The Forgotten Kitchen Secret That Every Home Once Had!

Ever felt the aroma of bread baking right out of the oven in the kitchen? Perhaps you can remember seeing a loaf of bread stored in a metal or a wooden breadbox, always visible and yet not so much to maintain its freshness. For most of us, that breadbox was a common piece of household equipment, a small appliance stored in the kitchen but which played an important role in our daily lives.

Somewhere in the kitchen of a new house I have moved into there is a built in breadbox which is located conveniently next to the sink. All of a sudden, I was transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen; the breadbox was always filled with warm home-made dinner rolls or bought bread for merenda or toothsome toast with morning tea. This was a small wooden box in the corner of the kitchen counter, which had a much greater significance than simply holding things; it was the symbol of the home, the teachings of which were followed in the kitchen of the past decades.

Breadboxes as a kitchen appliance came into the American homes during the middle of the twentieth century. When there was no such thing as preservatives and plastic wraps, people used to make bread at home or buy one from the local bakery. With the modern and advanced packaging systems that we have today, bread usually gets stale or gets infested with insects if left exposed. Thus the breadbox with its rather simple yet efficient design was the solution to both problems. The ventilated body of the bread ensured that it did not develop mould while at the same time it was able to circulate air for the crust to remain crispy.

breadboxes for the period between 1950s to 1980s were made of either metal or wood and the built in breadboxes became an even more popular part of the kitchen cabinetry. Similar to the one I found, these were usually positioned in the proximity of the food preparation area, close to the sink so that they would be easy to locate during the food preparation process.

As more and more houses were being constructed with energy efficient design considerations in the 1980s, the breadbox was becoming a part of kitchen cabinet. It not only relieved the counter space but also matched the kitchen decor and brought functionality along with the décor.

The breadbox is a story of an object that tries to depict a time when people had more considerable connection with the ordinary. It was always a part of your everyday routine, you wake up, prepare food and the bread box would be there. Even such actions as cutting bread or serving rolls for the family seemed to be more personal. Breadboxes were a sign of a time when meals were cooked at home, and not on the run; when people paid attention to the small things such as where one should keep the bread.

On the fundamental level, the built-in breadbox is indicative of the shift of domesticity. When more and more packaged food products reached the market in the 1990s and later, the food items were preserved with longer shelf life and better packaging materials, and the breadboxes gradually went out of use. But they are still a thing of the past, a silent testimony to the fact that life at home used to revolve around food that is fresh and nutritious and meals shared with one’s family.

While today’s kitchens can be sleek and shiny with their stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, it is delightful to come across an integrated breadbox that is still used after many years of its installation. It’s a small but meaningful gesture to the time when kitchen was not just a place to cook but a place that was more intimate and practical with an emphasis on cooking at home.

Those who are fortunate enough to own one know that a built-in breadbox is a charming element of homes of the past when people’s lives were centered on the home and its simple practices. Still, even though we may not employ them in the same manner, they somehow remind us of the kitchens of our childhood, where the bread was made, stories were told, and people shared a meal.

Next time you are in an old house, or rummaging through a thrift store, and come across one of these breadboxes, you might recall its function in past kitchens. It’s a small thing, in fact, but often it’s the small things that remind of the most pleasant moments. Whether it is to store bread, kitchen paraphernalia or simply to make the kitchen look more inviting, the built-in bread box will continue to be an essential part of American kitchens’ narrative.