Elena recently submitted a comment that made me remember I wanted to post about these: Wallpaper murals — 9′ wide for walls up to 10′ tall – made by Thibaut. Can you believe it, but this one above, Memory Lane, was on the wall behind President Lyndon B. Johnson when he addressed the nation on TV for two hours from his Texas ranch house. Hey: That means it was in Lady Bird Johnson’s house — our 4th “First Lady” Retro Renovation connection — can you name the other three so far? Today, we still catch occasional glimpses of wallpaper murals in time capsule houses. They are SO OF THE ERA. You can still get four different designs, in a number of colorways, from Thibaut today. Looks like the retail price is just under $900.
Ooooh, these are soooo pretty. I think I am partial to Memory Lane, like LBJ and Lady Bird. Thibaut says that particular era design is their best-selling wallpaper mural of all time.
I recently visited the showroom of a company in the San Fernando Valley in So. Cal. that has a wonderful collection of vintage wallpaper (trade only), and if you have the $$$, also makes custom wallpapers…. The gal I spoke with said that they are getting many orders for red flocked paper these days – perfect for a 50′s dining room. I am looking, though, for “rose red” – more a bluish red. I may go with a gold pagoda pattern embossed on grass paper made by Schumacher, though the red flocked stuff is tempting for our 1956 California ranch dinging room. Any suggestions Pam – I am in the exploratory phase? P.S. Anyone seen any great vintage looking wall paper murals? My grandmother always had them in her living/ dining room and the nostalgia factor has me searching. And Pam, you have no idea how you’ve inspired us to purchase a very neglected Carmichael, CA home and embark on bringing it back to its glory. Many thanks, Elena & Brian
Yay, Elena and Brian, I’m so happy to hear about your new/old adopted Carmichael house. But don’t curse me in your weaker moments, okay? And, yes: Red-flocked wallpaper! I ’fess up: I tore it out of the foyer of my first house ever, a 1938 mid-century modest in Grosse Point Farms, Mich., which I bought when I was 25. What the heck did I know? Tragique.
11 wallpaper mural designs just 11 years ago
Thibaut’s wallpaper murals are silk-screened by hand — sounds beautiful — I bet they are just like grandma’s. I found a new release online from 11 years ago, which indicates that their collection then included a total of 11 designs. The news release alluded to:
…beautiful wisteria flowers, Roman columns, garden images reminiscent of impressionistic paintings, elegant Chinoiserie, and wonderful examples of trompe l’oeil…
Sounds like those were nice, too. I would love to see the Chinoiserie, sigh. Thibaut: Retro = hot, bring ‘em back! Thibaut also notes:
Decorating with murals can help add a view to a windowless room, visually enlarge a small space, or simply add elegant, artistic touches to any interior. The murals can be used as a single image, continue on to a second wall, or go clear around a room.
–> You can find Thibaut’s four wallpaper murals in their Thibaut Classics collection, here.
Inez Croom 1960s wallpaper — 47 designs still in production today 
Five mid-century vintage wallpaper designs reproduced by Sanderson 
Flamingo’s and hula girls for your perky retro bathroom – from Thibaut 
Become a fan
The “Southern Mansions” mural is hanging in the dining room at St Thomas Rectory in Adams, Mass. Three actually- Each full scene is made to connect to the next and with these murals you can do the entire room.
They look especially nice riding a chair rail. Suburban Zuber.
Katzenbach also made mural panels for Colonal Williamsbug in the 60′s. “Ducks” and “Geese”. Very pretty, and can be seen on the dining room walls of Ellen Burstyn’s D.C. home in “The Exorcist”.
Every once in a while they come up on Ebay.
Growing up; we had the “Streets of Paris” mural on 2 walls in our kitchen and I thought were livin’ the life!
Where have you been, Gavin?
I have been very busy cleaning; (some siblings might say plundering), all the good stuff from my parents house a few blocks away..
When I was done with their Miele Vacuum Cleaner- I just put it in my car.
A dirty job-but some greedy person with good taste has to do it.
hahahah, my favorite quote of the week and it’s only tuesday: “A dirty job — but some greedy person with good taste has to do it.”
