kitchen table chairs

kitchen table chairs with Contemporary

By Design-Build Firms Photographed in San Diego
Date uploaded: July 19, 2017
In the very first 50% of the twentieth century, the ‘kitchen table'was an important item of furniture for the British working-class family. Its importance is clearly shown in working-class autobiographies which described the facts of domestic life during the very first 50% of the twentieth century.

The kitchen table must be put in its environment in order to understand its significance. Nowadays we might think that this was the kitchen. Certainly, in middle-class homes, your kitchen table was there, in the working-class home it absolutely was however family living space. For 2 thirds of the autobiographers examined, this room was called a ‘kitchen'but for one third it absolutely was referred to as a ‘living room '. Food was prepared and cooked in the living room but it absolutely was unlikely to be a place for washing dishes. This could be achieved in a'scullery'or ‘back kitchen '. A passionate ‘kitchen'was therefore not a given in the working-class home and plans for the very first council houses in 1918 had ‘living rooms'and ‘sculleries'but no ‘kitchens '.

For a lot of it was the table – alone in the house. It had been the focal point of the living room and activities took place around or on the table. In the first part of the period, the key light source might sit there. Some uses for the table are familiar; others are now actually rare. It had been at your kitchen table that the household ate together, sometimes in two sittings if the household was large. Though middle-class families now eat meals in their kitchen, this was false ahead of the Second World War. At that time, only the servants ate regular meals at your kitchen table in wealthy households and your kitchen of the lower-middle class suburban ‘semi'had little space for eating at a table.

Food preparation was generally done at your kitchen table since it was the only work surface in an era before units. The table was used as an ironing board and for washing up in homes lacking a sink. People sat, sewed and read there. Memoirs of working-class childhood recall playing at the table and using it for number of games from Ludo to ping pong. Homework could be done at the table too as overcrowded bedrooms lacked desks, heat and adequate lighting. Middle-class children had an alternative relationship with your kitchen table because winning contests and doing homework could be achieved elsewhere. In most, the autobiographical sources referred to 24 different uses of your kitchen table. These ranged from eating to more obscure uses such as for instance an operating table to remove tonsils.

The uses of your kitchen table varied over time and reflected the distinctive weekly and daily routines of the working-class home. Ironing would occur either on washday (usually Monday) or the next day. Food preparation was a daytime activity, whilst the playing of games took devote evenings and at weekends. Uses of the table were also seasonal: warmer weather and lighter evenings meant children played outside and grown-ups chatted on doorsteps. Changing the appearance of the table can also help alter the ambiance of the living room. On Sunday, the weekday tablecloth (or newspaper) might be replaced with a smarter cloth signifying the special nature of the day.

The centrality of your kitchen table declined in working-class homes following the Second World War but has increased in importance in middle-class homes. All of the living spaces increased in the former along with how many tables, while in middle-class homes, your kitchen table grew in importance as did your kitchen itself. Present-day usage of kitchen tables thus reflects a convergence in domestic culture between both classes, though contemporary advocates of the ‘farmhouse kitchen'rarely acknowledge its antecedents in the working-class living room.