Crane is one of our all-time favorite brands for their beautiful and very desirable bathroom sinks — the Crane Criterion comes immediately to mind, and we’ve seen NOS Crane Marcia’s, too. But back in the day, Crane also made steel kitchen cabinets and porcelain drainboard sinks. This catalog shows their designs from 1953 … Click on through for 26 photos, including closeups, from the complete catalog.
As you can see (above), cabinets were white, but the drainboard sinks came in seven lovely pastel colors, along with white.
One of the cool things about this catalog is that it gives us cute model names for each of the sink designs. Above: The Kitchen Queen.
There also are some illustrated kitchen design renderings to ogle. Remember, in 1953, America was transitioning from a “1940’s” look to a “1950s” look. These kitchens are more ’40s looking – typified by white cabinets, true linoleum floors, deeper (rather than pastel) colors, and deco and streamline touches — which you can clearly see in the kitchen above. The color on the wall, by the way, is a ringer, I’d say, for the Caribbean Coral in Sherwin-Williams’ Suburban Modern Palette.
Relive 1953 kitchens –> To use the slide show, click on the first thumbnail… it will enlarge… move forward or back via the arrows below the image… you can start or stop at any image…
Richard Meyers says
We have a Crane Sunnyday sink (Image 8) and need to find hardware for it. Does anyone have any idea where we could look? The faucets are the 45° fixtures and are almost non-existent. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also we may be interested in the cabinets if anyone has them.
pam kueber says
Contact deabath.com – they are the Crane experts. disclosure: they are an advertiser. but I would point you to them even if they were not.
paula gremley says
Hi Pam,
Thanks for all your hard work on the retrorenovations website. The scan and posting of the 1953 Crane Kitchen Queen Kitchen helped me identify the kitchen in my new home.
We purchase a 1928 Chicago style bungalow. The first unit and finished basement for my 80+ parents (they refused to move to a retirement community!) and an upstairs unit for me. I fell in love with the kitchen when I first saw it and love cooking in it. Most of the cabinets are in original condition but were painted a horrid color green. I had the kitchen and cabinets painted in greys and it looks great. The grey pallette came from a chrome and formica table I received from another retro style lover.
Thanks again I get tons of ideas from your site,
Paula
pam kueber says
You’re welcome! And what a great daughter you are to make an extended family home that includes your parents!
paula gremley says
It’s a great setup for us all. I returned from living in Tanzania to help them move…they refused the retirement home route…I said “Let’s get a two flat!” Lucked out on finding a fabulous two unit bungalow that needed some updates (don’t touch my Crane Kitchen!) TLC and adapted bathroom for aging in place. Also, it has an elevator so accessability to the outdoors will never be a problem. They have been great parents so it’s a pleasure (most of the time) to help them now. Plus whose Dad doesn’t want a house with an elevator?
Kelly Patterson says
We have a Crane all-in-one type kitchenette. Sink with 2 burner stove top and fridge with small freezer compartment on the bottom. Everything is in working condition and the color is yellow. Can anyone help with estimated value and possible year(s) of manufacture?
Jerald Schwartzkopf says
I just purchased a single family house built in 1958 that has Crane steel kitchen cabinets (upper and lower). These cabinets are in incredibly good (like new) condition. Is there a market out there for these cabinets?
Mike says
I just bought an old home that has the Kitchen Queen with original cabinets including wall cabs. not sure if the metal wall cabinets are a part of the Kitchen Queen set but they look very similar. Anyhow, I am looking for a more modern look for my kitchen and looking to sell the whole set. Any ideas on where to go for listing? I would like to find a buyer that would really appreciate and use. Thanks in advance
Deb says
Just installed Kitchen Queen double drainboard sink in beautiful condition.
HELP! Anyone know where to find replacement faucet/fixtures? Stock can’t work…
pam kueber says
Hi Deb — see my category: Kitchens / Sinks & Faucets in the important site navigation (above).
https://retrorenovation.com/category/kitchen/faucets/
john says
hey deb
Your sink is pretty much like ours. We are doing the all-american. after 2 months we are about ready to install the faucet this weekend. it was very difficult to find parts for the original faucet. we looked all over for a replacement faucet and found that pretty much nothing else will work.
Because the hot and cold connections are at a angle it is very diffucult to hook a line from your water supply because of the wall behind the sink. Also most of the new faucets we looked at had a high spout that would stick up very high on the sink and we didnt want it higher than our garden window. We were able to find parts and had a machine shop do some work to the original faucet. If you would like some of the companies that we dealt with let me know.
We sent the original faucet to a company to have them look at it and give us a estimate which turned out to be over $800.00. So I decided to to the repairs myself and order parts and have some of the parts fixed at a machine shop.
Just let me know and i would be glad to help with the info that i have.
GothamCityMom says
I have an american standard cast iron/porcelain double sink…what im looking for is a sink base cabinet. Any ideas where i can find one?
john p says
I have the chance to buy the all american sink for $30. includes faucet and handles that appear to be the same in the 1953 advertisement pic. Not sure if they work and will need to find a replacement for the hose sprayer. Does not have the wall mount bracket. The sink has some defects but we are thinking about getting it resurfaced but still waiting for a estimate. Plus will need to to clean up the plumbing parts. Any advice? Would rather have the washboard but unable to find one in our area which is in Seattle.
Thanks John
pam kueber says
I have never heard of sink resurfacing that was satisfactory. I say wait for the right stuff.
john p says
well we went ahead with the crane all american sink. we just had the edges touched up. the sink looks great now we are just having a issue with the original faucet. a company in ca. has it now for estimates on having repairs done. i also have a email for locke plumbing. any other companies that you can direct me to for the faucet?
thank you
pam kueber says
deabath.com would be the very first place i would try for crane faucets
JamieK says
My DH and I just purchased a convent that was said to be built in 1900, however, after we’ve researched some it was actually built in 1946. We have a gorgeous 1940s kitchen with the metal cabinets on bottom, wooden cabinets on top that go up to the ceiling (a top shelf I will never be able to reach) and what I believe is a crane sink/cabinet. The one with the double drainboard. Sadly, the convent was left vacant for over 2 years and is in some disrepair. I’m wondering how to restore and repair some of the cabinets that are propped up with bricks. We plan to strip the paint, sand off the rust, and fully restore the kitchen to it’s full beauty. Thankfully, I found your site with so many helpful hints I believe I’ll be on here for the next week or more!! Thank you so much for putting this information together for those of us who share your love for the retro. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
pam kueber says
Hi JamieK, I’d love to see some photos – send me your info via the Contact form, if you are game. Regarding your cabinets, this is not a DIY site. But, we have had a number of readers pursue refinishing/repainting of their vintage steel cabinets — you can get to them via the category Kitchens/Steel Kitchens. Note, there could well be lead in old paint – be sure to get informed and consult with a professional so that you can make informed decisions about how to handle. Good luck!
Jana (Berniecat) says
What a cool piece of cabinet and sink history. I remember in my first childhood house, our kitchen cabinets and sink that seem to closely resemble the Sunnyday style, only the middle drawer had this curious sliding lid that served as a built in bread box. We never used it as a bread box because my mom had a counter top bread box. I think I remember us storing dish towels in that drawer. I also remember as a kid being fascinated by seeing my first garbage disposal in 1964 when we moved to our new house. It was indeed a Crane like all of the sinks and fixtures in the house. I remember that for the first year after we moved to our new ranch house, my mom would not let any of us put anything down the garbage disposal for fear of breaking it. 🙂 My, how times have changed.