I find it hard to believe that in 20th century Great Britain, people in urban/suburban environments were still cooking on hearth fires instead of using cookers connected to town or bottled gas.
That's the kind of thing I expect to see in farm houses.
We moved into a brand-new council house in 1953 - I was 10 years old. The tiny kitchen had one gas ring and a gas-fired galvanised tub which was used to heat water for washing clothes. There was a built-in coal-fired range in the living room which consisted of a back-boiler (domestic hot water) and an oven at the side of the coal fire. Electric power sockets were few and far between; one in the main bedroom; none in the other bedroom; a double socket in the living room; and a single socket in the kitchen (we were posh, we had an electric kettle).
I've just (Feb 2010) discovered this forum - fascinating stuff!
