Today we return to the Kelvinator "Atoms For Living" kitchen at Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future, beginning with this color rendering. I don't know much about the origin of these shots, other than they appear to be very early documentation of the kitchen area as it was being put together and decorated with props.
This detail shot reveals what was on the shelves:
It also appears that there was a broadcast or possibly a TV spot being filmed here at the time:
The exhibit signage touts that Kelvinator Designers are looking ahead. What do you think of their vision for the kitchen of the future?
A microwave on the counter perhaps?
Zooming in because I wanted to see the labels on the cabinets. There's something that doesn't seem right about having the sugar next to the detergent.
Even the drawers were stocked with props, so that nosey visitors of the exhibit would feel like they were in a real kitchen.
I dig the sink. Very sleek!
I hope you enjoyed this peek at the House of the Future!
See more vintage Disneyland House of the Future photos at my main website.
About the same time this house was being made my grandfather made a lake house in MN whose kitchen was very similar to this. The blender would recess into the counter via motor, many appliances would raise, lower or tuck further back into the wall with the push of a button. It was very modern and people came from around the town to see but in the end it was hell to clean. Spills still happen in a kitchen and the "kitchen of the future" just wasn't ready for it. I can't help but to wonder if Monsanto's had the flow of spills and liquids figured out or if they were strictly going for image and style.
ReplyDeleteI can recall but little of the interior of the HOF, but I have never forgotten the recessed features that came in that kitchen. Spills are one thing...continued replacement of motors and gearing would have also been problematic I'm sure. But as a kid, it sure was cool! KS
ReplyDeleteFor some reason when I went in the House of the Future, I was always in awe of an electric toothbrush someday.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that even the most modern of modern-day kitchens look very little like this, and the most popular styles of modern-day kitchens still look like something out of a cowboy movie or an English estate with wood floors, stone counters, fireplaces, and fussy panel-faced cabinets.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet those cabinets went nowhere since there is only half as much storage space as we are accustomed to have now, but all that open space does make it easier to sweep under.
JG
That was the microwave oven. It raised up out of the counter space when you wanted to use it. The doors on the front of it were like sliding glass doors, where one went past the other side. I recall I had at the time, an integrated counter top electric center where the blender jar just clicked onto it's corresponding receptacle. There was a plug in for a mixer/juicer unit as well.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder if anyone who designed that kitchen ever actually USED a kitchen. The slowly moving cabinets that lowered when you wanted something would have driven me nuts. Need an ingredient or dish? Stop and wait for the futuristic cabinet to slowly raise or lower. Irritating.
ReplyDelete