The postwar decades were a golden era for kitchen reinvention in America. Manufacturers and home builders pushed hard toward a cleaner, more functional aesthetic — fewer fussy details, more built-in storage, appliances that disappeared into the architecture of the room. By 1968, that vision had matured into something polished and deliberate. But the kitchens being replaced weren’t exactly eyesores — they had the kind of unpretentious, worn-in character that a lot of homeowners today would pay good money to recreate.
Frigidaire framed the old kitchen as a problem to solve, asking pointedly in their ad copy, “What can we do with this horrible old kitchen?” The 1968 upgrade they proposed featured integrated cabinetry, a cohesive palette and appliances designed to blend into the overall layout — self-cleaning oven, frost-proof refrigerator, built-in laundry center. It’s a look that maps pretty cleanly onto what kitchen showrooms still sell today.
The “before,” though, has its own following now. That older style — simple cabinetry, open shelving, utilitarian fixtures — is exactly what the cottage, farmhouse and vintage-industrial aesthetics are built around. What Frigidaire’s copywriters called horrible, plenty of modern homeowners would call charming.
We’ve collected the original 1968 Frigidaire kitchen remodel ads below, before and after both included. See which side of the debate you land on.
1968 kitchen remodel: What can we do with this horrible old kitchen?
Frigidaire saves her from covering leftovers.
A special storage area in this Frigidaire Frost-Proof Food-life Preserver Refrigerator helps keep turkey from shriveling, celery from wilting, and pudding from turning into concrete. With this completely new kind of refrigerator, she’ll never have to cover leftovers again.
The Frigidaire Automatic Ice Maker saves her from filling, spilling and refilling ice trays. It stores a party supply of non-stick cubes right in the door. Instead of wasting space in the freezer.
New! Frigidaire saves her from serving cold meals.
These infra-red food-warmer lamps help keep a platter of pancakes, or a panful of eggs warm all breakfast long with-out over-cooking… hold a hot dinner without burning. All with a flick of the eye-level controls.
Save her from cleaning an oven by hand. The Frigidaire Electri-clean oven cleans itself. Automatically. (Even the oven racks and drip bowls!) Just set the controls. Next time you open the oven, it’ll be so clean, all you’ll see is a trace of ash.
New! Frigidaire saves her from searching for detergents.
The exclusive built-in laundry cabinets in this Frigidaire High Fashion Washer and Dryer make it much easier to reach detergents, bleaches, and softeners. This beautiful pair makes a complete home laundry center. (Available soon.)
It’s Frigidaire’s patented Deep Action Agitator. (Sends powerful surges of water through your clothes, for really deep cleaning.) It outdates old-fashioned blade type agitators.
Buy her a Frigidaire appliance… because Frigidaire bothers to build in more help.
These are a few of the many innovations in Frigidaire’s 1968 line of refrigerators, electric ranges, washers, dryers, food freezers, dishwashers, disposers, built-in wall ovens, cooking tops and room air conditioners.
More than beautiful! These exciting Frigidaire features are real wife-savers.
Do you like this gorgeous kitchen? We’ll be glad to send you a floor plan, and answer your questions. Just write to: Consumer Relations, Frigidaire Division, General Motors…
4 Responses
Who in their right mind would put a washer and dryer on a platform above their dining table?
@ Bunny, Yes I agree, I was liking it until then. I would be terrified of it collapsing!
Give me the classic ’40s kitchen over the ’60s one any day! Just add some upper cabinets and freshen up the paint and it would be timeless and fit right in to a more traditional-styled or transitional home. Even love the old “schoolhouse” lights.
I would love to have the washer/dryer with the cabinets – wow! Not over the dining room table! I also like all the counter space on either side of the stove. I would much rather have the Flair stove by Frigidaire! and the Lazy Susan refrigerator.