Today while I was cooking dinner {paninis on the special panini grill} I imagined what it would have been like to cook for a family in the 1940s. Here’s a comparison between now and then:
Now – I grabbed my sandwich fixings from my TWO refrigerators {enough to house plenty of food for our family of 11}
Then – By 1944, only 85% of American households had a refrigerator!
Now – I used pre-sliced specialty bread.
Then – Starting in January 1943, sliced bread was out for the duration of WWII in order to conserve labor and vital war materials. {Vital war materials? I wonder what went into making the bread!}
Now – I heated the sandwiches in the microwave for a minute before grilling.
Then – The first patent for a microwave oven was received in 1940, but the first marketable product was not created until 1947. I remember as a little girl, about four years old, teaching my grandmother how to use her brand new microwave in the early 1980s!
Now – I put all my dirty utensils and plates in the dishwasher.
Then – The drying mechanism for dishwashers were patented in the 1940s. They weren’t even commonplace in homes until the 1970s! I would be washing my dishes by hand {although my mother still does even though she has a dishwasher}.
It’s funny how the invention and transformation of kitchen appliances leaves people wondering how they functioned or survived before its invention. Technology is amazing! The advances that are made with convection ovens, dishwasher drawers, computer screens built into refrigerators so one can scan the internet for recipes. They are made to make our lives hassle-free, but I wonder, do they really?
I am a 1940 US Census Blog Ambassador! {more about that on Monday}. In just 17 days the 1940 US Census will be released. Can’t wait until Monday to find out what that means? Click on over to the 1940 US Census Community Project site to learn more about it! While there sign up to help index the census when it is released.
As part of the1940census.com ambassador program this blog post enters me into a drawing for one of 4 $50 Amazon gift cards.
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Interesting post. Thanks for sharing
Interesting – I think I’ve slipped back in time, except for the dishwasher that I simply would not be happy to live without!
Isn’t it fun to think of how blessed we are?! Sometimes I curse that blessing as I realize how hooped I would be if it were gone, but what a wonderful world we live in technologically right now.
Ooh, I’m excited to start indexing and arbitrating that one!
I was born in the 40’s so I of course don’t remember some things. However life then seemed simplier on those days without all of the gadjets. We learned to work hard and play hard. We had just our imaginatiions with games and etc. We played outside a lot; there for we were not under our mom’s feet. I enjoyed reading your thoughts today.
All these conveniences and still there is whining when it’s time to do the dishes and my laundry room is overflowing… great post. So much to be grateful for.
I know why Heavenly Father sent me to Earth in 1976 rather than in the 40’s…I would not have survived. 🙂
Congratulations on being named one of the Winners of The Ambassador 1940 US Census Contest. I really enjoyed your post.
I hope you will have a chance to stop by and read my Winning Entry…Ring-A-Ding-Ling…1947 Mobile Phone Calling.
Sue Pittman McPeak
CollectInTexas Gal
After having my first child, I told my mom that the most liberating inventions for women weren’t home appliances…they were the sippy cup lid and the diaper wipe. My mother would tell stories about carrying small damp washcloths in plastic wrap to use as wipes. While I don’t always like the disposable ones, there are times they are just necessary. And I realize that the sippy cup valve has set children backward in some development (like actually holding a cup), but being able to have a cup during long periods away from the house (or any faucets) is awesome.
Amazing how something as simple as a sandwich has changed over the years. And that so many pieces of technology, like microwaves, got their start in the 1940s…they just didn’t become common until much, much later. I remember our first microwave in the 1980s.
Congrats on writing a winning entry in the 1940 Census Ambassador contest!
I chose to write about another idea that started in the 1940s, but didn’t become common until much later as well: hypertext.
Wonderful post! So informative and so amazing how so many things have their roots in the 1940’s! Congratulation on your winning entry in the 1940 Ambassador contest!