Untitled (salesman with electric ranges) c. 1970

Curator: This photograph, titled “Untitled (salesman with electric ranges),” is credited to Ken Whitmire Associates. It captures a salesman posing proudly next to a line of Frigidaire "Touch-N-Cook" electric ranges. Editor: There's something haunting about this image. The inverted tones give it an eerie, almost ghostly feel. It's like a memory fading. Curator: Absolutely. The photograph, in its focus on the salesman and the new technology of the ranges, speaks volumes about post-war consumer culture and the allure of the "modern" American kitchen. Editor: It’s also fascinating how these appliances, meant to liberate women, reinforced gendered expectations of domesticity. The image becomes a tableau of progress and constraint. Curator: I agree. It makes me wonder about the dreams—and perhaps the disappointments—associated with these technological promises. Editor: Indeed. It makes me reflect on how much, and how little, has changed regarding technology, labor, and the home.