Typical Kitchen Cabinet Hardware in the '40s & '50s

Typical Kitchen Hardware of the 1940s and 1950s

• The mid-century kitchen was a much simpler place than today's kitchen. Appliances were generally limited to a stove range and a refrigerator, and cabinets were utilitarian in design. The typical kitchen hardware of the 1940s and 1950s included knobs or drawer pulls and hinges in traditional metal finishes, such as chrome, copper and black. The metal finish was usually a reflection of the kitchen's design elements, with modern designs using bright, streamlined hardware, while country and traditional designs employed hardware in more rustic styles and finishes.

The Traditional Kitchen

• The traditional kitchen of the mid-century era often featured stained wood or painted wood cabinets, a wood, tile or linoleum floor, and cabinets or open shelves for storage. Cabinets in the traditional kitchen design were simple, sometimes enhanced with decorative crown moldings, and the hardware used on these cabinets were simple, as well. Metal arrow or spade hinges and pulls in plain or hammered black or copper finishes were common, as were plain chrome hinges, pulls and knobs.

The Country Kitchen

• Country kitchens were seen in urban and rural homes in the 1940s and 1950s. The mid-century country kitchen was often typified by bright painted cabinets, wall-papered walls and wood or metal cabinets. The bright, cheery country kitchen of the era was often accentuated by hardware that reflected the casual nature of these designs. Colored ceramic, wood or metal pulls and knobs were common, often paired with black hinges. Ceramic or wood pulls and knobs sometimes featured painted fruit or flower designs. Copper and black metal pulls, knobs and hinges were also a popular choice.

The Modern Kitchen

• The clean lines and simple shapes of modern design became wildly popular after World War II. Modern sensibility was the backbone of the pastel Formica and metal kitchen of the late 1940s and early 1950s, as well as the more sophisticated Danish-influenced kitchens of the mid-to-late-1950s. The modern kitchen of this era used chrome hardware almost exclusively; these chrome pulls, knobs and hinges were usually minimalistic in design, with simple round knob shapes and elegantly curved pulls.