The History of the Mid-Century Kitchen with Sarah Archer

Today’s episode is an interview with Sarah Archer, author of the Mid-century Kitchen. I’m so excited to share this conversation about the history of the mid-century kitchen we all love so much.

We are going to talk about how the mid-century kitchen came about – the influence advertising, war time deprivations, the great depression, freezer goods, keeping up with the Jones and our cold war race to make Russia jealous of capitalism all contributed to the kitchens we pretty much all live in today.

If you don’t have a copy of her book, I highly recommend you get your hands on it! It’s filled with interesting history and drool worthy advertising from the era.

cover of the book The Mid-Century Kitchen by Sarah Archer on the history of the mid-century kitchen

Here’s a hilarious ad video for the idealized MCM kitchen of 1965 that we talk about in the interview!

In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:

Why the mid-century kitchen represents peak American consumerist achievement [1:20]
An overview of how the modern kitchen evolved over time [2:30]
How MCM kitchens went hand in hand with early planned obsolescence with high style appliances [4:10]
Learn how MCM kitchens were supposed to “save your beauty” by saving steps [8:10]
The logic of the labor saving kitchen … for stay at homes moms [9:25]
When the kitchen began to open up for entertaining and hanging out [17:00]
We all live in mid-century kitchens … even if we don’t. Here’s why [23:45]
How do we live today in a Mid-Century Kitchen [25:55]