In pre-modern society a lot of production took place in the home.After the industrial revolution, the kitchen was the only production arena left. Not surprisingly, it was the kitchen that became the spearhead for technological innovation.
Stove
Up until the 1800s, hot food was prepared in the open fireplace. Bread was unleavened “flatbrød” baked on a griddle. Baking ovens were only to be found in town houses and on large farms in rural areas. Wood fuelled iron stoves with ovens and “ring holes” were developed in the first half of the 1800s. They made it easier to regulate the heat and reduced the amount of firewood. Gradually, coke and coal were also taken into use as fuel.
Gas burners and gas ovens were used for food preparation from the end of the 1800s, with competition from electric hot plates from ca. 1900. Gas and electric stoves were in ordinary use in Oslo from the 1920s. Their design was inspired by the iron stove. When enamelled steel sheet was introduced, it enabled a lighter structure with flush surfaces. Gas and electric stoves made making food easier, quicker and cleaner, but did not change the work.
Towards 1950 firewood, gas and electricity were used at the same time. In 1943 there were wood stoves in five kitchens in Wessels gate 15, three had electric stoves, while one housewife prepared food on a gas cooker.
Refrigerator and freezer
There have always been problems about storing food. Many of the so-called “traditional dishes” are a result of age-old conservation techniques – smoking, drying, fermenting, salting. Canning was developed in the early 1800s and done both in homes and in factories.
The icebox, the forerunner to the refrigerator, kept food cold by storing ice blocks in the upper part, replacing them once or twice a week. The ice was cut from fjords, lakes and man-made dams. This was a thriving business in Norway from the 1850s until World War II, with exports to many countries.
Refrigerators for private homes were sold in the USA from 1916, but nearly a decade passed before they became cheap and practical enough for widespread use. The largest producer was the General Electric Company. Their model “Frigidaire” was sold in Norway at the end of the 1920s. Refrigerators became standard in Norwegian homes from ca. 1960. The first freezers available to ordinary households were in cooperative freezing facilities. In 1958, the famous radio personality Rolf Kirkvaag became director of the Deep Freezing Office.He worked to spread information about freezing food, and freezers in the homes became common.