We continue our 1961 Hotpoint kitchen mini-series starting with the calendar couple for May. I think it is rare to see an older couple in a kitchen ad. No one seems to want to market to oldies, and I now am having to get used to putting myself in that category. Gramma and Gramps have one bitchin’ kitchen, though. I really love the acrylic panels above the wall cabinets. I also find the wall cabinets themselves interestingly done: They are not 30″ high like most kitchens, they appear to be only 15″ high. If you can afford to give up the space, this arrangement certainly opens up the kitchen more. Finally, if you go over to the 1960s gallery and look at this image enlarged, notice the 4″ tiles. They are all kind of “marbelized”, like with a Roman feel, which we’ve talked about before. I am not sure how I feel about this particular look, but the designers get credit for pushing the envelope.
Here are Gramma and Gramps’ son and daughter-in-law. This seems to be a tiki kitchen. Those are seashell cabinet pulls, and there is an aquarium built into the kitchen island. Yowza. Today, with the prevalance of bamboo cabinets, you could go even further down this tiki path, haha. These vintage images provide great ideas that we might not otherwise be exposed to today via mainstream design media. Like: Yellow + lime + light wood cabinetry. I like it. Precautionary Pam warns, however, that in addition to ensuring you learn about all the safety and environmental issues related to your vintage house: Don’t waterski while smoking a pipe.
This is a Retro Renovation classique image. Is there a party going on elsewhere in the house, or just here? Lovely lovely color combo: Pink and orange against ivory with black. This kitchen has a two-color Mondrian feel… I love the repetition of the orange above the sink… Again, very high wall cabinet placement. A key consideration in the use of color in any room is to use it to keep your eye “dancing around” in an entertained yet not overwhelmed way. Kind of: lively but balanced. This room has it, although that couple, I’m not so sure of.
Tut says
Re: Smoking a pipe while water skiing.
There was a retired couple named Pat & Chuck that my family met every year at a resort in the Lake of the Ozarks back in the late ’70s. Pat slalom skied like a pro and Chuck drove their boat. Pat would tuck her pack of smokes (Kools or Salems I think) and a lighter into her swim cap. Once in the water and up on her ski, she’d put the rope between her knees and light up a smoke. She was a true mid-century modern.
Frank says
#3 pink and orange kitchen–classic. Interesting use of lighting to highlight Hotpoint’s latest washer and dryer set.
Here’s my take on the couple:
Everyone knows that the Niedermiers throw a great party. Unfortunately, Reid Niedermier is unaware that his business partner, Bob, is making the moves on his wife Carol.
Annie B. says
Love the orange and pink combo! And the tulip chairs.
My mid-1960’s GE Spacesaver ‘fridge has the huge bottom freezer unit and I love it.
gavin hastings says
Mary Elizabeth- The 1950’s was the age of millions of concrete slab-built homes. And the age of the Laudromat…so maybe those washers and dryers are shown for all those folks without basements…..which relates nicely with my tirade on aging:
Travelling to the basement with an armload of clothing is an adventure in my future!
pam kueber says
In my vintage marketing materials, I see multitudes of examples of the laundry in or closely adjacent to the kitchen. I think that in the immediate wake of the war, when houses were still small, the idea was that the kitchen would/could/must house all these housekeeping tools. Also, designers were pushing/experimenting with the concept that the kitchen was one-stop-shopping, so to speak. however, as homes grew in size, laundry got its own space — my thinking is that this is what homemakers preferred. too noisy to have the laundry in the kitchen? or, just took up too much space? in my house, our laundry is in the basement and what with all the piles and then drying things on racks, it takes up a lot of space. some day i will do a longer definitive post. but this is how i think this design issue evolved.
Rebecca Prichard says
I keep coming back to the orange and pink kitchen. But, I can’t see affording a Big Chill fridge, stove, and dishwasher. ever.
This is so funny to me – “Is there a party going on elsewhere in the house, or just here?”
gavin hastings says
Ooopppps! Geren…the eyes have lost their edge as well!
gavin hastings says
Green-
Bottom freezers appeared in the early fifties and died off twenty years later. They re-appeared about 20 years ago…and I love them. As part of an aging society I really can no longer imagine bending down almost to the floor for a head of lettuce or a carrot-let alone emptying a dishwasher rack 3″ from the flloor!
The only sad thing is that most of these earlier bottom-mount freezers had a foot pedal to open the door. That part has yet to come back….You could carry ice trays in both hands!
I have had the drawer and the door models. I prefer the door, better access without reaching over a panel.
At 50, I am planning my twilight years….so bye-bye to the Eldred Wheeler bed which stands 33 inches from the floor as well! That is destined to be a hip-breaker and should come with a “Life Alert”!
Maryanna says
Ooooh, that third kitchen is really it! I love that the white seating counter has an orange edge.
Elizabeth Mary says
And, I notice that most of these have a washer and dryer sort of tucked away someplace in the kitchen. Was this a time they were being moved up from the basement? Or, was it just a way to show all the line from Hotpoint. Some of the placements make sense, but some seem “off” to me — most especially the black washer and dryer in Gram and Gramps kitchen.
Geren says
One thing I find interesting in these kitchens is that, even in 1961, Hotpoint had bottom-freezer units. I had thought that was a relatively new “innovation.”