America's Kitchens
America’s Kitchens traces the role of the kitchen in people’s lives from the seventeenth century to today.
Based on extant historical kitchens and primary research, the exhibition features innovative design, including recreated kitchen vignettes of a seventeenth-century New England hearth kitchen, nineteenth-century Victorian kitchen in Illinois, traditional Southwest adobe kitchen, and a 1950s turquoise kitchen.
The vignettes are created with a combination of room-size graphic murals, artifacts, such as a 1920s Hoosier cabinet, photographs, and personal stories. Kitchen activities are evident, as if the individuals have momentarily stepped away. The visitor has the opportunity to “meet” the members of the household, step into their surroundings, and gain a greater understanding of the ways in which the kitchen is considered the heart of the home.
Recreated kitchen scenes are enhanced by thematic areas. Here, objects from various time periods explore topics in more depth, such as cooking technology (iron kettles, cookstoves, a crock pot and the George Foreman grill), and food preservation (a barrel packed with sand, an ice box, a monitor top refrigerator and Tupperware®).These objects are enhanced with interpretive graphics, and photographic reproductions.
A variety of interactives engages both family and adult visitors, creating an experience that takes them beyond the museum walls, and encourages them to apply the exhibition’s themes to their own lives.
America’s Kitchens’ 1,700-square-foot concept plan is a flexible design that travels well and adapts easily to different gallery configurations.
View a selection of photographs of the installation of America's Kitchens at the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Contents:
- Six vignettes: New England Hearth, Plantation Kitchen, Southwest Kitchen, Victorian Kitchen, Efficient Kitchen, and 1950s Kitchen.
- Five thematic areas: Cooking Technology, Food Preservation, Cookbooks, Kids and Cooking, and Kitchens of Today.
- Five interactives: butter churning, grain grinding, building an efficient kitchen, take-away recipe cards, and your kitchen stories.
Fee:
To request a prospectus or inquire about a rental fee, please contact us.