Vintage Thingies Thursday - 1943 Cookbook & Kitchen of Tomorrow

This week I am showing two things from 1943: The Joy of Cooking (1943 edition) and a postcard of the "Kitchen of Tomorrow."

My cookbook has the blue plaid cover like the one my mother had. I don't know whether my mother had the 1943 or 1946 edition. Both the 1943 and 1946 editions have blue covers. The two editions are apparently very similar except for the material at the end. My 1943 edition is the wartime edition and has sections on "Sugarless and Sugar-saving Recipes for Cakes, Cookies and Desserts" and "Meat Stretching. Meat Substitutes and Supplementary Dishes."

The "Kitchen of Tomorrow" shown on this postcard was designed by Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company "to demonstrate how glass can add to the convenience and livability of homes of the future." The postcard doesn't really show how very unusual this kitchen really is. I looked at some old magazine articles in the library to find more information and pictures (Life, August 9, 1943; Better Homes & Gardens, July, 1943).

Everything is built-in under or behind glass. The refrigerator is in the divider between the kitchen and dining area and can be opened from either side. The sink has no faucet handles, which the designer considered a hazard to dishes. The water was controlled by foot pedals. A built-in vegetable drawer rolls food forward when opened.

The picture below is from the Better Homes and Gardens article and is described as follows:

Today's hodgepodge of equipment gives way to continuous counter with everything built in, handier to use and quick to wipe clean. At extreme left is the oven; next, opened up, the cooking unit; next, closed into the counter so you don't see it, the mixer and juicer; then storage bins, pretty girl at sink, and more storage bins rounding the corner to the refrigerator with china cabinet above.

click picture to enlarge it

Vintage Thingies Thursdays