Tale of Two Kitchens, A (ca. 1960)

[Music] this is a story of a kitchen or rather two of them one a new kitchen in this new house the other an old kitchen that belongs to but I'm getting ahead of my story let's go [Music] inside I thought John was coming with you You' be along any minute he was delayed at the office so you finally persuaded him to do something about that old kitchen of yours congratulations Mary I didn't have to be persuaded he realizes too there's nothing about me or our house a good kitchen wouldn't cure oh Elanor this is wonderful it's so roomy you know that's the thing about these modern kitchens Mary they're designed to be lived in Real Kitchen living rooms you know it's become our favorite place in the house what's more our Builder won the woman's Home Companion award for this kitchen what a lovely View you know it's really two rooms well actually Mary it's three rooms the laundry is over there in a little Al Cove all its own you go on cooking I'll explore I'm making a lemon marang pie it's Phil's favorite dish and we've only had it twice this [Music] week excuse me oh it's such a relief having an oven at this height that must be John I'll go let him [Music] in hi honey sorry I'm late say something smells good oh something looks good too hi John well I'm impressed you know it's so nice of you to let us come up here and get some ideas from your kitchen oh I'm happy to do it you uh you mind if I take some notes no go right ahead where do I start well let's see how about over here do you know this makes eye circles and puts them in a basket automatically I always have plenty and I never have to fuss with ice trays isn't that a beauty I can hardly wait to start our remodeling well I'm afraid it's going to be a lot tougher job than I thought all these cabinets appliances we're going to need some experts help who helped you oh our Builder did it so he's a kitchen dealer too I could have him call on you that' be fine oh it's going to be tough going back to our old kitchen after this but I guess I'll just have to GRE and bear it everything's so far apart in this kitchen and there's no place to set things when I take them from the refrigerator or the range I see no counter areas there is a lot of room for improvement in this kitchen we uh made some notes from a new kitchen of yours we saw yesterday oh these are fine and we certainly can give you the features that are best fitted to your needs a kitchen is like a suit or dress we tailor it to the family who will be using it also you can install a little at a time although that won't be as convenient for you as having it done all at once you think will be very hard to fit well you've got the space only it has to be reorganized so that it won't be just one big room with appliances strung out along the four walls cooking a meal in this kitchen is really exercise it won't be when I get through with it do you think it'll take very long to do over the whole thing oh not very actually the work can be finished in a few days because I can take care of the construction the plumbing the floor coverings the cabinets the appliances all in one operation that's the advantage of a kitchen dealer he can take care of everything including financing I'll bring you a model the next time make them a model what we call the mini kitchen it'll show you almost exactly what you can do with your kitchen now if you don't mind I'd like to take a few measurements then I can give you suggestions an estimate the all works well what can we do in the meantime try to visualize your dream kitchen especially you Mrs Johnson and start figuring out your own needs your kitchen routines how you prepare a meal where you stack your dishes where you'd like your laundry so he took the measurements for the kitchen and next day we had a family counsel to decide exactly what kind of kitchen we wanted and what we wanted in it as in Every Family everyone in our family had a suggestion to make naturally as head of the house I had the financial end it was up to me to figure the best and easiest way to finet the remodling maybe I better let the dealer do it Mary was busy picking out appliances she fell in love with the features on this one yes even Bobby pitched in his interest obviously was in the refrigerator which he could raid whenever he was hungry which was constantly now let's see what suggestions Phillis has to make I guess we're going to have to install some boys in the kitchen then Mr Taylor our dealer brought the mini kitchen model first of all in remodeling any kitchen there are the existing structural features to consider doors windows chimney Plumbing unless of course you want to make some very extensive architectural changes in the house oh let's not go into that it won't be necessary over here in this corner of the kitchen where you get good daylight from the window and the door I've put your three major work areas what do you mean in three major work areas well they include all the steps you'll go through in getting a meal first you need a food preparation Center which includes your refrigerator it could fit here between the door and the window and the refrigerator door should be hinged on the left so that the open side is toward the work counter and this top will come in handy for putting things on that are going in or coming out of the refrigerator since your window is lower than these base cabinets we'll just remove part of the window trim and place the cabinets against the wall now in these cabinets you'll store staple groceries seasonings and all the pans and tools you'll need in making cakes salads and breads next comes the sink Center the sink's biggest job is after meal cleanup but it must be close enough to all work centers to play its part in preparing meals you could put a dishwasher next to it right where your plumbing is already located we could use an undercounter dishwasher so that you'll have plenty of counter space on top to stack dishes before and after washing and of course in this busy work center you'll have most of your wall cabinets and with a waste disposer in the sink you can get rid of most food waste trash and bulky garbage can be put into the gas disposer in the basement here you'll want to store your coffee maker and pans you need water for as well as pairing Knives and Cutlery next comes the cooking and serving Center your range is the star here most food goes from the preparation Center to the range usually things are happening in both places at the same time you don't have to tell me that in order to keep the work centers close together I've installed this peninsul Arrangement now this Arrangement works out nicely when you have a good deal of floor space and we can have a family area next to the kitchen I'd like a range like Elanor with built-in burners this p Arrangement is tailor made for built-in burners you can choose as many units as you need and next to the burners you'll need cabinets for storing Skillets pan covers your other cooking tools and serving trays where will the oven be couldn't It Go on the other wall well that's exactly the idea I had Mrs Johnson let me show you this sketch now here's the oven just a few steps away from the food preparation center next to the oven we'll put a counter to set food on when they come out of the oven then we'll extend the countertop over the radiator I thought you might like a place to do a little desk work Mrs Johnson then we can take the washer dryer which you want to move from the basement and put it here along with some cabinets and in the basement we'll put a gas water heater just like the one you saw at Mrs am's new house and finally we had it the way it was to be how do you like it remember how it used to be the sink's been moved and Bobby's refrigerator is where my old range used to be in the old kitchen everything was at sixes and 7s and then there was that broom closet and those old cabinets and that unsightly radiator well they're gone I've got my laundry right where I want it [Music] and the cleaning equipment is kept in this cabinet and of course I don't have to show you how much lighter and brighter it is in here with good ventilation hooking oders just don't spread to the rest of the house excuse me hello oh John what two of your best customers well of course I want to have them for dinner it's awfully short notice I'm sure I can make it though with Phyllis and the and the kitchen helping me 7:00 sharp yes I'll give Phyllis and Barbie their dinner early all right don't worry dear I manage goodbye dear Phyllis Phyllis it's so wonderful to have everything going at once soup and coffee here and and and no traffic [Music] problems that's another thing if Bobby needs help with his homework while I'm cooking I'm right there [Music] in this kitchen things are stored in order right where you use them and I'll have all the storage space I need now for dessert frozen raspberries and Green Gauge [Music] plums now let's see soup coffee steak vegetable salad everything set to go and I can relax oh and I think of the old days I never could have made it the dinner was a big [Music] success did they get that train yes and everything turned out all right oh John I'm so glad so am I what a dinner you gave us you must be you all in no not at all you know remodeling was a good investment in uh in case we ever want to sell don't you dare I wouldn't dream of it has changed everything including you all that uh pep and energy well I guess in the process I got remodeled too [Music] and if you want to see more well-planned New Freedom gas kitchens like this I suggest you come to Washington DC and see the National Housing Center headquarters for the nation's home building industry we'll be looking for you am