Ohio Edison Thanksgiving Ad – Nov. 6, 1953

One of the challenges on Thanksgiving is finding room on the stovetop and in the oven for the preparation of the feast: cooking the turkey, preparing all the side dishes (mashed potatoes, dressing, etc), making gravy and anything else associated with the meal. It seems like the stovetop is perpetually cluttered with pots and pans (which the male of the species has to wash) with no room to do anything.

For many years, the house I lived that was located in Sheffield Lake had both a gas stove (left by the previous owner and moved to the basement by us) and an electric one in the kitchen. It was very convenient and perfect on Thanksgiving. 

I still don't know how my mother managed to prepare both a duck and a capon on Thanksgiving with one oven. Her kitchen wasn't all that big either.

But seventy years ago, our old pal Reddy Kilowatt had the answer: a Westinghouse automatic electric range with two ovens. As the Ohio Edison ad below from the Nov. 6, 1953 Lorain Journal notes, "With a Westinghouse automatic electric range to take over the cooking cares, mother can visit with guests and really enjoy thanksgiving with complete freedom from potwatching. The oven, of course, is completely automatic, turns out the turkey and all the trimmings just the way you want them."

"Two Ovens for greater convenience in cooking complete meals with utmost freedom from kitchen cares."

I love the illustration of the nattily dressed couple in the ad as they greet their unseen Thanksgiving guests at the door. (Notice how the art is cropped and the top of the man's head is as flat as a Dick Tracy villain's noggin.) Meanwhile, Chef Reddy happily slaves away in the kitchen.

I'm just not sure if I would have trusted the automatic electric range to handle everything with little oversight. I've seen enough 1950s and 60s TV shows to know that something always goes wrong (like on the Dragnet episode "The Big Weekend," when Officer Gannon leaves a duck roasting in the oven too long).

Officer Bill Gannon has his partner Sergeant Joe Friday over for dinner, and is about
 to cut into a very overdone duck with disastrous consequences on Dragnet

****

Reddy was riding the range on Thanksgiving 1945 back on this 2012 post.