1 February 1933 “Chancellor Hitler, Pretty Kitchens and Soap Riddle Solved”

Two days ago, 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg. The chancellor is the head of the German Government (today’s current head is Angela Merkel).

President von Hindenburg did not like nor really support Hitler, but after dissolving the government twice with the hard times of the Weimar republic and economic hardships, he was coerced into it by various industrialist giants who ‘encouraged’ him to do so in various letters.

Hitler was actually of Austrian descent which he gave up on 7 April 1925. He was essentially without a country for seven years until he was appointed as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichstag in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick and Germany.

Tonight, 1 February 1933, Chancellor Hitler will give his “Proclamation to the German People”. This is a film of that speech. I am not certain why it was labeled as being done on the 10th, as it did happen on the first.

When viewing this I had to hit an ‘accept’ button as it said the material was ‘sensitive’. What I find odd is that such a speech as this is important in our own understanding of how things lead to the great second World War. Yet, one can easily click on endless links of sexy material or inane pointless content without such a warning, like “attention content may be pointless and eat up your day with pointless viewing”. One would think it better to know and understand history, especially the bad bits, so as not to find oneself again in such dire straights.

The modern notion that what was bad must now be ignored seems a dangerous pattern that could lead to an innocent ignorance becoming a handicap to decisions better made. But, I digress. If you find it horrifying to watch a Hitler speech, than do not watch. But, there is no harm, and in fact much good, in understanding how the past was formed. I shall leave that decision up to you, but would feel remiss in not including all information I find pertinent to the formation of this very important year (as I am finding out) 1933.

Now, onto some lighter fare. Though the War rumblings are beginning in Europe, it is still just a soft drumbeat. Back at home in the USA, the ongoing Depression is beginning to hit harder, but one must still keep dreams and economy alive.

Here we see two lovely views of ‘New’ kitchens. I find just as many illustrations in my 1930’s magazines as photos, and more so than will be in my 1950’s variety. These kitchens, I think, are rather darling. And I had no idea one could get the old refrigerators in colors to match sinks. I think this is when we are first seeing that idea of matching appliances/sinks.

Now, the first photo the color is a bit off as there was a stain on my old magazine. Though for a magazine almost 80 years old, it is rather in good shape. The colors are the lovely yellow often seen in 30’s era kitchens. The fresh white cabinets and the little eating area is darling and you can just see the electric percolator plugged in. You may also notice in the first picture that the refrigerator is just off to the left in a separate room. I wish we had a shot of that room as well, but I have a feeling it is the pantry. Which rather makes sense, as it too stores food.

There are so many things to appreciate in the second photo! The lovely built in aspect of the sink are is wonderful, with two utility closets. Though one could serve as a pantry, while the second houses the broom and various cleaning apparatus. And, who can complain about the darling Hoosier cabinet next the refrigerator? I would love to add one of these all in one helpers, with their flour bin dispenser and easy to clean pull out enameled countertop. I think I am rather falling in love with the unfitted or free-standing kitchens of old. And these 30’s kitchens have a sort of mix of the old with what will become more ‘built-in’ once we reach the 1950’s.

This Chipso ad (click to enlarge) I found very interesting on many points. First, that young men’s shirts were often called blouses. I have seen them referred to this in a few ads in my 30’s magazines. I wonder when this became soley descriptive of ladies only?

Second, that little sons under most likely 5 or so, had little lord Fauntleroy haircuts that are the same as little girls at the time. Of course, in the past and previous centuries young boys often had long hair and even wore dresses before they graduated to ‘short pants’ in the nursery. This may be the last vestiges of that old tradition.

Third, I love how fresh and really modern the daughters haircuts are and I see more evidence that not everyone had the finger waves often associated with the decade.

Fourth, the eldest daughter’s shoes, in the red dress, are so modern in a way. The straps look like a ‘new trend’ one might find today.

Fifth and final, of course, was that this answers the question I keep having about soaps in the Depression that was the same soap used for clothes and cleaning and dishes. It appears that even those who buy their soap would still use it for many purposes. This leads me to now wish to try my dry laundry soap recipe as also my dish soap. I think I might make a darling little container out of an old glass tin lidded jar (say a peanut butter jar) to hold a smaller amount of it for my dishes. Something that would look pretty on my counter and be easy reach to toss into the warm dish water.

For those of you who would like to try homemade dry soap for your laundry (and now apparently for our dishes too!) Here is the basic recipe I use. This site does a wonderful photo tutorial for you and it is basically what I use. Click HERE to see tutorial. (sorry that the links now appear to be grey and may not show up, but are clickable)

If you do try the above on dishes let me know how it works for you.

Happy Homemaking.

Addendum: Commenter Carrie made a good point about the context of the pictured kitchens into the actual time. I think by 1933 many workers/laborers and farmers may still have had a kitchen much like this one, though simply substitute the Gibson girl hair and long skirts for bobs and bared ankles.

Or more like this early 1920’s kitchens which might even still contain an ice box rather than a refrigerator or both working in tandem (throwing away was not as en vogue back then).

Again, the variation in geographic location from the East, West, Mid-West or South as well as rural versus urban played many factors into how one lived and cooked. But, still all of these women, even the poorest factory worker, would still have access to view the ‘dream kitchens’ so I think it important to show.

I rather like a free-standing kitchen as it seems to make cleaning easier and feels more homey.