These are awesome, and if I could incorporate one into my 1954 scheme, I would. I loved seeing them as a boy in the mid-’70s in homes of my parent’s friends. My first time out on my own, I rented a MC Modest ranch, of course, and it was a one owner house. It had a mural about the couch of an Italian countryside.
Looking at it helped me relax.
Every so often you can still find a giant-sized book of these in old wallpaper stores.
As with flocked wallpaper, they died from their own success. They were a natural for Dentist and Doctor Waiting Rooms, coffee shops and even Friendly’s had them: albeit built into a faux picture window, complete with scalloped edges.
Don’t you remember the “Bare Brown Trees with Orange Sky” on a white backround from the early 70′s. That was mural wallpaper’s last gasp.
My grandparents built a mid century ranch in 1955. Besides the coolest full turquoise tile bathroom ever, they had a mural in the den. Both my grandparents were huge outdoors people so the had a mural of a lake with two men in a boat fishing – one sitting and baiting his hook and the other standing in the boat with his line in the water. It was close-up with full woods in the background. I thought it was so cool when I was little, like it was really my Bapa in the boat. No wonder I love mid century so much. All wonderful memories!
I loved those! House shopping in the 70s, we looked at a ranch house that had one of those on the dining room wall. They were playing classical music on their tape deck. I still wish we could have gotten that house! Our new MCM house in Florida has beautiful real walnut paneling throughout, so I guess I couldn’t make a mural work in there. It would be awesome to lighten things up in there a bit, though.
I can only imagine trying to hang one of these murals and match the pattern. Talk about needing a level line! One wrong move and the whole thing would be a slanted mess! I guess you would hope for the straightest walls and ceiling ever constructed!
Friendly’s!! I KNEW I’d seen these before – the one in Waterbury had them.
Yup.
Friendly’s single-handedly killed mural wallpaper in the Northeast!
Oh…what great memories this brings back! My grandparents had a mural on the wall of their 1950s custom home in rural Kansas. It was more of a true to life photograph of a woodland scene and a brook. I’ve often thought about it and sure would love to be able to find that again!
There’s a Birge mural up on eBay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-Vintage-Birge-Wallpaper-Wall-Mural-9-ft-x-12-ft-/150573565591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230ee24697
The seller had several up, including one similar to Memory Lane above. This is the last one. Remember the photo mural wallpaper from the 70′s?
Argh, I wish I had known. Thanks, Brini, nice to see you here today, dear! We must get together soon!
I think there’s a 70′s photo mural up right now too.
Definitely. We’ve been chatting too long. Any NY trips planned?
I need to soon. Have you been to the MOMA kitchens exhibit?
No, but I really want to. Plans to go?
soon…. i’ll try and figure it out
BTW-
These come with a supply of solid background wallpaper, so that the mural floats across the walls seamlessly in the room. You can buy extras.
My grandparents had one of these in the dining area of their *apartment* that they moved into in the mid-60′s. It covered one whole wall. I always loved it. The only real colors in it were aqua/turquoise, green, and then all the detail was taupe/light brown. The kitchen had aqua cabinets and avocado green appliances. Fountain Square apartments in Louisville, KY – they’re still there. The outsides of the buildings are still pretty 60′s but of course the insides have all been updated. When they moved in it was brand new and quite the posh complex – they had a hair salon on site!
When I get old, I want to live in an apartment complex with a hair salon on site. I am going to die my hair poodle blue for sure.
The ’68 rancher my parents bought in California had one, in the living room, a scene of the scrubby sea cliff trees in Monterrey (CA). Lots of green tones to match the sea foam green shag carpet that covered nearly every inch of the place. It also had silver foil wallpaper in the bath… I still see that stuff in my dreams, or rather nightmares. But the tree mural was nice, if I could find it again I think I would use it in the Asian-esque bedroom of my current ’56 split level.
omg the first one was *IN* one of my doctor’s office rooms when I was growing up!! The doctor’s office had murals in a a few of the rooms, then a couple had cute little lambs and other baby things on it.
