small kitchen table and chairs

small kitchen table and chairs with Traditional

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

The kitchen table needs to be put in its environment to be able to understand its significance. Nowadays we may believe that this was the kitchen. Certainly, in middle-class homes, the kitchen table was there, however in the working-class home it absolutely was however family living space. For 2 thirds of the autobiographers examined, this room was described as a ‘kitchen'but for one third it absolutely was known as a ‘living room '. Food was prepared and cooked in the living room but it absolutely was unlikely to be always a area for washing dishes. This will be done in a'scullery'or ‘back kitchen '. A passionate ‘kitchen'was therefore not certain 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 absolutely was the focal point of the living room and activities took place around or on the table. In the early area of the period, the key source of light might sit there. Some uses for the table are familiar; others are now 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 was false before 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 as it was the only real 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 utilizing 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 a different relationship with the kitchen table because winning contests and doing homework could be done elsewhere. In all, the autobiographical sources described 24 different uses of the kitchen table. These ranged from eating to more obscure uses such as an operating table to eliminate tonsils.

The uses of the 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 these day. Food preparation was a daytime activity, while the playing of games took invest 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 may also help alter the ambiance of the living room. On Sunday, the weekday tablecloth (or newspaper) could be replaced with a better cloth signifying the special nature of the day.

The centrality of the kitchen table declined in working-class homes following the Second World War but has increased in importance in middle-class homes. The range of living spaces increased in the former along with the number of tables, while in 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 both classes, though contemporary advocates of the ‘farmhouse kitchen'rarely acknowledge its antecedents in the working-class living room.