Kettle Bedroom

Modern innovations were everywhere in the Kettle home, from the Universal feature-film The Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle.  Even the master bedroom had its share of improvements.  Most notable was the “Murphy bed.”  This type of bed folds up and away when not in use; but for the Kettles that happened at the flip of a switch, always with someone still in the bed.

Once the bed was folded away, sliding doors would automatically hide it, giving the room a clean, modern look.

Like the other Kettle, SketchUp, interiors, this one still needs a good number of props and furnishings to be complete.  I had originally drawn this home to get a 3-dimensional feel for the space, and I hadn’t intended to furnish it out.  There are still seven more furniture items left for this room.  Additionally, there are four pictures, a mirror, four lamps and a number of smaller table props.

If readers are interested in seeing the Kettle interiors finished out, please post a comment, or drop me a line.  After all, making dreams come true is what I do.

Kettle Kitchen

The Kettle kitchen, from the Universal feature-film The Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle, had all of the most up-to-date appliances that any home of the future needed in 1948.  An island, in the kitchen, housed much of the modern equipment.  Dishwashers did not become standard appliances until the mid to late 60s; but the Kettles had one.  Unfortunately, lazy Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride ) let all of the appliances fall into disrepair and Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main ) ended up using the dishwasher to wash clothes by hand on a washboard.  The Kettle kitchen also contained a deep freezer that had ice cream frozen so solid that Ma needed an axe to break it apart.  Foot pedals operated the hands free sink, but Pa still managed to get himself splashed.

The most innovative appliance was the Infra-ray oven, probably intended to be some sort of an early microwave oven, it was supposed to cook food in seconds; and it incinerated Ma’s suckling pig roast.

This SketchUp model is still in development.  The period electric stove and a number of props are still needed to complete the picture.  

Kettle Entertainment Center

What house of the future would be complete without a state-of-the-art entertainment center?  The 1948 Kettle house, from the Universal feature-film The Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle, was filled with gadgets.  The entertainment center featured a built-in record player; hi-fi and big screen TV, all going to work at the push of a button (for those younger readers, a record player is an old-fashioned CD player, and a hi-fi is a radio).  The components were hidden behind sliding panels when not in use. 

These weren’t the only futuristic improvements in this model home.  There was a master control panel near the front door that controlled just about everything in the house.  According to the film:

“All of the lights, as well as many other features in the house, are worked by electronics.  The slightest pressure on this switch, and the lights go on… and off again.”

What will they think of next?  Pa had a silent-butler (ashtray that empties automatically) right in the arm of his armchair; only this one used a vacuum to clear away Pa’s mess.  There was even an electric-eye door leading into the kitchen.

This SketchUp model is still in progress.  I’ve added a few random props onto the entertainment center, just to add some life to it.  But I need to research, and add props that match the film, along with all of the other household furnishings.

Ma and Pa Kettle

In 1948, this house of the future was designed for the Universal feature-film The Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle.  Pa Kettle won this prefabricated, international style home in a slogan contest.  The Kettles (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) and their 15 children became the fish-out-of-water, country bumpkins living in a home of luxury, much like “The Beverly Hillbillies” would years later.  The Kettles would go on to make a series of seven films while living in this house.  Two more, less successful films, would be made without the house, or Percy Kilbride.

The house was originally built on Universal’s Stage 12, with a complete interior and exterior.  It underwent a number of changes for the first two films until settling on this basic design for the rest.  All but one of the films kept the house set on a stage.  In Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki the house was set up on the backlot of Universal Studios in front of another house. 

Although the dialog claims that the house was prefabricated, little in its design would lend to factory construction.  In fact, the extensive use of squeezed brick strongly supports a “stick-built” construction.