On Sun 06 Jul 2008 01:18:39p, Gregory Morrow told us...

>
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>> On Sun 06 Jul 2008 12:30:28p, Gregory Morrow told us...
>>
>> >
>> > Michael "Dog3" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Wayne Boatwright >
>> >> 6.120: in
>> >> rec.food.cooking
>> >>
>> >> > Nor me. I have black appliances. SS seems cold and industrial,
>> >> > not to mention a bitch to keep in pristine condition.
>> >>
>> >> A lot of people like SS appliances. I don't think it's for us
>> >> either. We chose white.
>> >
>> >
>> > If it was 50 years ago you could have chosen pink, darling...and IIRC
>> > Kelvinator even made *two - tone* fridges, following the two - tone
>> > automobile fad 'o the day...
>> >
>> > ;-)
>>
>> They did, indeed. And GE offered not only pink, but yellow, turquoise,
>> and cocoa. GE also coordinated their appliances with Youngstown
>> cabinets for matching colors, and with Kohler for matching sink colors.
>>
>> My first apartment was outfitted in GE turquoise appliances...fridge,
>> cooktop, built-in oven, turquoise Youngstown cabinets, and Kohler
>> turquoise sink. Not too terrible, until you realized that the builder
>> had combined all of this with pink Formica patterned countertops and a
>> brown linoleum floor. The apartment complex had been built in the late
>> 1950s.
>>
>
>
> Yup, my grandma had c. 1960 pink Fridgidaire appliances...
>
> There is a great book you'd enjoy called _Populuxe_ by Thomas Hine,
> (published in 1987 it's now OP but there are plenty of used copies on
> the various book sites), that celebrates that 1955 - 64 era when US
> consumer goods were jazzed up to be "luxurious" and "space age",
> incorporating the new technologies of the time. There's an ad from
> Kelvinator c. 1956 that shows all the two - tone combos for fridges.
> Some are pretty nauseating, e.g. black and yellow, who wants a giant
> bumblebee in their kitchen? But there is a charcoal gray - pink model
> that is pretty groovy (there was a pink fad and a pink - and - gray fad
> in the mid - 50's. Remember the "Think Pink" number from the fabulous
> 1957 Audrey Hepburn - Fred Astaire musical _Funny Face_?)...

You're right, I would enjoy that book. I'll have to look for it. Speaking
of pink and gray, throngs of girls wore gray felted poodle skirts with pink
poodles on them. :-)

> I could dig pink - and - charcoal appliances, but I'd have to have them
> in a separate kitchen...they'd quickly get tiring on the eye.

Yes, I think it would get tiresome after a bit.

> The matching cabinet thing was a big deal, and also with the top section
> of some fridges you could apply your own fabric or other materials to
> match your decor...on ad shows a gal applying fabric to her fridge door
> that matches her *dress* fabric, I guess there was a plastic thingy over
> the door or something to cover the fabric.

Oh, yeah, I remember that, too.

> They would have put tail fins on some of these appliances if they could
> have, in fact I've noticed in some old vacuum cleaner ads from that era
> that there *are* little tail fins on some of the models...

Hoover had an interesting cannister vacuum called the Constelation that
looked like a little Sputnik. It had no wheels, but floated on the exhaust
air coming from underneath the bottom.

> I love the appliance ads from that era, Frigidaire especially had these
> great and elaborate two - page spreads in _Life_, etc. that featured
> glamorous people in plush dream kitchens. They seemingly put as much
> effort into introducing their new appliances in the autumn as they did
> to promoting their NEW! GM car models...

They did, indeed. Really fun to see now. Many are available on the 'net.

> [BTW, the second season of _Mad Men_ starts later this month...]
>
> Fridgidaire introduced the straight - edged "Sheer Look" in appliances
> in late '57, that basic look has stayed with us, 'though the colors have
> changed over the years.

Yes, the very angular look. Shortly after came the colors, avocado,
harvest gold, and coppertone. The harvest gold wasn't too bad, but I
didn't like the other two.

> 50's "planned obsolescence", ya gotta love it...
>
> ;-)
>
> ===>> we had a PINK '56 Buick Roadmaster 4 - door hardtop when I was a
> kid...

We had a '56 Olds 98 4-door hardtop in turquoise and cream, withh a
continental kit on the back, and ear to ear chrome everywhere. :-)



--
Wayne Boatwright
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