kitchen table with bench

kitchen table with bench with Craftsman

By Architects & Building Designers Photographed in Seattle
Date uploaded: July 19, 2017
In the first half the twentieth century, the ‘dining table'was an important item of furniture for the British working-class family. Its importance is actually shown in working-class autobiographies which described the important points of domestic life during the first half the twentieth century.

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

For most it was the table – alone in the house. It absolutely was the focal point of the family area and activities took place around or on the table. In the early area of the period, the main source of light might sit there. Some uses for the table are familiar; others are now actually rare. It absolutely was at the kitchen table that the household ate together, sometimes in two sittings if the household was large. Though middle-class families now eat meals inside their kitchen, this is incorrect prior to the Second World War. In those days, only the servants ate regular meals at the kitchen table in wealthy households and the kitchen of the lower-middle class suburban ‘semi'had little space for eating at a table.

Food preparation was generally done at the kitchen table because 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 deploying it for selection of games from Ludo to ping pong. Homework would be done at the table too as overcrowded bedrooms lacked desks, heat and adequate lighting. Middle-class children had an alternative relationship with the kitchen table because winning contests and doing homework could be achieved elsewhere. In every, the autobiographical sources described 24 different uses of the kitchen table. These ranged from eating to more obscure uses such as for instance an operating table to get rid of tonsils.

The uses of the kitchen table varied as time passes 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, as the playing of games took place in 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 could also help alter the ambiance of the living room. On Sunday, the weekday tablecloth (or newspaper) may be replaced with a better cloth signifying the special nature of the day.

The centrality of the kitchen table declined in working-class homes after the Second World War but has increased in importance in middle-class homes. The variety of living spaces increased in the former alongside the number of tables, during middle-class homes, the kitchen table grew in importance as did the kitchen itself. Present-day usage of kitchen tables thus reflects a convergence in domestic culture between the two classes, though contemporary advocates of the ‘farmhouse kitchen'rarely acknowledge its antecedents in the working-class living room.