Vintage Ads

Good Housekeeping, November 1933:



In most American houses built in the past half-century or so, the kitchen is centrally located:  it's in many ways the hub of the house.  As "gay and cheerful" as they're trying to make this kitchen appear, it's uncomfortably obvious that the kitchen is a room at the back of the house where meals are made.

It's interesting that "you" are the one who prepares the meals, the one who's relegated to the "gloom and drabness" of the (unremodeled) kitchen ... while all financial decisions are left up to "your husband", and the concern is that the purchase not "ruin him financially".  This ad, in fact, is entirely about "your" only agency being your determination to cajole him into spending money -- his money, it's implied -- on remodeling the room where much of your daily work is done.  The persuading is yours to do ... but the decision is entirely his to make.