I've just come across this clip from the BBC Archives where the lovely John Noakes and Valerie Singleton are giving us a glimpse of kitchens in the future. This clip was shown four years before I were born and all I can say is thank goodness these kitchens didn't catch on! While there are some nice ideas, for the most part it's quite expensive and quite extravagant. Valerie said that at that time such kitchens were an idea for schools and hospitals and such places, but I've never known any public place like that to have a kitchen like this so it clearly didn't work there either.
One thing I do agree with is Valerie saying that icy water on a hot day would be delightful. As someone who's posting this while in the middle of a heatwave I have to say, Valerie - you have no idea how true that is! ☀️
With the exception of the microwave, none of these ideas really caught on so I think it's OK to say that wasn't the kitchen of the future.
While there is a lot wrong with this ahem, kitchen of the future, I have to say I quite like the rotating freezer shelf idea. I'm not the most organized when it comes to my fridge freezer. You'll never see mine of Pinterest that's for sure. Half the time I don't know what I have in the freezer and if I do know, I can't flippin' find it! So the rotating shelf is perfect for people like me!
Apart from the obvious detriment to the environment, I can't think of anyone who'd want an incinerator in their kitchen. That can't be very healthy especially if you're going to be burning plastics!
No to that kitchen. Just NO!!! It's one thing to be labour-saving but that's just plain laziness. It's no one's idea of fun to do the washing up but all those disposables... 😫And I was just aghast at the suggestion of putting plastic cutlery in the incinerator. No - just NO!!!
This absolutely screams student kitchen! Throwaway dishes, microwave food. No way would this be in a family home. And for mostly frozen and dried food! Yep. Student kitchen.
LOL! I thought it was going to be some really cool retro designed kitchen with bright colors. But I guess they were just showing us the more technical side of things. I guess back then it would have been a very high tech and sophisticated kitchen. But today having things like a microwave or water dispenser is nothing major. Everyone has one pretty much! I agree with those who said that the grocery idea was a good one but it wouldn't work with the kind of house I have unless you do some major construction work.
I know this kitchen was only a prototype but how feasible is it to have such a kitchen in your home for real. As Valerie pointed out, someone in a flat couldn't have it unless they were on the ground floor. Also a lot of terraced houses in London couldn't have a kitchen like this in London because then their kitchen would have to be where the living room usually is!
I can see a lot of reasons why this kitchen didn't catch on!
I'd say it was a good starting point but my goodness this concept needs a lot of working on! I also didn't like the idea of burning plastics. But I suppose I can't expect people to have the knowledge that we have now back then.
And also how does this key idea work for the grocery man? Is there only one key that opens all the boxes? Or will he need a separate key for every house? That would be a lot of keys! And also how safe are these delivery boxes? If this was today, I can seriously see a lot of thefts!
There are some nice ideas, and I have to say the idea for grocery deliveries would have been a godsend during the lockdown. But I was horrified at the idea of incinerating all those plastics! 😱They clearly weren't as clued up about environmental issues then as we are now. And furthermore, what's the need to eat off throwaway plates and cutlery every day. It sounds like a very expensive thing to do over time. I might not like washing up but I don't hate it enough to want to eat off of paper plates and cook out of aluminum trays.
And I loved how Valerie was talking about the microwave as though it was a new invention but then remembered - this was 1968! Not all kitchens had microwaves then as we do now. Though I would never want to use mine for cooking! 😱