One of the things I love about the manual and lots of vintage women's magazines, cookbooks, etc. is that they give total props to the work of housewives as a profession. They get it. They get that these women spent seven days a week on the job. And we all need a corner office - or even just a corner of an office - to call our own. In this case, it makes perfect sense to locate the housewife's "business center" in the kitchen. It's the place where she spends hour after hour preparing and cleaning up after meals. It's the place many a housewife stores the tools and solutions needed for cleaning the rest of the house. The first stop when she gets home from doing her marketing and sometimes even the place where she does the wash and the ironing:
The kitchen is one logical location for the homemaker's "office," which need not occupy much space if it is well planned.
Every homemaker needs a desk of some description, where accounts can be kept, shopping lists made out, recipes copied and quiet planning accomplished. Files of bills and receipts, manufacturers' direction booklets, guarantees, etc., should be located here, as well as reference books on homemaking problems.
A calendar is a necessity in this business center, and a small radio and extension telephone might well be part of the equipment. A bulletin board to keep the family posted as to each person's whereabouts, to hold reminders for the forgetful ones, to hold order lists, and to give news of general interest, may be hung on the wall.
Where should I make a little "business center" for my new job at home? I don't have a whole lot of room in this one-bedroom apartment, so I think I'll let my kitchen table do double duty - actually it's triple duty now since that's where I'm doing my ironing! There's a tall cabinet just a couple steps away from the table which has been serving as kind of a catch-all for me, but I'm going to clean it out a bit and clear off one shelf for just the kinds of things the authors of the manual describe: my cookbooks, my recipe file, the operating guides for some of my small kitchen appliances. I've already got a radio on the table and a magnetic notepad on the fridge where I keep track of the groceries and supplies I need to pick up next time I'm out. Now that I know that the drawer under my range doesn't have a broiler inside, I'm going to use that space to store some of the pots and pans I'm not using every day.
I made the Broiled Grapefruit again this morning with just a sprinkling of brown sugar. It was a little better, but I'd certainly rather just have it fresh from the icebox. It's hard to improve on Mother Nature in this case! Humble Labor made a great point though in her comment to my blog two days ago. A warm fruit dish is very fitting for chilly winter mornings.
6 comments:
That kitchen is just to die for! I'd love to use that little end sticking out as my desk.
I love the idea of a bulletin board. Helps to keep track of odd bits you might need later (like that grocery receipt), and would make saving coupons an easier task as well (just pin a open envelope to it and drop in the coupons until shopping day). Hmm... I think you and your book are on to something here (which, my book still has not arrived! I'm pestering the seller about it as we speak).
I am hooked on my 'new'manual. I read that bit about a space too! I also adore this kitchen and am now planning on doing over my kitchen to fit the year in which I now dwell. I have even changed my mind about flooring. Before this project I was going to do a wooden floor, now I am thinking black and white linoleum.
We all need if not a 'room of one's own'(as Virginia Woolf said) but a corner of our own!
I have to try the broiled grapefruit, it does sound warming and we have another storm coming tomorrow here to the northeast.
What a wonderful kitchen! Green, yellow and white - my favorite combination. So much to aspire to! I hate the kitchens HGTV seems to think are "mandatory" these days. So dreary - dark and sad.
What a fun blog! I've been reading your previous posts over the past several days. Like you, I love vintage cookbooks and housekeeping manuals. The older I get, the more I appreciate housekeeping and cooking and have really come to enjoy both.
I've got a serious case of cabinet envy from looking at that picture. A gal can never have too many cabinets!
It's such a scrumptious kitchen - so inviting! I'm not a huge fan of stool seating, but love the colors, love the plants. And, yes, the cupboard space.
Emer, I think I've come to use my refrigerator as a kind of bulletin board. My grocery list is up there, I've got a pen and notepaper, a library receipt, some pictures... Judging from the pictures I've seen, folks were much more proud of their spiffy new electric refrigerators in the '40s. They were sparkling clean, nothing stuck to 'em!
50s gal, if you're going to redo one room in '50s style, it sounds like your kitchen would be a great pick. You've been spending so much time in there. :)
prairieknitter, I know exactly what you mean about that HGTV look. This kitchen looks like something I'd love mucking around in - really getting some cooking done.
Christine, thanks so much for your lovely comment! Isn't it funny how entertaining it is just to read cookbooks?
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