Friday 7 March 2014

The 1930’s Homemaker's Kitchen


1937 kit
Welcome to the 1930’s Homemaker's Kitchen.
I am bringing to you once again advice from the early 1930’s recipe book that I have inherited from my mother. I’ve tried copying my photos and then scanning them, neither turning out to be very brag worthy. But it is what it is.
If you are inclined to be interested in the history and  the lifestyle of this eras homemaker I think you’ll enjoy it…. Let’s start with a few pictures:
 
DSCF7413
DSCF7416
scan0001 (2)
retro kitchen
retro kitchen
Cut off says: Cook the bacon 10 min. in frying pan.
retro kitchen
retro kitchen
Now there you have it!
What do you think? Have you ever heard of shad roe or alligator pears? I know haven’t. And I feel certain that it would be nearly impossible for me to get either of these meals finished in 20-25 minutes! At least in any kind of edible condition.
Could you?
I have to confess that my admiration for the 1930’s homemaker continues to increase the more I read from this recipe book. I’m thinking that Mabel Claire (the author) is the embodiment of the Psalms's ‘virtuous woman.’
Uh-huh. And you know now why I'm hiding this book from my hubby!
 
If you read through this please tell me your thoughts and reflections on the writer or her recipes. It's so fun to hear what you are all thinking too!
 

18 comments:

  1. I was thinking that plating the food is a waste of time and food. I really like the stove with the drawers and the "table top."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who could have dreamed a kitchen could be that nice in the thirties. I like that old stove and would welcome it in my kitchen today. If you try the recipes let us know how they do. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the old stoves. Very interesting invention indeed. Our old gas stove when I was little was similar but it didn't have a top that closed down. I think that recipe is complicated and has ingredients that I wouldn't find today and it would take too long to prepare. I doubt if many housewives of the 30's tried that one. lol I know I wouldn't. Thanks for sharing these old time things. I love reading about them. Have a great weekend Kimberly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have an old stove from the 30's out on the back patio- I use it display plants on it and store BBQ tools. What a fun post this is. Shad roe? Well, I know that Shad is a fish and roe is fish eggs...Ewwww...does NOT sound good to me at all. But then I don't like caviar either (which I have been forced to try)...lol

    My mother made creamed potatoes quite often when I was a kid- with the sauce in the top of a double boiler to keep it from scorching. Can you imagine how excited they must have been to get a stove like that? They were probably cooking on a wood stove before that (which we did when I was a little kid).

    Amazing pages out of that book, Kimberly- 20 minutes? NO WAY! xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  5. I finally found my way back to blogging, I tried to keep my old name ( I love a cloudy day but I had to change it a wee bit, I missed you all so much but I have a new program and lots of help, I loved this post today, when we moved into an old house years ago there was a stack of Ladies Home Journals from the 30's and 40's, this made me think of it, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the stove.
    I enjoy the way they use to do it. :-)
    In a dress, heels and an apron. :-) My hair all nice and neat.
    Fun posts...thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is fun. I love the stovetop idea --where the cover comes down and you can use it as a work surface!! I love the idea--I wonder why it didn't take off?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the old stovetop from that era. I don't think I would want to cook on it though.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Afternoon, I would loved to have a kitchen back then, beautiful, Francine.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Times were so different in the '30's... Women were at home and their 'jobs' back then were cooking/cleaning/taking care of the kids, etc... Times today are SO different... Women are working --and there is lots of foods which can be made easily and quickly. That seems to be our lifestyle, doesn't it?

    My sweet mother was in her 30's in the 1930's. She never had to work outside the home and she LOVED to cook/bake.. She was an EXCELLENT cook --and spent alot of time in the kitchen. She tried to teach me to cook---but this ole' tomboy girl just wasn't interested.. She also wanted me to learn to sew --and that never happened either. I was her only daughter and I'm sure she was disappointed. BUT--to this day, I still don't enjoy cooking (although I have done it my entire adult life).....

    Great post --and it really shows us how much times have changed.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is such a sweet family treasure. Thank you for sharing it with us.
    Happy weekend.
    Your blogging sister, Connie :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I remember my mother had a stove kind of like this way back when I was very young. She was always cooking for her family and whoever my dad had helping him with farm work, but her meals were just plain down home cooking, nothing fancy. She wouldn't have had the time, or taken the time, to fix a fancy plate. I don't either. While I usually make dishes from "scratch", it has to be fairly quick and easy! And I must confess that I often just leave the food on the stove and we'll fill up our plates from there. I've never heard of alligator pears or shad roe. Interesting post! I love reading about the good old days.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love all this. In our Maine Camp we have a 1928 electric hotpoint that resembles the photo. I love her and named her after my grandmother who had GREAT, curvaceous leg, just like her namesake.

    Happy weekend,

    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Kimberly,

    This publication is an absolute delight. How wonderful to have inherited it from your mother.

    We are never to be found in the kitchen and, following the advice being given, we are devoting the time saved to developing our own charm and interests. There is, after all, so much more to life than creating the perfect (or, in our cases, not so perfect) Apple Crumble.

    The pictures of kitchen equipment are such fun. Sadly, we can recall rather too many pieces of kitchenalia that would these days be regarded as museum pieces. How times have changed!

    We have found your blog quite by chance and have been entranced by it. We are signed up followers so as not to lose out on future posts. Should you wish to know more about us, then we are but a click away.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thats what I was thinking...What is a shad row?? I wish I had a tea cart to roll up to my table and I love the stove with drawers! So fun, I was reading an old cook book one day and it said "Get your lard good and hot before placing your bacon in the pan" Hum, think that was enough grease lol!

    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've never heard of shad roe or alligator pears either. So interesting to see these little slices of history. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. The combination of ingredients sounds dreadful!

    ReplyDelete

All of your comments are read and much appreciated.
You are dear and lovely friends!