This 50's kitchen..

[jeffg]

Any comments? I see a few good ideas, but overall I think this design would be a functional nightmare. Very little food prep area, cubboard doors angled downwards, and with that much floor space, why would they wedge the oven and cooktop area against the wall like that?

Also, anyone know what the two devices built into the wall under the range hood are? Outlet centers maybe?

http://mcmleague.org/?page_id=100

 

[scoots]

Hi Jeff,

I'm an architectural draftsman, and I get to see a lot of WEIRD ideas regarding kitchens, but keep in mind this illustration is meant to be a sales tool, so functionality takes a backseat to novelty. Plus, the layout is like the kitchen you'd see in a play, with only two walls (the other two walls "don't exist", so the appliance placement and counter top space is rather artificial).

 

[sudsmaster]

Yeah, it's a weird kitchen all right.

Notice how nothing seems to be in right proportion.

I figure the little panels above the cooking area are controls for the heating elements. Or something.

Hanging that oven off the wall with nothing underneath - strange!

Also can't figure out what brand those appliances are supposed to be.

And it looks like the housewife is lowering an 8 track audio tape cassette into the cooktop!

 

[sudsmaster]

And what's that Hubby is smoking? And what's up with his limp left wrist?

 

[jamman_98]

Everything old is new again

1950's kitchen in stainless steel. 2008 what does everyone want? stainless steel.

jamman_98
Joe

 

[danemodsandy]

This Is a Hotpoint Ad:

Those are Hottie appliances, from around 1955. The long counter where the woman is standing contains 2 cooktop units, with a griddle in between; those are controls on the backsplash behind them.

Those canted-font cabinets really did exist; most of them had sliding doors. They weren't hugely popular - another '50s "idea of the future" that didn't really pan out.

At the time, that range hood would have been custom.

 

[everythingold]

Nothing is new, I love finding 50's stainless. And (holy Sh**)they weren't afraid of pinK!

 

[sdlee]

I think the floating oven is backed by windows that are frosted, seems to be a set by the smoking man tor maybe that whole wall where he is sitting is glass.wouldnt it be cool to see this same kitcen in those other colors listed.
i dont like that fridge at all, very mourge looking.

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Rich, he's simply casually relaxed

in his lovely wife's stunning new Customeline Kitchen. I think she is getting ready to check something in a frying pan
(Revereware), or has just checked it. He appears to be "smoking" an apple , or some other smokable red fruit!

 

[launderess]

As usual, such things are were and still are designed by men who will never have to use them. Same thing happens in all other areas as well.

Hosptials for instance were famous for having rooms laid out, equipment and so forth designed without a thought given to the nurses (mostly female), that had to work in and with the things.

 

[countryford]

Hotpoint

That wall oven and cooktop are made by Hotpoint. I have the same thing. I don't have pictures of the cook top, but it was two seperate units. One had two burners on it whereas the other unit had one burner and a broiler well. But this is what the wall oven looks like.

 

[golittlesport]

Cool! We had that same stainless steel Hotpoint oven in the house I grew up in, built in 1958. It had a different door handle, but the controls were identical. On the counter next to it was a stainless steel Hotpoint cook top with four burners color-coded to the control knobs.

 

[paulg]

Early design features.

I think those two items on the wall under the range hood are mail slots. The one on the left is local mail while the other is out-of-town. The busy housewife must manage her time! The item in the middle of the two cooktops is a Hotpoint baby scale.
Note the oven. With a push of a button is glides up and down its tracks to accommodate midgets.
The fey man is holding a "Velcro" ball. He throws them at his ladyfriend hoping one will stick. Notice one did stick over her left boob.

 

[sudsmaster]

Paul,

LOL!

If there is a baby scale, where is the baby? In the oven? Or has Mr. Velcro Balls not yet mustered up the soldiers for the necessary engagement?

 

[passatdoc]

Mom's 1961 kitchen

I think the man is eating an apple, which makes sense since the kitchen appears so non-functional.

When I was five, we moved to a home built in the 1930s with the original kitchen. With a month, Mom had the kitchen gutted. In its place rose maple cabinets with white ceramic pulls, matching white Formica countertops, a steel Tappan electric cooktop, and a steel Frigidaire electric double wall oven (the kitchen had a gas line, since the range that came with the house was an old white gas model, but mom elected an electric cooktop).

The pieces de resistance were the garbage disposal and the KitchenAid dishwasher (thanks to Unimatic for the photo of a similar model) with custom panel to match the cabinet. I remember neighbors coming over to admire the first dishwasher and first disposal they had ever seen outside of an appliance store (this was an upper middle class neighborhood where most houses were built in the 1930s, and the kitchens were in various stages of remodelling---or often still original).

An enclosure was built around the 1950s GE refrigerator, which my father referred to as a "fridgidare", using the brand name as a common noun. Oh yeah, the garbage disposal was a "disposall", again using a brand name as a common noun.

Mom was doing stainless steel before it was big.

PS: don't ask me how well the Pots & Pans (Utility & Utensil) cycle worked. Because Mom misplaced the instruction manual, she was afraid to use that cycle since she didn't know what the button would do (hello? how about calling KitchenAid or the appliance store?) so for FOURTEEN YEARS, we used only Rinse & Hold or Full Cycle. NEVER used Utility & Utensil, EVER. But everything came out clean cuz it was a KitchenAid! Of course, only Cascade powder would suffice for this workhorse of a dishwasher. We moved away from that house 14 years later and I do not know how much longer the dishwasher kept going....or what happened if the new owners pushed the dreaded Utility & Utensil cycle button.

 

[passatdoc]

PS

Never used the plate warmer feature, either, although Mom did seem to know what it was. I think when she needed to warm plates, she used the smaller (lower unit) wall oven. The problem was that the dishwasher was almost never empty and she didn't want clean plates to be mixed with unwashed ones (plus the heat of Plate Warming might bake on food residue on the dirty plates).

 

[Cybrvanr]

ADA compliant!

I will say that a kitchen like this would work great for someone confined to a wheelchair. The very open area is good for someone to maneuver a wheelchair through, then the user could wheel right underneath the countertops to prepare food, or remove food from the oven. Those slanted overhead cabinet doors would work out good too, since the doors would swing down and out, and allow the person to grab something inside a little bit easier from the higher shelves (pending they could reach them). The proportions are all out of wack in the picture, but when the "real thing" is built, adjustments could be made to make things more reachable.

Today, you see some of these design features in homes designed for people confined to wheelchairs.

 

[maytagbear]

I have helped design some*

universal design kitchens, and this is a decent starting place, but more would need to be done.

*I am in no way a CKD, (Certified Kitchen Designer,) and my comments should not be construed as such, just as an interested person).

The sink and dishwasher are not idea for a wheelchair user...there should be a kneehole space, and the dishwasher could be elevated about 3-5 inches.

There appears to be no heat-resistant spot near the oven for landing items just out of the oven. Should be a similar place near the refrigerator for landing and loading.

However, this is a reasonable start.

Lawrence/Maytagbear