"Among the things that every young bride should know," warned Kiplinger's Personal Finance in 1951, "is this devastating fact: in her married lifetime she will spend four years doing nothing but washing those dirty dishes." Simpler and more affordable than a dishwashing machine (costing about $8), this manually operated cleaning tool was promoted as a labor-saving device for smaller, more modest postwar kitchens. Though patents for dishwashers had been issued beginning around 1850, the modern automatic dishwasher was not a common household appliance in the United States until after World War II.
Gallery label from Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen, September 15, 2010-March 14, 2011.
