Home Appliances

The Great Depression of the 1930s and the war years that followed was a time of sacrifice in America. For more than 15 years, the populace either could not afford new appliances, or the war effort had made the raw materials needed to manufacture such luxuries nonexistent. After the armistice was signed in 1945, weapons factories quickly retooled to meet the growing demand for modern refrigerators and stoves to fill the kitchens of newly built homes.

Color

Advertisers of the era began publishing full-page color ads to entice war-weary citizens to buy the latest in brightly colored kitchen-based time-savers for the modern housewife. Most women were stay-at-home moms who relinquished work outside the home to support returning veterans. Their reward was a bright and cheerful environment in which to work. This meant refrigerators and stoves in bright yellow, robin's-egg blue or mint green with chrome detailing.

Postwar Advances

Arborite and chrome appeared on kitchen tables and countertops to give the kitchen surfaces of the '50s a shiny, easy-to-clean alternative to wood. Cabinets were custom-built to provide a seamless transition from refrigerator to sink and stove. New homes were built with the electricity required to power appliances both large and small. The baby boom was in full swing, and young families appreciated the time savings realized through the use of modern gadgets.

Small Appliances

As well as the colorful new refrigerators and stoves that appeared on the scene, the kitchen of the '50s boasted smaller labor-saving appliances as well. The chrome-plated, pop-up electric toaster made toast timing and surveillance a dying art. Portable electric food mixers and Mixmasters, complete with removable beaters and bowls, replaced their hand-cranked predecessors. Early toaster ovens made preparing TV dinners a breeze. The electric steam iron was much lighter and easier to use than the old cast-iron models.

Prices

Mass production made the appliances of the 1950s affordable to more people than ever before. A gas range could be purchased in New York in 1950 for $144.95. A portable electric food mixer, bought in Wisconsin in 1957, cost $18.95. A 1959 steam iron, purchased in California, cost $9.99. "Cash only" was not the only method of purchase, as it had been in the lean years. Appliances could be purchased immediately and paid for in monthly installments.