Here is another source to check for recessed soap dishes: Deabath.com, which has four pages of New Old Stock and salvaged ceramic tile accessories on their website. Above: A Hall-Mack “Chinavogue” soap dish from 1958, still in its original box. Gosh, I want to get all gushy about how beautiful this is… Deabath.com — aka Bathroom Machineries — also has ceramic tile-in toothbrush holders, toilet paper roll holders and shelves… not only in white, but also in a catch-as-catch-can variety of vintage colors.
deabath even sells a tile with slot to dispose of used razor blades — so old skool!
Recessed soap dishes are a pretty popular topic. I now have a list of four places to find them, along with other recessed and tile-in ceramic accessories — including both vintage New Old Stock (NOS) and made-new:
- The motherlode of NOS vintage is at World of Tile.
- More vintage NOS at deabath.com.
- 33 colors of new at HCP Industries.
- Lenape is very easy to acquire but has limited colors, more “modern” style.
Disclosure: Deabath.com is currently an advertiser, but this story is not part of the deal. It’s part of my continuing hunt for and coverage of, places to find the hard-to-find products for your Retro Renovations.
Too funny about that blade disposal tile. I’ve heard stories where contractors go in to remodel/repair a bathroom and they open up the wall and a mountain of safety blades comes pouring out at them. I guess that is a “I’ll let the next guy worry about it” kinda thing.
I’ve had razor slots in previous apartments and wondered about that: So you end up with a wall full of razor blades?
Yup. However, I think it would take like 1,000 years to fill up a wall. And: the world moved to disposable razors soon enough – so it became a non-issue
Sounds kinda gross, I think I’ll leave that out of any of my restoration remodels.
When we started renovating our bathroom, we found a mountain of razor blades.
Hello, I sent you a blog about the bathroom remodel I,m doing on my 1941 National Historic Landmark. We’ve made our decisions, and now we are ordering what is needed. This article came just in time for the pieces we need. The Hal-Mack Chinavogue will be perfect! And the towel bars, soap dish, and cup holder at Rejuvenation is just 5 minutes away. What great solutions! Your site has been a big help so far. Thanks! We will keep you updated and send you some pictures soon.
Hello from Dallas Tx. We have been searching for a replacement recessed soap dish,which my grand son tried to stand on and broke the grab/washrag handle off of.Should anyone be able to help us,it would be greatly appreciated.The dimensions are 91/2 X 41/4. The tile size is the 41/4X41/4 so it takes up two tile area,The color should be white or somewhat off white. Thanks a million. Thomas and Maureen Bob
Thomas and Maureen — check all the resources I have in this story and in my Bathrooms / Tile and Bathrooms / Accessories sectons. GOod luck
Hello!
I am looking for a 20inch glass bathroom shelf with white porcelain brackets and I am having alot of trouble finding one. Please help!
Jess
Try Rejuvenation: http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshow9626/templates/selection.phtml?n=v&&custom_code=pp2y&test=url&new9626WHICH_BRACKET_FINISH=RECHOOSETHIS
Thank you! I spoke with Rejuvenation and they no longer carry that shelf. Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated!
deabath.com … historichouseparts.com … ebay … etsy … haha i have some from an estate sale in my attic somewhere, some day i will sell them on ebay but i don’t know when i will ever get to it …
Thank you! I have emailed both of those companies and I am going to call World of Tile shortly. I will keep you posted! I did find brackets on ebay and at vintagetub.com, but they do not come with the installation hardware.
Oh heck. YES: World of Tile. Say hi to Chippy for me!
Some of my photos of the room with shelves and such from WOT: http://retrorenovation.com/2011/08/24/colored-ceramic-soap-dishes-and-shelves-for-the-tub-and-shower-area-nos-from-the-1950s-1960s-and-1970s/
Hi I need to buy one ceramic wall tile bath shower soap dish I think is the series 800 sleek series – alm. I saw one model in your website, how can I buy this ?
follow the links to the retailers