Mid-Century Kitchen
On a quick weekend trip to New Mexico, we decided to visit Los Alamos and found the Los Alamos History Museum. It had a lot of exhibits related to the obvious topics – the development of the atomic bomb and the Cold war – but the parts that most interested me were the exhibits detailing what life was like living in Los Alamos during World War II and after. Talk about living in a company town, where everything was tightly controlled and no one could ever mention anything that’d happened at work that day.
Anyway, part of the museum includes the Hans Bethe House (Hans Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist who made important contributions to astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics), parts of which have been refurbished to replicate a mid-century dwelling. (Mr. Bethe’s Nobel prize is also on view.)
This kitchen, though. Right away I saw four things that were exactly like things in my mom’s kitchen – the mixer, the coffee pot on the stove, the glass coffee carafe on the counter, and the set of metal canisters. And then, later, I noticed that there was a knob missing from the stove. As much as I can recall, our stove had all its knobs, but I know for certain that the oven door on our stove didn’t stay closed and we had to wedge a chair under the handle to keep it shut. Reader(s) with a good memory may recall that my dad was a civil engineer, and may be surprised at his “solution.” He was sort of that way, though – a brilliant engineer who would complete cheap out on home repairs.
Los Alamos History Museum
Los Alamos, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
Posted on September 9, 2019, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, black and white photography, learning to see, Leica, Los Alamos, Los Alamos History Museum, melinda green harvey, monochrome, new mexico, one day one image, photo a day, photography, postaday, road trip, take time to look, thoughtful seeing, travel photography. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
bellissima
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Thank you!
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I think the 50s were a period of just enough technology, but not too much; although I think we could all do without the technology that was being developed at Los Alamos and other places in the world with similar purpose. This brings me back to my youth. Part of the youth it brings me back to is duck and cover. I vividly recall thinking that this isn’t going to do any good.
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It is almost laughable now to think those school desks could have protected us from, well, anything.
And I completely agree with the technology that came out of Los Alamos. Our very friendly, very old host at the inn we stayed in was retired from “the lab” at Los Alamos – he told us, as he was refilling my coffee cup, that he worked in chemical and biological warfare. It was a surreal moment.
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About 17 years ago, or so, I had lunch with my high school girlfriend. That in itself was surreal. But her brother was also there, as it was a family gathering. He told me he worked at Sandia labs. He could not say what he actually did. He told me that there was a rumor that he worked with a computer and that it sat on a desk. There was also the slight possibility of a chair.
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I have a feeling he told you WAY more than he should have…
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He did stress that these were only rumors.
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But still…
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Several things look familiar to me as well. That means I have really enjoyed the “ commonness “ of your shot . Btw, have you ever let your fingers discover how it feels to be snared by the beaters ? I have.
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I don’t remember every getting my fingers caught, and since that seems like it would be hard to forget, I assume I escaped that fate.
Thanks for liking the commonness of this one – it was that very commonness that led me to make the image in the first place.
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