Oh, thank you, Pinch_me, for resurrecting this video. I love it!
Cj

I LOVE this! It's my grandmother's kitchen - with a lot of extra bells and whistles. Where's my "food storage room"??

That is fantastic! Thanks for posting!

Spectacular! I want a potato and onion bin and the flour and sugar bin and the lazy susans in the top and bottom - I could learn to like top cabinets with those - and the baking center with the low cutting board and...

It's amazing that kitchen designed moved away from such efficiency and is now returning to it - we must always reinvent the wheel.

I really appreciate the video post, and, after exploring the Retro site for a bit, found and downloaded the plans to that kitchen. With a change here and there, it will be perfect for me! Thanks bunches.

ae2ga, where did you find the plans?? I was sorta looking for them but kept getting sidetracked. Each bright shiny object I see leads me in a new direction!

pinch me - that's my problem too. I'm about done with my kitchen, and then I see something "oh, that is neat!" and I'm trying to figure out how I can change things!

I've caught myself thinking "with the next house" and this one isn't done yet.

I sure hope there is a Ten Step program out there, I'm going to need it - or a marriage counselor.

Very cool. I had no idea there was such attention to kitchen design back in the 40's. Lord knows my mother's and grandmother's kitchens weren't this efficient. But those counters are so low it makes my back hurt just to look at them. And did you notice that the credits at the beginning listed the designer of the "Functional House Dresses"?

Warmfridge, I noticed the "functional house dresses" credit too!

That space is so efficient. I wonder why they didn't just go one step further and make it just a little bit prettier, too--just some more cheerful paint colors, and voila, that alone would've perked it up a lot.

I love all those bins. But I am wondering how to make them airtight... I can just picture moths and whatnot getting into the flour...

The link for the plans can be found down in the comments section. Here is it:

http://agnic.msu.edu/hgpubs/modus/morefile/hg14_51.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: mid-century kitchen plans

Pinch me- I love this kitchen! I wish they'd shown that 40 pound bag of flour! LOL

Thanks for the link...now, I have to go make some revisions to my plan :)

Love that kitchen! And I love this quote from the plans (thanks for posting those by the way):

***************
A pull-out rack at the right of the
range is for drying tea towels.
To meet safety requirements,
there is asbestos board on the
side of the rack next to the range.
To ventilate the rack, the asbestos
board and the toeboard are both
perforated.
***************

Because perforated asbestos is just what one wants in the modern well-planned kitchen. LOL!

(I do want the garbage hatch, though.)

We're not talking high-tech, so I imagine that it would be fairly simple to build the potato and onion bins under shelves nearer to the stove. And the garbage hatch would be great as a compost collector - it couldn't be too difficult to have the metal hatch part slide in and out for cleaning. Of course, I also have no interest in asbestos - perforated or not.

Never have I seen, nor would it have occurred to me to have lazy susans in an upper corner cabinet, but it's such a great idea, and it certainly solves the problem of how to reach those things in the far corner.

I really like this kitchen and will definitely have to add a number of these conveniences into my own plan.

Ten Step program can't come soon enough!!!

Flour didn't last long enough back then to get buggy. My mom kept her 25# in a metal lard bucket. Last time I saw one of those it was for sale for $75!! My sister and I "shop" those places just for the "Mother had one of those!" experiences. Back in the day, I bought flour in 25# sacks and sugar in 10# sacks. There weren't so many prepared foods and even though they were becoming popular I still baked from scratch. Those bins in the wall. I wish I would have done that. Not possible on the outside walls but could have been done on the inside walls. Much better use of space than a back splash.

(I was visiting with a friend who is 8 years younger than I am. I have an old calendar from a local grocery store hanging on my wall. He asked where that store was. We got into a conversation about it and he was incredulous at the small size of it. Then I reminded him the only things you bought at the store in 1950 was staples. Rich people probably bought prepared stuff - if it was available- but the people here- farmers and laborers- cooked meat and potatoes and a vegetable. Boughten bread was just catching on. We often had graham crackers with powdered sugar frosting between them for after school snacks. Or even soda crackers with frosting. It's a subject that comes up from time to time at work because 4 of 7 of us are 63-64 yrs. old. An apple and an orange in my Christmas sock was a treat. We didn't usually have fresh stuff. I suppose it was available but probably too expensive. My mother canned everything. And they ate like they did when they were young. There wasn't a new product introduced every day, filling the grocery shelves with even more to choose from so that's how the women I knew cooked. It's amazing how much the bare bones of the kitchens have not changed but our relationship with the food has.)

