Here's a fun blog about vintage linoleum flooring:

http://www.vintageinn.ca/2016/06/the-beautiful-world-of-1940s-linoleum-f...

Nothing can beat the taste of toast made using that griller on the right. I still use ours at our cottage in Northern Ontario.

Neural pathways crossed with Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie. (A popular pattern back in the 30s and 40s.)

I'm going to the barbershop tomorrow and if it isn't open, I'm gonna buy a snood.

Does this linoleum pattern have a generic name? I remember it from my urchin days and would like to revisit the style.

Five sad irons sitting on a hot stovetop. And the wash has just been pulled off the lines. You know what's next.

The snood had a revival of popularity in the early '40s due to the film version of "Gone With the Wind." Also handy when women went to work in the factories during WWII. The next forgotten wartime fashion trend was nailhead trim on ladies' dresses.

I wondered the same thing as Mr Belcher. My theory now is that they put it there to cover the mousetrap that they didn't want to show in the picture.

As for the toothbrush: I think that's an old one that's used to get at the hard-to-reach places when you're washing dishes or cleaning up. The real toothbrushes are in the bathroom.

I note the way she has her mouth open tightly. It’s either rapt concentration on the broom task or plain old shyness. Both ways work for me.

In response to Steve Belcher, it's called a "snood", worn kind of like a hairnet, very popular during the 1940's, especially 1943. Usually made of fine knitted or crocheted thread.

[Sometimes I wonder about you people. - Dave]

One teethbrush.

[That might be for fingernails, oyster forks, etc. - Dave]

The hot water tank to the right of the stove. I had relatives in Maine with the same setup in their kitchen that was used right up to the early 1980s. Year round, the stove was going to keep the water hot!

Also (if I had guessed) the pattern on the linoleum under the stove and along the wall looks more mid-20th century than I would expect to find in a 1930s/40s kitchen.

What's up what's with the Straw Hat?

You know you've been hanging around this site too long when you realize that you've spent twenty minutes trying to read the fine print on the wall calendar, and can't recall what else is in the picture.