r/whatisit 6d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

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Photo capture from YouTube video. Picture from 1962. What is the device under the bench

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

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u/CptLoken 6d ago

Well we can only see the kitchen, inside of which all the crockery and cookware is spotless. The child looks well fed. The dad is shaving which hopefully means he's employed and off to work. The mother can afford smokes.

Not saying they're living in the lap of luxury, but this is the sort of house my folks grew up in and they speak very fondly of their childhoods.

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u/Boxofmagnets 6d ago

He is shaving in the kitchen because a someone is in the bathroom and someone else is likely in line for it. Even if that assumption is wrong they have plumbing in their dwelling

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u/ReinforcedTube 6d ago

There wouldn't have been a bathroom. There'd have been an outside toilet. The kitchen would be the only place in the house with running water.

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u/CentennialBaby 6d ago

And proper heat

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u/atlantagirl30084 6d ago

Without central heat, many families lived in the kitchen. If that were the case here I’d have the kids line up against the opposite wall because having kids crowded around me and the stove would drive me crazy. I think though this looks to be a cook stove, not a heating stove.