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The kitchens are like the size of a closet!
ReplyDeleteThere were two appliances: The stove and the refrigerator. Food was purchased daily or every other day. There wasn't much pre-packaged food. People ate more simply but better (as evidenced by the lack of fatties in the pics). Space was sufficient for the intended use of the room.
ReplyDeleteIn many of those homes, at that time, (and I know cause I was a kid in the 50's) they rarely purchased food. Most of what they ate they grew it in their gardens, or raised and butchered it and put it in big deep freezers, and canned it and stored it in a pantry or, more likely, shelves in the basement.
DeletePeople did shop more when they lived in areas that had shopping available during the days of the booming suburbs. Remember, this was the post war era that brought so much economic strength to the country, since the US was the one of the few participating countries, like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, during the war that did NOT see direct damage from battles, invasions, bombings, etc. Our infrastructure was not destroyed, like so many European countries did. So, we didn't have to spend time, money or materials in rebuilding our country from literally the ground up. We had a booming economy, a broadening middle class, an immediate investment in our veterans, male and female, who were eligible to attend college or vocational training on the GI Bill, buy a farm or a business to grow on the same GI Bill, and buy a home in the brand new suburbs with a no money down GI Loan.
DeleteSo, people worked hard during the Great Depression, during the World War II years, then working hard going to college and working part time, working to support the husband in college, then during the Korean conflict that came along 5 years after the end of the War, and following all THAT, they kept on working, to make a success of their lives.
Even those who did not go to college, but got jobs in all of the expanding industries that had a lot of catch-up to do to supply the civilian market that had spent a whole 15 years in economic disasters from The Depression, and then the war. The military industrial complex was all new, and needing lots of people to work to support our defense. Plus a new full strength permanent standing Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Air Force coming on its own in 1948. In other words, people just worked! Many worked physically, harder than anyone would generally have to work so hard again. They rose early, worked long days, went to bed early. The rise of the fast food industry was still in its infancy. People ate at home. They cooked their meals at home. There were few opportunities for stuffing oneself with more than they needed, although a few tried!
Many of the people you see in these photos grew up during the Great Depression, and their nutritional needs were rarely met completely. The percentage of young men turned away from the draft during WWII was relatively high, producing a lot of 4-Fs, and the Depression was the reason. People who grew up that way rarely changed that much later on. Their "growing days" were over by the 1950s. And their parents didn't fare much better either.
Thanks for a splendid edifying note!
DeleteI do believe I've been in some of these very kitchens.
ReplyDelete