suburban housing mid-20th C
the 1940s house
hall
masterbedroom bathroom kitchen
design cooker kitchen
sink kitchen
units larder
The forerunner of kitchen units
in the British 1940s kitchen
Kitchen 'Easy Cabinet', photographed in Tilford Rural Life Centre. Pastry boards pulled out as well as dropped down.
Ours had drawers replacing the lower right cupboard and a separate, matching full-height cupboard on the right.
As explained on the page about the mid-20th Century housing estates, the most up-to-date 1940s English suburban semi-detached houses were built and furnished in the 1930s. There were no fitted kitchens, but the kitchen cabinet was certainly the forerunner as it had cupboards, shelves and drawers integrated into a single piece of furniture. Every kitchen seemed to have one. All were made of solid wood and were cleverly designed for storage of standard kitchen equipment.
These cabinets were made by several manufacturers and all went by different names. Ours was called the 'Easy Cabinet' and my cousin's was the 'Maid Saver'. If yours was called something different, please let me know.
It was a combination of two cupboards and/or one cupboard and three drawers at the bottom, and two inset cupboards at the top. Between them was a storage space and a pull-out or pull-down white enamelled surface for rolling out pastry. Ours was pull-out and the space above it closed and opened with a rolling arrangement.
Our Easy Cabinet was varnished wood of a medium colour which would have been called 'light' in those days of dark wood almost everywhere. I suspect that it came with the house when it was built as there were identical ones in other kitchens in the road.
The photograph shows the cabinet combination which was closest to ours out of all those I have seen in museums. Museums, naturally enough, exist to display what they have, which is why so many doors and drawers are open and so many objects are propped up. In a real 1940s kitchen, everything would have been tidied away after use.
Our Easy Cabinet had a separate, matching shelved cupboard, butting onto it on the right which is not shown in the photo. It was the same height as the Easy Cabinet and including a tall, narrow slot for an ironing board. All sorts of things were poked inside it, including brooms and the electric iron.
If you can add anything to this page or provide a photo, I would be pleased if you would contact me.
Text and images are copyright
