.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's stories here!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...People don't hire maids/cooks anymore...

Yup, what Cheryl said, jd. ~~ My best friend back home used to have a cleaning lady come every week. I love my friend even more than I could love a blood sister if I had one, but you could not pay me enough to clean her house. She is a 1000% certified clutter-bug. She's probably doing her own cleaning now; her hubby was forced to retire when he turned 66. Gotta tighten the purse strings somehow.

Stuff you don;t see in kitchens these days?

...real linen towels

Come visit me, Janet. I have real linen towels in my kitchen. They hang on a vintage drying rack I got years ago, and I use them regularly for produce and fine glassware.

 

[Addie]

Stuff you don;t see in kitchens these days?

Pie safes
A wood stove
A ice box (that takes block ice)
Long drain boards
A pantry cabinet with built in bins for flour and sugar storage
Oil cloth table covers
real linen towels

I learned to cook on a wooden stove. To this day I can tell the temp of the oven by sticking my hand in it. We also had an icebox. And she had that Hoosier Cabinet with the flour bin and sifter on the bottom. It held 10 pounds of flour. We also had a kitchen table that was all metal and there were two leaves, one at each end. You pulled them out to make it bigger. We also had a double white sink on two legs and the faucets came out of the wall. The top of the deep sink that was on the left was removable for rinsing laundry.

My mother's first washing machine was a Kenmore wringer washer along with a Kenmore fridge and television. The washer was on wheels. You pushed it over to the sink and hung the drain hose over the smaller sink, and would swing the wringer over the deep sink filled with cold water for rinsing. Then you put the laundry through the wringer again so it went into a large laundry basket placed on the floor. The laundry was not ready to hang on the clothesline that was strung between two buildings on a pulley. On the farm, it was strung between the summer kitchen and the barn. When we moved to the city, it was strung between the next door building or a telephone pole and the side of our window. I still miss hanging out laundry and the smell of when you brought it in.

BTW, this is another great thread. Really enjoying it. Thanks.

 

[Addie]

Yup, what Cheryl said, jd. ~~

Come visit me, Janet. I have real linen towels in my kitchen. They hang on a vintage drying rack I got years ago, and I use them regularly for produce and fine glassware.

My mother had real linen cloths. She received her mother's silverware set. Her older sister had kept it for her and gave it to her when she married. It came out every holiday and she used the linen cloths for the final polishing. We would sit down at the table together. She would apply the polish and I gave it the final polish with the linen clothes after it was all washed clean of any polish she might have missed. Those cloths were only used for that purpose. They got washed immediately after we were through. Washed by hand of course.

I was born between two worlds. Growing up during the days of the outhouse to outer space. Pumping water in the summer kitchen to running water in the regular kitchen and then to bottled water.

BTW, do any of you remember having a stack gas heater for hot water? We had one in the kitchen with a large tank of water right beside it. You had to heat it up to do laundry, dishes and take a bath.

 

[jd_1138]

I was born between two worlds. Growing up during the days of the outhouse to outer space. Pumping water in the summer kitchen to running water in the regular kitchen and then to bottled water.

BTW, do any of you remember having a stack gas heater for hot water? We had one in the kitchen with a large tank of water right beside it. You had to heat it up to do laundry, dishes and take a bath.

I remember watching Ode to Billie Joe (set in the 1950's) in the late 1970's when I was a small kid. And the scene where they get an indoor toilet puzzled me. My mom explained that she had an outhouse when she was little in the 1950's in Mississippi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaRacIzZSPo

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Stuff you don;t see in kitchens these days?

Pie safes
A wood stove
A ice box (that takes block ice)
Long drain boards
A pantry cabinet with built in bins for flour and sugar storage
Oil cloth table covers
real linen towels

Lehman's.com or Vermont country store has those. I'm getting one for the next Thanksgiving I host.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

PF, you can also buy oilcloth by the yard. As long as you have a way to finish the edge, you would have sooooo many choices! There are lots of sites that googled up. Here's one of them: Oilcloth by the Yard

..We also had a kitchen table that was all metal and there were two leaves, one at each end...

Himself's family had a metal one that pulled apart to drop a leaf in. Meanwhile, back in my kitchen, I still have an old metal table. I usually keep the side by the chair up, and use it as a work table to trim beans, peel apples, etc. The other end is just across from the fridge. I lock it up when I'm pulling things from the fresh or frozen compartments when I really have to do a deep dive. It's my cheapskate's version of a cooking island.

When we got that table from my aunt and uncle decades ago, the top was completely covered in green marble contact paper. I left it like that until I decided to promote it upstairs. I was surprised how new looking the Formica was. I had figured my aunt covered it to hide some sins.

 

[Addie]

As a child, a lot of my friends homes had an oilcloth on their kitchen table. The edges were always cut with pinking shears. If their kitchen table was wood, then you can bet it was covered in oilcloth. Since we had an all metal one, my mother never had the table covered except on holidays. The she used a nice tablecloth.

What I remember about oilcloth is that in the summer before AC, it would get very sticky, no matter how much you cleaned it. Try leaning your arms on it or playing cards. Then if you put a hot plate of food on it, it would stick to it.