Kitchen of the Future

What House of the Future would be complete without a Kitchen of the Future?  The Atoms for Living kitchen of the Monsanto House of the Future was a showcase for a number of innovative kitchen designs.  Certainly, everything was made from plastic for easy cleaning.  And we’ve all heard that a microwave oven was installed here, years ahead of the consumer market.  But that's not all.

I think that the most interesting innovation was the ultra-sonic dishwasher.  Dishwashers of this type have been developed.  They not only do a thorough, yet delicate job of cleaning, they use less energy, save water, and use no cleaning solutions to pollute the environment.  It is because of this last point that we don’t have them today.  The same system could actually be used for clothes, but large detergent producers have been successful at keeping such devises off the market.  I wonder why?

Another innovation was the overhead refrigeration system.  The upper cabinets were actually the refrigerator and freezer.  The shelves would lower the contents to a convenient height at the push of a button.  Household overhead refrigeration units were actually produced during the mid-century (without moving shelves).  Perhaps the lack of standardization left them out of our kitchens of the future.  But they sure were conveniently located.

In addition to the microwave oven, the kitchen only had a two burner smooth top-range.  I guess TV dinners and store-bought cookies, were supposed to rule the menu.  And the final interesting addition was a four-slice toaster built into the counter-top.  It looked really cool to me, but I worry that all of the crumbs on the counter would end up in the slots, along with fingers.