Am I right: Were vintage medicine cabinets made in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s so much more interesting — not to mention, heavier-duty — than today? I recently picked up this catalog showcasing mid-century medicine cabinets, and I count 42 different variations. 42! Plus, check out the towel bars, soap dishes and other chromium, aka chrome-plated accessories. I scan, therefore I am, and I’ve scanned all 34 pages…
… (1) so that you can identify the medicine cabinets that may be in your home, (2) for your viewing pleasure and/or the hunt, and (3) for history’s sake. I’m not 100% positive, but I think, from the notation, that the brochure was published in late 1955.
Tips to view slide show: Click on the first thumbnail… it will enlarge… proceed to next slide via arrows below image… you can start/stop at any slide.
Fabulous vintage medicine cabinets & other buy it now’s on the bay 
5 vintage style medicine cabinets from Kohler 
Wishbook memories circa 1955 
Become a fan
I saw the exact same cabinet shown in photo #4 at an estate sale recently! It was in a large and fabulous pink and blue bathroom with a corner princess tub and large formica corner vanity. The realtor selling the home was also there, and told me that it was originally a small bedroom. The owner converted it into a bathroom for his wife, so she could have a nice big space. It was dreamy
If I ever find the little transfer cord for my phone, I’ll post some photos I took.
Just send the pics to your computer as a pix message. Instead of a phone # type in your email address as the recipient!
I would, except I don’t subscribe to internet on my phone. (I’m on the internet enough without having phone access!!) If I do use it, I’m sure they’ll charge me some ridiculous amount.
This is so interesting! Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I picked up a lighted medicine cabinet (just like the middle one on page 23, but our cabinet has lights on both sides) a few months ago. We spotted in in the corner while cruising through the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I knew we couldn’t leave without it, so we took it to the counter and took it home for $5.00!!
While cleaning it up, we found the date on the back of the mirror, September 13, 1954….SCORE! we are trying to figure out how to work it into our bathroom theme because these really are handy storage pieces…
I wish I had a bigger bathroom to do more with. Mine is the 5′ x 8′ design with the sink, toilet and tub all along the same wall. I’m restoring the medicine cabinet that will be used. In fact, it’s sitting right here next to me! Gonna blast it and reshoot it white, due to a yellowed discoloration inside.
I wish I could reproduce the “Razor blades” lable inside but I’m too lazy to go to a place that makes decals!
Image 6 looks just like the cabinet in my grandmother’s house (now my dad’s house).
I love the towel link! Never heard of that!
I have one similar to the center unit in image 23 (never noticed the manufacturer). Our kitchen is mismatched Hoosier-style cabinets and I use it and two more old bath cabinets (one wood) grouped as extra storage for spices and such. You could also group them on a large bathroom wall more as an assemblage of mirrors if so inclined.
The cabinet on the cover is in the main bath of our 1955 house. I think the size of ours is a bit larger. We LOVE it! The plastic cover for the light has yellowed a bit. I may try to hunt down a replacement cover someday.
Believe it or not, my grandmother had one of the fluorescent side light ones (p.14) in her kitchen! I always wondered about the used razor blade drop. Where did the blades end up? How long would it take before it filled up? I imagined a pipe leading deep into the ground from above Nana’s kitchen sink, full of Pa’s old, rusty razor blades. Talk about hazardous waste!
It never occurred to me to wonder why they had a medicine cabinet in their kitchen.
My grandmother’s house (built in 1935) has a medicine cabinet in the kitchen, too. They put it there because the house has only one bathroom and they had a large family, so people would shave/brush their teeth/do their hair, etc. in the kitchen, leaving the bathroom free for more “pressing” activities. Now most families are half the size, and most of us can’t imagine life without at least two bathrooms! Talk about Mid-Century Modest!
Since bathrooms seem to be the theme right now, can I ask a question that is slightly off-topic? We have a little soap holder in our bathroom that hangs over the counter and is attached to the backsplash. It has a little bottle-cap type circle that pushes into a bar of soap, then the soap magnetically attaches to the underside of the arm. The brand name is “Zack”. Just wondering if any of you have any info on these…when (and if!) they were popular, etc. If it helps narrow it down, the house was built in 1964.
Wendy, yours may be older but I have seen these still made today by that same company: http://www.proleno.com/stainless-steel-zack-marino-magnetic-soap-holder-10890-0.html
Thanks for the reply, Eartha! I saw one in a “Real Simple” magazine (of all places!) so at least I knew what it was. I’m curious to find out if it was popular at one time, or a somewhat obscure item.
(I’ll take this opportunity to tell you directly how much I love your kitchen…I’ve gone back to that post a couple of times to look at what you did with it…it’s fantastic!)
This may be of interest: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/index.php?s=magnetic+soap+holder
Mystery solved…thanks so much for posting the link!
re: slot in back of medicine cabinet: i’ve pulled at least 2 or 3 vintage medicine cabinets out of walls, and been greeted by an avalanche of rusty, nasty razor blades… 8 *
Well, Johnny Dollar, that solves one of the mysteries the four year old inside me has been pondering for many years. Thanks, although, I think I like my way better. ;p
i would prefer your way too
One has to wonder what they were thinking when they designed the razor blade drop. But then you have to remember this was also in the days of just throwiing your trash out the car window. So obviously, they were not thinking very long term.
Wow, that’s quite the collection. I like the circular style.
I LOVE these old cabinets. I’ve seen so many tossed out during ‘renovations’. Sad!
I have the “Duette Custom” in my bath. Great cabinet and still in excellent condition. I recently had someone give an estimate for installing a vintage sink and they told me I needed to totally update my bath it was so “50′s”. I told the man thanks and I VERY MUCH appreciated it. I am very fortunate the items left in the house when I bought it were almost like showroom new. Built in 1948 and IT IS STILL going strong.
I like the Duette DeLuxe cabinet. I’m not sure what kind was in our bathroom originally – we’re left with a hole in the wall covered by a large rectangular flat mirror. Last time we took the mirror off I took measurements of the opening, but I can’t find them…guess we’ll have to remove the mirror again.
Pam, you are awesome for scanning all of these pages in! Wow!
How can I replace the plastic light cover? Mine looks the first picture. It is from a 1954 Alladin home?
Sorry, I have never researched this question…. I’ll add it to the list, but don’t know how soon I can get to it….