Paint colors. In 1949 we were recovering from WWII. It hadn't been that long since 1933. People were afraid to spend money. They had it because there was nothing to buy during the war. People had money because everyone had a job. Everything went toward the war effort. That explains the scarcity of metal objects from prewar years. Everything was turned in for scrap even if it was something good and useable.

The video wasn't supposed to show decor. It was to show efficiency. The lack of movie lighting didn't help either and don't forget the age of the video which wasn't a video back then. I'm sure the film degraded over time. I'm old enough to have seen some of those educational 8mm movies when I was in grade school. This looks about the same quality as the real thing 55 years ago!

The paint colors on my wall- and I'm pretty sure the kitchen became the kitchen (from the porch) in 1950- were apple green, flamingo pink, and sunny bright yellow paint then pink/gray/black wallpaper that looked like someone had dipped a string in paint and flopped it down on the paper. So from 1950 to probably 1970/early '80, those were the colors that room had been. I found the paint layers where I think a telephone had been on the wall. After that it was masonite and then paneling and then paper. I lost a lot of insulation taking those walls apart!

One of our St. Paul 1st tier suburb neighbors had a high-end one-story house with an innovative oval dining room in center of house, with curved walls on adjacent rooms. Very California rancho roof style and stucco on exterior walls. But...at the estate sale after she died, the lawyer looked at the ceiling and said, "Beaverboard! That's all the ceiling is, it's Beaverboard! (A compressed sawdust? spongy composite? substance in 1-2 foot rectangles in a mosaic ceiling much like subsequent asbestos tile ceilings.) And look at the 40 watt bulbs!"

It was a palace at the time it was built, probably about 1935. And the kitchen was as common, small, and old-timey as was possible. A servantless house, that's what it was, a servantless newly rich guy's house. He married a woman who would bake for him.
___
We had a tip-out bin in our 1947 house two blocks away. Two bags sat in the bottom of it, 10# of sugar and 25# of flour. (In later life, that's where 5 pounds of sugar and flour sat in airy solitude, unless a few bags of potato chips were thrown on top of them.) And all the spices were kept in a little doored cab aside the range in the upper cabs--less than a half cubic foot and crammed full of very old, very weak manufacturer's spice tins and bottles. My mother has never purchased a clove of real garlic in her whole life.

All the cabs were built on site by an old Swedish partner of Grandpa's, with visible hinges, inset doors, and shiny chrome arc handles. Baby blue cabs with yellow interiors.

In the 1960s, Dad installed a vent fan over the range on the wall so it vented into the garage.

Ah, reminiscence! Dad never saw that video. And he was a contractor!

The link below is to a blog of a woman who took pictures of the cabinets of a 1949 kitchen. I found it interesting (and instructive to my kitchen plan) to see actual pictures of parts of the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: parts of actual 1949 kitchen

Pinch me- That's so true, when you talk about the basic ingredients that everyone used for cooking! My grandmother grew up during the Depression and she always made sure all the grandkids learned how to sew, cook, bake, garden, knit, etc. She'd say, it's great things are good now, but times can turn around in a second...which is what happened to her family and all her friends, in the early 30's.

While I was growing up, I lived on Air Force bases, so why learn to cook and bake? But, I loved helping grandma, so I learned a lot. Now, I live on a farm, 30 miles from town...and I'm so glad I know how! I go through about five pounds of flour a week, too :)

ae2ga - I'm whimpering!! I would trade my new kitchen for that one! (I think. I do love my kitchen.)That posting was 2008; I hope they kept it. Pam at retrorenovation had a link to another steel cabinet kitchen. That's what I had growing up. Just the sink set of cabinets.

macybaby, You hit the nail n the head! "I've caught myself thinking "with the next house" and this one isn't done yet."

I didn't get to use all my ideas the first time around. And I probably won't live long enough to do this kitchen over again - at least I don't expect to. I WON'T move just to redo a kitchen. I'm afraid the gov'mint will take my acreage for the superhighway from Mexico to Canada. I am right smack dab in the way. They won't give me enough for it for me to replace it. I'm hoping I die first. I've even thought about a 2nd kitchen......Maybe in the basement but I get water there twice a year. My water table is so high I have to have my pet cemetery on the only high spot there is. Putting in my new leach field was a real problem mostly because I have a horse buried in the first choice spot so they had to go to the opposite side of the house for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: another old redo

pinch me - I sigh and swoon over the cabinet arrangement of these kitchens. The aqua retro is divine!

