Vintage Household Items
Instructions: How well do you remember these vintage kitchen gadgets, appliances, and home items?
- 1.
What was a 'rotary phone' dial used for?
ASetting an alarmBTuning radio stationsCDialing phone numbers by rotating a numbered discDAdjusting the volume - 2.
What was a 'mangle' or 'wringer' used for in the home?
ACarving meatBGrinding coffee beansCMixing cake batterDPressing fabric and squeezing water from laundry - 3.
What household appliance was the 'icebox' a predecessor to?
AFreezerBRefrigeratorCDishwasherDAir conditioner - 4.
What was a 'carpet sweeper' used for?
ASweeping carpets without electricityBStretching carpet flatCMeasuring carpet for installationDShampooing carpets - 5.
What was the purpose of a 'washboard'?
AA kitchen cutting boardBScrubbing clothes by handCA musical instrumentDAn ironing surface - 6.
What did a 'percolator' make?
ACoffeeBHot chocolateCSoupDTea - 7.
What was a 'stereoscope' used for in Victorian and early 20th century homes?
AProjecting moviesBPlaying musicCViewing 3D photographsDExamining insects - 8.
What was a 'sad iron' or 'flat iron' heated on?
AA special heating padBAn electric outletCA stove or fireDIt heated itself chemically - 9.
What was the purpose of a 'butter churn'?
AMelting butterBTurning cream into butterCCooling butterDShaping butter into blocks - 10.
What household device was commonly called a 'transistor' in the 1950s and 1960s?
AA calculatorBA portable radioCA record playerDA television - 11.
What was a 'chamber pot' used for?
AHeating waterBStoring coinsCA nighttime toilet before indoor plumbingDCooking stew - 12.
What did a 'coal scuttle' hold?
ACoal for heatingBWater for washingCCandlesDAshes from a fireplace - 13.
What was a 'pressure cooker' from the mid-20th century primarily valued for?
ACooking food much faster using steam pressureBPreserving food for monthsCBaking bread evenlyDMaking ice cream - 14.
What was an 'egg timer' shaped like in its most classic form?
AA bellBAn hourglassCA chickenDA clock face - 15.
What was a 'TV dinner' tray typically made of?
ACardboardBAluminum foilCCeramicDPlastic
Answer Key
Rotary phones had a circular dial with finger holes numbered 0-9. You placed your finger in the hole and rotated the dial to enter each digit.
A mangle or wringer had two rollers that pressed wet laundry to squeeze out excess water before hanging clothes to dry.
The icebox was an insulated cabinet that used blocks of ice to keep food cold, before electric refrigerators became common in the 1930s-40s.
A carpet sweeper was a manual device with rotating brushes that picked up dirt and debris from carpets without needing electricity.
A washboard had a ridged metal or glass surface used for scrubbing clothes against when doing laundry by hand.
A percolator brewed coffee by continuously cycling boiling water through the coffee grounds using gravity and steam pressure.
A stereoscope was a handheld viewer that combined two slightly different photographs to create a three-dimensional image.
Before electric irons, sad irons (also called flat irons) were solid metal and had to be heated on a wood stove or over a fire.
A butter churn was used to agitate cream until it separated into butter and buttermilk, through repeated plunging or cranking.
Portable transistor radios were so popular that people simply called them 'transistors.' They were a teenage must-have in the late 1950s.
A chamber pot was kept under the bed or in a bedside cabinet for use as a toilet during the night, before homes had indoor plumbing.
A coal scuttle was a metal bucket used to carry and store coal for fireplaces and stoves that heated the home.
Pressure cookers used sealed, high-pressure steam to dramatically reduce cooking times — a pot roast could be ready in a fraction of the normal time.
The classic egg timer was a small hourglass filled with sand that took about 3 minutes to empty — perfect timing for a soft-boiled egg.
TV dinners came in divided aluminum trays that went straight from the freezer to the oven. Swanson introduced them in 1953.