This doctor had seen my mom from baby to teen, then me from baby to teen. The one story small office building looked early to mid 60s to me but I went there in the 70s-80s. It remained the same the whole time. He was a much loved doctor in my town and practiced until he was at least 80. He just recently passed away in the past 5 years. I think the building is still there, but has been remodeled.
There was an atrium in the center of the small building that you could see when looking out the waiting room windows. It was full of plants and humid looking. There was a frog in there also! I think maybe a little pond with fish? I always wondered how they got in there, because I could never see any door. There was another office on the other side, so was sort of a duplex building.
The chairs in the waiting room were those fiberglass chairs in white….I think there MAY have been a few colors too like blue, orange and yellow. I can’t remember. The carpet was kind of a slate blue with very very pale blue walls. Anyway, I recognized that mural right away from years of sitting in those rooms waiting for the doctor.
Isn’t it funny what we can remember from our childhoods?
I remember murals like these in my doctor”s office when I was a tot in the 1960s. They were of trees, and it seems that there was a water feature–but I was 3–so that could be just my imagination. The walls and the smell of the office is the main thing I remember. It’s been well over 45 years since I’ve even been in that building. Wouldn’t it be really cool if that mural was still hanging after all these years?
I assume these are similar (if not the same) to the murals on the walls in Samantha Stevens’ home on the first two seasons of Bewitched?
Bewitched? Woah!
They had that cool wall mural to the left of the swinging kitchen door. You can see some of it here on a Bewitched fan site. http://www.1164.com/set/tv/dining-room/index.html Samantha always always had a good eye for decor.
hilarous!!!! thank you!
That is the one we had in our kitchen- 1964!
It is a Paris street scene with a river, buildings, bridges and sidewalk cafes.
When we bought our 1957 ranch 2.5 years ago, we inherited a wall mural in the family room. To be honest, it was one of my least favorite things, but it could have been because it was all in earth tones and some past owner paired it with the infamous burgandy, hunter green and navy of the 1980′s/early 90′s and the color clashing was chaotic. When we renovated the family room, the mural met its demise. Now I feel guilty about getting rid of it. I should have known better.
You can see a bit of it in my this photo on my flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/retro-kitty/4326052918/in/set-72157623335293974/
Oh, that would have been the basis for all kinds of 70′s fabulous for me. Too bad you 86ed it.
oh my, that looks like it was cool. but don’t fret, janice — we all do things that we second guess ourselves on later. Like I said in the main post — I ripped red flocked wallpaper out of my first house. Little did I know!
We all do it. I have always regretted removing this amazing vinyl tile floor from an entrance hall. It was white and green and the edges of the tile were lightly beveled to resemble marble. I haven’t seen anything like it before or since.
I posted a pic of my grandparents’ place on my blog (www.post40rambling.blogspot.com). You can see a good chunk of the mural in the background. My brother still has that chair we’re sitting on. I used to drive the adults crazy with that lamp behind us – it turned on/off by pulling on those gold tassels. They were silky and I loved the feel of them, and would turn the light on and off endlessly until forcibly removed. ; )
What an adorable picture of you and your brother!
Yes — GREAT photo!
seeing “Memory Lane” in the blog today looked pretty close to home to me,
since this is in our dining room
http://image83.webshots.com/183/7/6/15/2472706150033013223osMIDo_fs.jpg
love it, donna! can you take a “long shot”, too — stand back further so we can see the whole thing in its natural habitat?
The rental ranch house my parents moved to in a small Iowa town in the early 1960s had a picture of a mountain and lake with a wooden frame in front of it. The frame made the scene look like a view through a window. They kept a couch under the picture.
These are great. I’ve been trying to find a new vintage wallpaper mural. The mural in my foyer is trying to come off the wall. It is a Mediterranean scene with a villa on a hillside dipping down to a body of water in the distance. Any other vendors have these great vintage murals?
I just stumbled upon this post while doing one of my regular searches for vintage wallpaper murals. My grandmother had one by this same maker in her 70′s living room. Her’s was THE COOLEST, a Mediterranean style scene. Several years ago, in one of my favorite antique stores, I was lucky enough to find some old store samples of these murals. I was so thrilled. They didn’t have the exact one my grandmother had, but some very similar ones.