I just noticed that on Lucy's stove all the burners are on one side and there is a blank space on the other side. Does anyone know if that's how stoves were in the '50's? I wasn't sure if it was another prop made up for the show or if that's how they were.

She really didn't have much counter space so maybe the additional space on the stove was common then.

Also, the utensils on the wall were the same as the set our family had when I was growing up. I still have a couple of pieces left! :lol:

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My grandmother had her old stove til she died and she was 82 when she passed away. It was a large stove with four burners and the empty spot in the middle. It actually had a white cover and when you lifted it, there was a griddle underneath. I don't see that Lucy's stove had a white cover or anything like that. It is flat. I wonder if that is to place other appliances there like her waffle iron or something when cooking.

Could that empty space be intended as a place to prepare food before cooking, or set pans after cooking so they won't be sitting on the burner?

I noticed in the episode, "The Amateur Hour," as well as others that they used that empty space for things at breakfast time. In the episode I just mentioned, the toaster was on there. I know that empty place on the right hand side of the burners was used for the peculator, coffee cups & saucers, etc. I am not sure, but I think that there were outlets on the stove to plug things in too. I think the outlets as well as the empty space was a special feature on stoves at the time for people who didn't have a lot of counter space. But, that's just my theory. LOL

The first apartment I rented was old, cheap, run-down and creaking-- as Ethel would describe Fred-- but it did come with a stove and refrigerator which looked very much like those in the Ricardos' apartment. The 4 burners (gas) took up about 5/8 of the stovetop and the rest was just space over the oven; and under the oven a drawer for keeping pots and pans. That top space could have been used for preparation space or for use of smaller appliances, but it was situated wrong for me. The place also had a kitchen table and only place for it was right in front of that stove, and even against the opposite wall there was barely a foot between the table and the stove, so I didn't use that top space; just 'worked' on the table or the small cabinet top area there was. I didn't use the oven becaue of the space problem, but my mom wanted me to take an old toaster oven we had had since my grandmother's passsing about 11 years earlier. So I took it and it still worked, and I kept that on the kitchen table, which had a checkered tablecloth; and I was so dumb, I suppose, that I used that toaster oven for a couple of months before I realized it was melting the tablecloth under it

The first apartment I rented was old, cheap, run-down and creaking-- as Ethel would describe Fred-- but it did come with a stove and refrigerator which looked very much like those in the Ricardos' apartment. The 4 burners (gas) took up about 5/8 of the stovetop and the rest was just space over the oven; and under the oven a drawer for keeping pots and pans. That top space could have been used for preparation space or for use of smaller appliances, but it was situated wrong for me. The place also had a kitchen table and only place for it was right in front of that stove, and even against the opposite wall there was barely a foot between the table and the stove, so I didn't use that top space; just 'worked' on the table or the small cabinet top area there was. I didn't use the oven becaue of the space problem, but my mom wanted me to take an old toaster oven we had had since my grandmother's passsing about 11 years earlier. So I took it and it still worked, and I kept that on the kitchen table, which had a checkered tablecloth; and I was so dumb, I suppose, that I used that toaster oven for a couple of months before I realized it was melting the tablecloth under it

I guess with a small kitchen like that, you weren't able to bake a 15' loaf of bread! :(