I am, at minimum, a year away from remodeling anything, and even then, insulation, electricity, plumbing, roofing, and water harvesting are going to have to come first - but, oh! to dream. Last night, I spent a few hours looking at kitchen cabinets that could be tranformed into this configuration - why do cabinets come with stupid ol' shelves anyway ;-). I did, however, find finished wood lazy susans very similar to the ones in the video and pictures. When I finally get to the kitchen, I will have the perfect plan to be sure. I sincerely thank you for posting this thread as you've taken my thinking and planning in a completely new direction which will allow me to actually create an efficiently usable kitchen, not just a pretty one.

I still love the flour bin, though I've not used copious amounts of flour in the last sixish months since the last of my little chicks have flown the nest. But I was that mom who made everything from scratch - always a marvel to my children's friends - and my grandsons are discovering the joy of really cooking - nothing from a box that was stored in the freezer.

dearliza, that's what I"m wondering. I want a "food storage room" too!

ae2ga, I put in lazy susan's after my kitchen was done. I bought mine on eBay and organize.com. I did both upper corners and I'll probably do the bottoms, too.

I used one set of regular lazy susans with the center pole and then I found some similar to these in the link that I could set on the existing shelves. These take up quite a bit of space so I'm still thinking about something different. However it does leave the surrounding area for smaller items that a freestanding susan wouldn't.

Here is a link that might be useful: lazy susan

I think my husband is going to ask our countertop garbage chute to be his Valentine he loves it so much.

Notice the assumption that the cook sits down for some tasks. Today's kitchens assume you are standing for all tasks.

I completely agree with ae2ga's first post and could've written this myself!
"Spectacular! I want a potato and onion bin and the flour and sugar bin and the lazy susans in the top and bottom - I could learn to like top cabinets with those - and the baking center with the low cutting board and... "

I love little bins and little storage things for specific purposes. If only I would've seen this video before planning my kitchen. haha...oh well, there's always teh next one, right?! :)

The tip-out flour bin in my grandmother's kitchen always held candy (spice drops and jelly beans, I remember) and other treats. It was heavy and all the grandkids knew that if they tried to sneak a sweet, the thing would slam shut on their fingers. No one dared. Even the adults were wary of it.

Was this particular one missing some sort of safety feature, or were they all like that, I wonder?

Mtnrderdux - You're so right! When I'm making a big dinner and have lots of peeling/chopping, I gather all of my supplies and take to the dining or living room so I can sit down. Why don't kitchens have seats?

Pinch me - Was it less expensive to put in your own lazy susans after the cabinets were purchased and installed? That sounds like a good idea.

ae2ga,

That's one of the reasons that I would have put a kitchen table in my design, but my kitchen is narrow and verrrry long so not conducive to a table, except to one end in the breakfast area.

I have seen some very high end designs with tables instead of islands and it's funny how it suddenly seems fresh!

I have to put in a good word here for ''America's Kitchens'' by Nancy Carlisle. Someone (?pinch) here on GW recommended this book several months ago, so I bought it, and it is fascinating. It's a history of kitchens in America, and focuses on the role of women in the kitchen and the home, as well as kitchen design. There are all sorts of great pictures, old advertisements, historical tidbits, recipes, you name it. Anyone who's interested in old kitchens should take a look at this book.

Here is a link that might be useful: America's Kitchens

pinch_me, thanks (kind of) for the retrorenovation.com link! I spent way more time last night wandering around that site than I should have. Love the aqua metal cabinets!

ae2ga,incrediblly less expensive to put in your own lazy susans after the cabinets were purchased and installed. Shop eBay for them. I want to say I paid $50 for the rod and shelves and maybe $30 each for the kind that sit on the existing shelf. And really look at your options. I bought the discontinued almond color. What do I care? The door is shut. Go to a web site that shows every susan there is then go to eBay and see if there is one in the size/shape you need. If not, you can make an alert when any are listed. And check at organize.com and sign up for their newsletter. Then if there's a sale you will know.
Between here and retrorenovation I don't get far from the computer. I have to get going on that 10 Step Program SOON. I have stuff to do.

-Notice the assumption that the cook sits down for some tasks. Today's kitchens assume you are standing for all tasks.-

Maybe because we don't sit down for anything? We're always on our way to or from. And I don't peel 10# of potatoes at a shot like I once did. I don't snap beans or shell peas. It doesn't take long to prepare meals these days with almost everything coming out of a can, package, or freezer.

