I really wish I had more time to do justice to your question but I have attached one online resource for a public-friendly case study in one household appliance: the trash compactor. The kitchen is indeed the most technology-intensive room of the house; in the postwar housing boom, suburban homes were increasingly outfitted with a number of appliances. The boom in household technology corresponds with the postwar abundance and consumerist abandon. New suburban homes were outfitted with new appliances, now available to be purchased by credit and with savings accumulated during the war, when few consumer goods were available for purchase (most goods went to the war effort). Anyway, for the trash compactor, see: Trash Compactor About kitchen technologies in general see this page