The vintage pink and maroon tile in Naomi’s pink bathroom sure was beautiful, but my eyes really got to poppin’ when I spied those decorative bird tiles dotting the tub surround. I knew right away to ask Bungalow Bill if he could identify them, and fast as a whip, he did.
The tiles, he said, are by American Olean — their Water Bird Series. Since Naomi’s tiles are all red, pink and white, it seems pretty clear that you could order the available series’ in a number of color ways.
He had a 1950 catalog that showed them. He scanned the relevant pages, sent the scans over, and wrote:
This catalog dates to 1950.
The Franklin Tile Company merged with the American Encaustic Tile Company in the late 1930′s and eventually became American Olean. Designs from each company continued to be in production and can be found with different marks depending on what year it was made.
Some links in case you’d like to use pics of any real tiles in your post:
[Here are links on Bungalow Bill's site to tiles he has available for sales from this vintage American Olean/Franklin series]:
Pink angel fish on lavender tile
Here are all the pages that Bungalow Bill sent, so you can see the complete variety of series’:
Thank you, Bill — as usual, your instantaneous knowledge of vintage bathroom tile comes to the rescue!
The 4 flamingos tile would be so neat to have…a pink Florida bath with barkcloth…I’m pretty sure I have it in my inspiration notebook. I’ve also seen the water lilies in a great vintage bathroom, I think in a Romantic Homes magazine I have.
A house we saw while we were house hunting had a pink bathroom with Cinderella’s coach in silouette, if I remember correctly, on the bathtub tiles…I wanted the house just for that. I think these homes were called Cinderellas…anyone know about them? I have such a deep desire to find what these “Storybook houses” looked like new in the ’50s and I haven’t come across anything yet. Were they influenced by the newly built Disneyland?
Well, look at that I did find something now: http://s872.photobucket.com/albums/ab281/designerjimo/Costa%20Mesa-Cinderella%20Homes%20College%20Park-1958/
I love these houses…they are all around, some people keep them intact and some sadly, deface them.
These tiles are just gorgeous! I found it so interesting that you could have them done in colors of your choice to match your other tile and then noticed that the flamingo ones were done that way. I can’t remember ever seeing any of them, ever, but they must still show up here and there. I love the “masculine” bathroom with the tiled duck scene. It can be so expensive to do a big project but sure does make a kitchen or bath!
I LOVE the pink flamingo tiles and really wish we could still get the 8.5-inch ones! Or any size, really. These are worthy of building a room around, and I’d love to be able to use them in my tub to shower conversion. Sigh…
Pam and Kate… In one of my bungalow misadventures I tiled a backsplash for our mid-century kitchen in arts and crafts tiles. Each one lovingly and individually purchased on eBay. None match. I have NEVER put pictures of it anywhere because of the deep shame. Of course I love this post and love these tiles. You both probably think “not” due to my whited out modern/modern bathrooms. But the pendulum always swings. I have a whited out bathroom due to the crazy wrong period tile in the kitchen. Which needs to go back to its midcentury roots. I will admit to it eventually and post while planning the kitchen remodel, You will laugh, you will cry.
…there’s also Motawi Tile Works (a bit more craftsman than mcm), but still lovely American art tile.
http://www.motawi.com
I wonder if Olean made seagull tile? Dad’s pink bathroom has one. We LOVE it! Sadly, however, that bathroom is on it’s way out; the walls behind the tile were disintegrating from water damage. But, he is going to put the seagull back in, yay!
May I assume these are no longer available? I would love to have flamingos or angel fish.
No – you must find them vintage. Bungalow Bill watches for them. Chippy at World or Tile has some in-the-style-of.
Terrific!! I have been searching online for the maker of some tiles we have in one of our bathrooms. While our house was built in 1909, the original bathroom was remodeled in the 50′s. We have a combination of Cambridge plain tiles and what I now know are American Olean decorative tiles interspersed. Ours are from the Water Bird and Nature Series. We are doing a remodel and want to spare as many as we can, but we will need a few of them. Hopefully, we can find some. Any leads besides Bungalow Bill? I have just now contacted him.