-That's one of the reasons that I would have put a kitchen table in my design, but my kitchen is narrow and verrrry long so not conducive to a table, except to one end in the breakfast area. -

I made room for my round oak table. That was the reason for the cabs in a U. It's on casters so I roll it around to where I need it. It doesn't truely fit in my long narrow kitchen either but I WANTED it there. I'd lived without it for 6 years. I really missed it.

I'm drooling over the booths in the old kitchens. I'd like one of those. I did think I might do that; I had a small space where I could have done a booth for 2 but I ended up using that space for the microwave/toaster oven/cookbooks.

I have some space adjacent to the actual working kitchen that I could really do something with but my parrots live there and there is nowhere else to put them that works for them and me.

mmerg, my partner's mother's kitchen had those big flour bins, and he says they were very heavy even when empty. So maybe it was the nature of the beast?

Sitting down to work - we sit at the table if we can, when we're canning or freezing large quantities, but if it has to be done at the sink we stand up and moan and whine :) I brought a bar stool upstairs the other day when we were dealing with a lot of potatoes which were starting to sprout, but it doesn't help that much as you have to sit sideways at the sink.

remodelfla, that composting forum is a bit overwhelming - they don't call themselves composting whackos for nothing! But basic composting is very simple and there is info all over the net about it.

Does it attract rodents? It can do, if you have an open bin. The closed plastic bins will discourage them although rats will chew through plastic if they really want to get in. If you only have a small amount to compost you might be better off with an indoor worm bin.

breadboards! breadboards! That's the way to sit at a stool while working. Better on the back than angling the legs at a sink.

Pinch me - thanks so much for that kitchen tip. I am committed to my two jobs for at least another year to save for the house renovation, and finding ways to get what I want yet drop the 65 hours per week is such fab news.

I do so love that kitchen!

ae2ga, in my younger years I did the same 65+ hours 2 and sometimes 3 jobs. I was never home. I kept a package of doughnuts on the dash and a bag of candy bars on the seat. I am glad that's over. I feel like I'm in heaven now. One job, all my critters are here with me and if the weather is horrible, so what? I'm right here and don't have to worry about getting to them. My kitchen is wonderful and ditto my bathroom. And I can cook and eat real food instead of junk. It was worth it, I guess.

pinch me - that's kind of what I'm going for. I figure if I put in the extra work now,get an idea of how the renovating/remodeling process works, estimate costs and then add another 25%, work and save like crazy, I won't be overwhelmed with extra bills later.

At least, that's my hope. And I have to admit I rather enjoy the learning process which helps to keep me sane when I want nothing more than to stay home and take a nap.

mnerg -- when you mentioned your grandmother having candies in those flour bins I became absolutely flooded with memories of my grandmother's kitchen. Overwhelmed, engulfed in goose bumps. I haven't thought of that kitchen with any specificity in 30 years. It was dark and dank and smelly when I knew her and absolutely crammed in every possible nook or cranny with hard, wrapped candies -- unless they were unwrapped and melting. *She Had Flour Bins*! It never occurred to me to wonder what they really were, they were just this weird scary place there were more candies stored in. But _that's what they were_!!! I suppose that completely-overrun kitchen once functioned in a very orderly way. When I knew it there was moldering stuff everywhere, on all surfaces -- there were no surfaces, really. There was sliced ham in the refrigerator and little banks collecting coins for the grandkids (she would make the rounds of all the banks opening accounts and collecting freebies -- toasters and plastic blankets and dangerous heating blankets). And her counter was lined the whole way along with quite squat tip-out bins at counter height, actually and my brother and I used to wonder what they were. They were flour bins! Wow.

Oh my. I haven't *felt* her in so many years. Thank you for all these memories. Her kitchen also had all that metal-trimmed metal counters of the turqouise-reno-retro blog too. In fact, I think that place was turquoise but it was kinda dark and hard to tell.

warmfridge -- it may have been another who also recommended America's Kitchens, but I posted a link for it as well. I came across it while poking around in boxes for something or other. I never thought I'd discover any others as interested in the book as I! I'm thrilled you bought it.

Better equipped than our "modern" kitchens.....loved the video.

I'm loving the pull down bins!! We do a ton of baking, but, alas, we have had moth problems in the past. Anyone know how to get these as air tight as possible?

Also tell me more about the garbage chute honeychurch! We're doing a trash compactor, but I'd love a chute to send the recycling straight outside to the side of the house in some insulated manner.