It’s 1934, and we have a new GE refrigerator, or maybe we’re thinking of another new kitchen appliance. What will we do with our wonderful new electric kitchen helpers, and what should our new kitchen look like?

Time to browse The New Art:

This cookbook/wish book showcased kitchens with GE appliances, and included recipes. It includes the recipes from the earlier Silent Hostess cookbook, along with other recipes to play to the strengths of other GE appliances besides the refrigerators.

First, they give you a few new 1934 model kitchens to drool over:

Wow, that double-wide Monitor Top in the first picture would be luxurious!

Then, a before and after kitchen remodeling image:

The old kitchen meant “lost youth and beauty, and impaired health.” Yikes! Better upgrade, to a “lifetime investment,” that is, until it’s out of style in a few years. How about this new range?

I’d buy one of these today. What a gorgeous stove.

What about a mixer, or even a dishwasher?

“No more tell-tale ‘dishpan’ hands”! And it washes all the dishes in 5 minutes!

And then there’s the newer model of the classic Monitor Top fridge:

…just what we need to make this colorful Melon Ball Cocktail, or the Ginger Ale Fruit Salad.

Of course, this was 1934. The world was in the depths of the Depression. The average family could only dream of a kitchen with a dishwasher and all of the other bright and shiny new GE appliances.

Let’s try the ginger ale:

GINGER ALE FRUIT SALAD

2 tablespoons gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 cup ginger ale
1 cup grapes
1 banana
1 apple
2 oranges

1. Soak gelatin in cold water five minutes and dissolve in boiling water. 2. Add lemon juice, sugar and ginger ale. 3. Cut grapes in halves and remove seeds. 4. Slice banana. Peel and chop apple. 5. Separate oranges into sections and remove membranes. 6. When ginger ale mixture begins to thicken, fold in fruit and nuts. 7. Turn into molds and chill. 8. Serve on crisp lettuce leaves with Fruit Salad Dressing.

Then again, I am still recovering from the last experiment with gelatin. Maybe I’ll wait to try this one later.