Retro Kitchen Gadgets

Many people love a vintage look in their kitchens. Nothing is better than sights that conjure up images of Grandma’s warm kitchen with fresh bread baking in the oven and the dreamy aroma of fried chicken floating in the air.

There are many retro kitchen gadgets that can help you achieve this nostalgic decor. Often a kitchen plaid tablecloth is used for everyday, and then when the preacher comes for Sunday dinner the fine damask tablecloth with hand stitched embroidery is used at Grandma’s house.

Retro kitchen linens include retro kitchen towels such as country plaid dishtowels and other decorative towels with crochet trim.

Retro cookware is essential to any vintage kitchen design. A cast iron skillet from the 1940s is great for frying as well as baking. Many great cooks and chefs will use nothing other than a cast iron skillet to bake cornbread which is bound to be delicious.

The Griswold Manufacturing Company made top of the line cast iron skillets as well as Dutch ovens that may also be called “cast iron stew pots.” The company was started in the mid 1800s and went out of business in 1957. Griswold items are in demand by collectors and also include griddles, covered baking pans and tea kettles.

Vintage Pyrex is one of those retro kitchen gadgets that remind baby boomers of time gone by. Glass is the safest way to cook or store food; in fact, Pyrex is considered a green storage option. Pyrex was made by Corning Glass Works in the early 1900s.

The wife of one of the Corning scientists was tired of her casserole dishes breaking, so Pyrex Ovenware was introduced in 1915.

Retro kitchen canisters include 1940s tins that are labeled tea, coffee and flour. In fact, tins were a way of packaging items for sale such as Maxwell House coffee and Prince Albert tobacco. Indeed, every baby boomer worth his salt has called the drug store and asked, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”

After the unsuspecting clerk said yes, the baby boomer would gleefully shout, “Let him out!” In the 1950s every homemaker had a set of canisters to keep staples fresh and pest free. A nice set of spun aluminum containers with copper lids were typically proudly displayed on the kitchen counter.

Other materials for vintage canisters include burnt orange glass containers, stainless steel and ceramic. Any of these retro kitchen gadgets will make a stunning addition to your kitchen.