If people spent more time in the kitchen, they would probably spend more time cooking healthier food. Americans are getting fat eating Hot Pockets in front of the television, not socializing in the kitchen.

"To them an exposed light bulb looked stylish and modern, to us it’s a symbol of decrepitude and poorness."
If you can find contemporary pictures of that fixture, it probably had very stylish SHADES. One I saw had L.C. Tiffany art glass shades. Some slug of a workman might have liberated them, modern replacement bulbs didn't fit (like modern people) inside them, or one of four broke and couldn't be (cheaply) replaced.

"Victorians also had a different attitude towards kitchens,"
If you saw the PBS "1900 House", you would know that the kitchen was for the Hired Help, not family, and therefore generally didn't need too much splendor.

regards, Bob

I severely doubt that there were any shades. First of all there were hundreds of these in Grand Central, in one bulb and four bulb and chandeliers with hundreds of lamp variations. Not one shade in sight. I doubt there was much liberation going on during that major restoration in the nineties. Exposed light bulbs were sexy back then. Early Victorians felt the same way about indoor plumbing - you could see tons of exposed pipes in very lavish bathrooms.

It's true about servants occupying the kitchens. But later Deco era apartments, even the modest ones like mine, stressed the importance of the living room and the bedroom, and deemphasized the kitchen and bathroom.

That's a very interesting article, I had the opportunity to learn more about Victorian style. It's quite difficult to make a comparison with modern world but some principles should be common. I also think the kitchen is the most important room, I am actually making effort to have more attractive kitchen so I can spend a pleasant time while kooking for my family.