Tray-ficiency

Clear breakfast dishes from table to tray or tea wagon.

Home economics in the 1940s was all about efficiency. The best kitchens were the kitchens where a woman took the least number of paces during the day as she stepped from sink to refrigerator to table to sink and back again - and again - and again - and again. The best kitchens were engineered so that women were standing at comfortable levels to work and so that light levels were easy on the eyes. And they had to be. Women were spending a good part of their days preparing meals and cleaning up after them... These days, our best kitchens are all about design and style. The trendiest colors and finishes, the latest in gadgets. People building or refurbishing a home today probably place far more importance on the look of their kitchens than the function. So it's quite an awakening to open up a housekeeping manual published in 1945 and see so much reduced to mathematical equation.

Including the clearing of the breakfast table. Every step counts. And the authors of the manual insist that you don't make more than one trip from dining room to kitchen. Just load everything up on your tray or tea wagon and run it all into the kitchen at once. Think of the minutes you've saved! (Ideally, you'd have a "pass-through" or window directly into the kitchen so that hot food could be served immediately and dirty dishes could be slid right on through to the drainboard.)

This is not the only time we'll see the housewife's handy dandy tray pop up. The authors recommend using a tray in tidying up the living room. Bowls of clear warm water are carried on a tray into each room when it's time for its weekly cleaning. Items which need polishing or repair are carried back to the kitchen on a tray.

Trays were hot when it came to entertaining, too. Decorative faux wood or metal trays were sold in dinner or luncheon sets so even a hostess without a dining room could entertain. I have a set of Hasko luncheon trays made in the early '40s that I've been using to clear my breakfast table. They're covered in a light brown woodgrain paper with a geese design at the center. Speaking of which, I haven't yet recovered from the hideous breakfast I choked down this morning. Don't worry, I've got plenty for leftovers. I think I'll save that trauma for another post...