The kitchen in a working class house in the early 1900s

Based on childhood recollections of working class family life in north London in Edwardian times.

The word 'kitchen' has changed its meaning over the years. In the early 1900s when I was a child on the working class Huxley Estate, the kitchen was where the family really lived, ate, worked and played. The scullery was where the food preparation, cooking and washing took place. The first sketch on the house plans page shows how the two were related.

The wall on the passage (hall) side of the kitchen was quite attractive tongued and grooved wood and it made up the side of the coal hole where the coalman shot the coal when he delivered. The back wall had a window which looked out onto the back garden.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

The kitchen fire

A main reason why the kitchen was the focal point of the house, was because there was always a welcoming fire burning there. A fire somewhere was essential because coal was our only form of heating - to keep ourselves warm, for hot water and to cook with.

The kitchen fire was in a small version of the the kitchen range in the scullery and my mother kept it beautifully clean with black lead - a polish for cleaning and polishing cast iron. The outer rims were steel and were always kept bright with emery paper. These kitchen ranges, as they were often called, were a lot of work but there was a great deal of good about them. Many a tasty meal has come out of their ovens which were well-used.

There was a smell that I associate with the kitchen range: It is is of wet outdoor clothes being hung in front of the fire to dry. In those days there were no such things as mackintoshes and, if it rained hard on our way home at dinnertime (lunch), we really had a soaking. So our coats had to be dried up quickly so that we could get back to school by 2 o'clock. The smell that came from this was quite revolting. There were no dry-cleaners, and the natural wool of the garments had been about for years, having been passed down from one set of people to another. It's strange how some smells affect us. They seem to disgust and yet fascinate. African marigolds have the effect on me, as do moth balls.

The dresser

On one side of the fireplace was a recess with a built-in cupboard in which was kept the everyday crockery and all the food except the perishables. (These were kept in the safe just outside the scullery door.)

In the other recess was a dresser where the best dinner set was kept. Jugs and cups were hung up on hooks. In the lower part of the dresser were two drawers and below there was a small recess which was covered by a curtain. Boots and shoes were kept there.

In the drawers numerous odd things were kept. In one drawer were socks and stockings and in the other drawer were indoor games. Draughts was played on a draught board. We had two of these boards, one was made by my father from material like oilcloth and the other was a carpenter's joy and treated as such. I never knew what became of it. For us children the playing cards were mostly for playing Snap and Beat your neighbour out of doors, and of course Patience which has helped to pass away many an hour, both by children and adults.

Then there was cribbage, a card game where the scoring is kept with little coloured pegs on what was known as the 'crib board'. The pegs kept in a little compartment at the back of the board. My mother and father seemed to enjoy this game. I used to think it was an odd sort of game when I listened to them, scoring, "One for the knob, two for a flush", etc.

I did once join in a game of whist, not from choice, I might add. I could never remember whether my father had any trump cards and the odd remark would come from my father, "Bless me. (an expression of his) What did you do that for!?" My mother was a very good player and even won a number of small prizes at the Church Hall whist drive.

Another game that was kept in the drawer was Dominos. I didn't mind this as there was no skill, just luck.

The kitchen furniture

The furniture in the kitchen (living room) consisted of a table and Windsor chairs (these were usual in most homes).

There was a sofa which was well used in more ways than one. I am pretty sure that my mother used to have ten minutes rest on it after we had gone to back to afternoon school. Actually the couch as the sofas were oftimes called was particularly convenient being in the warm place kitchen because if you had to go up into a cold bedroom  for a rest, you would think twice about it.

To us children the couch was something to play on, and a place to put things under as a quick tidy up before my mother came into the room.

The other important piece of furniture was my mother's sewing machine. Apparently she had had it since she was eighteen and it was in constant use, but never at evening times as it was one of the things that annoyed my father.

The floor covering

The floor covering as in most of the rooms, was oilcloth - a heavy canvas treated with oil and other substances to make it waterproof and hard-wearing, then printed and varnished. When it got worn, the varnish chipped off to show the canvass threads underneath.

My mother washed it with soapy water.

There was a large rug known as a 'piece rug' or a 'rag rug' in front of the fire. It was made from off-cuts of hard wearing-fabric such as serge and tweed, of which there was no shortage as women always seemed to busy mending or making something in those days. The fabric was cut into lengths and looped through canvass, then backed with more canvas.

Rag rugs were nice and warm to your feet and cosy, although I dread to think how dirty they must have been. Like a good many more things, though, they were put outside onto the clothes line and given a good blow. Also when there was snow on the ground, they were dragged quickly across it - not enough to get really wet but just enough for the snow to ease off the dirt. The sun, wind and snow did much for things in those days.

The pictures on the wall

There were numerous pictures in the room but I only recall the water colours of lakes and mountains. They were hung from picture rails as illustrated on the parlour page.

The window blind

The window blind, like all the others at the back of the house, was linen with a deep fringe of lace made by my mother from macrame thread, crocheted. It was secured by a cord, hanging down from the centre. The knob to hold the cord was in the shape of an acorn and was called an acorn, although it was made in box wood.

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This website Join me in the 1900s is a contribution to the social history of everyday life in early to mid 20th century Britain, seen through personal recollections and illustrations, with the emphasis on what it was like to live in those times. It is © Pat Cryer.