Friday, January 29, 2016

KITCHEN CONUNDRUM...

I’ve got five old mail order catalogues—one from Montgomery Ward, one from Charles Williams Stores, and three from Sears, Roebuck & Company—the oldest from 1902, the newest from 1938.
          I use them all the time for reference. They’ve all got fabulous illustrations, current prices; they transport me back in time.

          The other day, I was looking at kitchen equipment (pots, pans, utensils, gadgets, soap dishes, dishracks, etc.) to get a more accurate sense of a late 1920s kitchen -- and was surprised to see bird cages smack in the middle of the kraut cutters, sausage stuffers, and food choppers.

Bird cages? I thought. Bird cages in the kitchen equipment section?
What’s with that?

So I checked four catalogues: two Sears, the Charles Williams and the Montgomery Ward…all of them have bird cages in the kitchen section!

The 1930 Sears catalogue has three floor cages in with the Sanitary Kitchen Cans and the mop wringers: the Singever, the Aristocrat and the Duplex. The Singever (don’t you love that name?) has a spring-mounted perch for some simulated tree branch action; the Duplex can be used as a floor-mounted or a table-top cage.
Prices run from $3.98 to $5.35.

 Montgomery Ward’s 1929 catalogue tucks the bird cages in with the canning and bottling supplies, washboards and washtubs.
One cage, the Sturdy Footed Cage, comes in three colors: all bright brass with either red trim, green trim or blue trim!
And has “perches, swings, unbreakable cups, tassel and wire mesh seedguard…”
The cage is $2.75; the stand is an additional $2.65.




Last, but by no means least, Charles Williams Stores comes in with a selection of cages beneath the fruit and vegetable presses, the potato mashers and the waffle irons: A fancy white enameled cage with colored lining; a “handsomely japanned” with two perches, swing and two feed cups; a new style “oblong” cage with or without guard.


Anyway, back to the conundrum: Why were all the cages in the kitchen sections of the mail order catalogues?



When I looked in the 1930 Sears catalogue, I found the answer: an oblong block of display art featuring a housewife wiping her dishes; a bird cage (with canary) suspended in the kitchen window.
“The Canary Bird,” the copy reads. “Our Ever Cheerful Companion”


Of course!

The kitchen: the warmest room in the house and the center of activity! 

25 comments:

  1. Funny! My mother bought us an orange canary to match the orange kitchen in the new house we got built in 1977. His cage hung on a stand in the corner of the kitchen/breakfast room, and he loved to sing madly, and especially ebjoyed competing with whatever other noises there might be, such as the washing machine for example. I read that canaries' best singing years are the first four, and Fernando lived to be about 20!

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    1. Now THAT'S home decorating, for sure -- a canary to match the color of the kitchen! I love it, Jo -- just love it!

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  2. I've had several parakeets over the years in various cages, but I kept all of them in busy places - such as a bay window in the living room where we all tended to gather at one time or another during the day. Another loved the dining room which was between the living room and the kitchen so saw a lot of foot traffic. I never kept my birds in the kitchen proper, however - and especially not when I had gas stoves. That is odd about the cages being advertised in the catalogs in the kitchen section, though.

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    1. Never thought about the gas stove angle, Gail. But what you say is true -- birds love to be in busy areas!

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  3. An interesting observation. The old practical use of canaries was in coal mines where birds would easily succumb to poisonous gases warning the miners to flee. Perhaps they also served as a smoke alarm in kitchens of earlier times.

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    1. Or, as Gail mentioned, warning that the gas stove was malfunctioning!

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  4. Interesting, that birds were so popular at this time. Holidaying in Italy, birdcages were hanging outside of windows or entry doors. In the 60is we had a budgerigar, but he lived more outside of his cage, always sitting on someones shoulder. He was a talker and his name was Bobby. I have not seen such old catalogs for kitchen ware for a very long time. Now, all is on line. It must have been exciting to look through the catalogs, especially for people who lived far from a town.

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    1. I didn't know that housebirds were popular back then, either...I can't possibly have one now; I have a cat who's a superior hunter!

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  5. I checked my book of everything a woman should know and it also resommends birds in cages a cheery companions. Who would have thought it/ But looking back we had a budgie in a cage in our kitchen

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    1. I wish I had known I should have had a caged bird -- perhaps my life would have turned out differently! Guess I didn't read your book, Liz -- what's the title and author? I'd like to read it now!

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  6. I have a 23 year old cockatiel and he can see the kitchen from the living room. He eats when we eat and when pasta is made, will not stop squawking at us until we give him a serving.

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    1. Pasta? He likes PASTA? That's a hoot! But, at 23 years old, he should get what he wants!

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  7. Our Tweetie's cage always came in at night and sat on the end of the kitchen bench. She always sang when the tap ran and generally chattered on to me about her day while I cooked dinner.

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    1. Was Tweetie outside during the day? That's pretty neat -- lots of outdoor company!

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  8. I love books of vintage advertisements. I am not too sure if bird cages were a key accessory in Britain, but we did have a budgie when I was growing up. My father used to let it out of its cage for a short fly - but it seized its chance one day and flew out of an open window- and that was the last time we saw Joey.

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    1. As we say here in the States, "Oops." I once had a parakeet that I managed to shut in the outkitchen door -- that was ANOTHER oops, I gotta tell you!

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  9. Interesting! Not something that I had thought about before but very true! Our budgie was hanging in the kitchen most of the time.

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    1. It all makes sense now, doesn't it? I didn't understand it either, Sharon, but it is definitely true -- most birds were in the kitchen with the housewife, so it made perfect sense to advertise in the kitchen sections of catalogues!

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  10. Such an interesting discovery you've made here. Very revealing about life in the kitchen.

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    1. I agree, Helen. I think it reflects the lives women led back then...lots of time in the kitchen and the companionship the bird provided...

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  11. Birds must have been a lot more popular in those days. I still think the kitchen connection is surprising.

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    1. It was surprising to me, too. But the kitchen was warm, it was busy; the bird provided companionship for the housewife...and isn't there a famous short story about a canary and a woman in an abusive relationship?

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  12. NOTE TO ALL: Found it! It's a one-act play, first performed in 1916..."Trifles," by Susan Glaspell! Google it; it's fascinating!

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  13. Companionship. That's what I was thinking. My maternal grandmother had several birds and they helped her get through the long hours out in the country while my grandfather was out on his train route. And I had a budgie that used to come and sit on the kitchen sink while I cooked. He was usually begging me to turn on the faucet so he could get down and play.

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    1. Interesting...glad I'm not the only one who thinks "companionship," and the water play is right on!

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