Forget about those GE Wonder Kitchens

[jakins]

How about a 1937 Westinghouse kitchen. I would almost kill for this, esp. the dishwasher sink. I hope someone can save it. I contacted the seller to see if they would sell only the electric sink they will but for $1200.00 they also sent me some pics of the inside of the dishwasher.

http://https//stlouis.craigslist.org/atq/d/1937-westinghouse-kitchen/6341841880.html

 

[peteski50]

GE Wonder Kitchens!

I never would have thought they would have made a dishwasher like that back in 1937!

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you have seen any films of the 1939 World's Fair the Westinghouse pavilion had a kitchen with one of these. These were the Conover designed machines.

This film of the Middleton Family at the Fair shows the Westinghouse kitchen. The daughter is played by Marjorie Lord, who, in the 50s and early 60s, played Danny Thomas' wife on Make Room for Daddy.

http://https//archive.org/details/middleton_family_worlds_fair_1939

 

[norgeway]

I knew a guy

Who went to the 39 Worlds Fair and saw the Westinghouse kitchen display, as soon as they got home , his parents had the complete kitchen installed,He remembered you had to time the cycles yourself, it was NOT fully automatic, You turned on the water for so many minutes etc..

 

[turquoisedude]

Swoon!!  What an amazing time capsule kitchen.  I don't know if they staged the photos or if the former owners just walked away from the kitchen and its contents. The accessories and dishes sure looked original.

 

I have never seen a Conover style dishwasher like this in the wild. One of their models had a window in the door!

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you watch the movie, you will see the 1939 television receivers where the tube was vertical and you watched the image reflected in a mirror tilted over the tube. When the boy is in front of the camera, the image behind him is the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge in Pittsburgh. I believe I read somewhere that it was the first to be designed with electrical lighting, but I can't recall now. I think it was in one of those electrical manufacturing magazines.

The answer to the question about the gusty winds is wily wily, a word for a dust devil from an Australasian Aboriginal language.

Note how the coffee returns to the lower bowl between 5:00 and 5:26 in the buffet set up on the sofa table, a common piece of furniture in those years. A neighbor found one in a second hand furniture place, had the legs shortened, painted it and used it as a coffee table on her screened porch.

http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=pennsylvania/westinghouse/

 

[tomturbomatic]

In the first picture of the kitchen, you will see, on the left side of the counter, the same Westinghouse vacuum coffee maker as in the Middleton movie.

 

[gansky1]

Good eye, Tom, I wondered what that glass was.

I have a Westinghouse parts book with this dishwasher/sink in it, couldn't believe it when I first came across it. I have seen pictures of a kitchen in the old power company building that had a Westinghouse kitchen set up as a classroom/lecture room, dishwasher and all. They probably did cooking classes and 'living better electrically' seminars on how to get the most out of your new electric service -- and buy appliances through the utility.

It's a very beautiful kitchen, from the handles to the original appliances. I love the big windows letting light in. A bit hopeful on the price, but you never know. Pulling site-built wood cabinets and refitting them in a new space wouldn't be easy or fun.

Is there any more of the story of how the kitchen came be unused and preserved?

 

[spacepig]

This was actually for sale by someone else on Facebook last month. The kitchen is located in West Frankfort, Ill which is fairly close to my in-laws. I was going to purchase just the metal cabinets and appliances sans stove and have my f-i-l go pick them up for me, but the seller found someone willing to buy the whole thing, which I guess is the person now selling them on craigslist. The previous owner was selling the whole kitchen for 1K. I wish I could have gotten them back then

 

[ovrphil]

Interesting find! I thought the ad was nice enough to find a clearer (easier to read) example, so here it is. It would still be fun to have such a kitchen, though the 30's designs are a little further away from my prefs. Thanks again for posting!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow that is a dream dishwasher!!!! Really that's the very first front loading dishwasher. Automatic timers were just being perfected by Bendix at this time, so I'm not surprised it's a manual cycle as were all other dishwashers at this time.