You may have seen a Household Wants Indicator like this in the kitchen of Downton Abbey. Here is a glimpse of one in Bertie Wooster's Kitchen. These were a handy way for kitchen staff to keep track of provisions needed for the household. A little metal indicator next to each listed item can be fliped to red to indicate when it is time to add more to the supplies.  In Bertie Wooster's kitchen everything on the list seems to be flipped to red as seen on the example below.