Industrialization in the 19th century, coupled with a new role for women in urban environments, brought about a veritable revolution in the mode of equipping kitchens. Fireplaces, old plate racks and the occasional chest of drawers were all substituted with showcases and wood burning stoves at the end of the 19th century. Ice block refrigerators that were invented in 1899 soon began to be used in Pula, the main harbour of the imperial Austrian navy, where all innovation were on offer for the eager clients to buy, soon after they were first introduced on the market.

The use of electricity-powered refrigerators on a mass scale will begin in the middle of the sixties (in certain areas even before that) of the last century, parallel with the use of electricity-powered stoves, and the gradual introduction of hanging cabinets (i.e. American style kitchens). The mode of kitchen outfitting closely follows the fashion trends of a particular period of time. Kitchen furniture, vessels for food preparation and consumption, home appliances...they all bear the stylistic hallmarks of the period when they were produced and are consequently an excellent indicator of the prevalent tastes that existed during a certain period of time.