The 1950s was the first great age of the modern kitchen: labor-saving appliances, bright colors and the novelty of fitted units moved the kitchen from dankness into light, where it became the domain of the happy housewife and the heart of the home. Formica - a new space-age material - decorated with fashionable patterns topped sleek cupboards that contained new classic wares such as Pyrex and 'Homemaker' crockery, and the ingredients for 1950s British staples: semolina, coronation chicken and spotted dick.

Electricity entered the kitchens of millions, and nowhere in the home was...