Super hot news: Thanks to fantabulous reader Joel who discovered this huge stash of New Old Stock ceramic tile decorative “sizzle strips” for sale on ebay. These gorgeous sizzle strips were made by Mosaic Tile Company of Zanesville, Ohio, probably in the 1950s or 1960s. They are gorgeous. And at $3 each — I think they are a terrific deal. There seem to be many of each style. Each sizzle is 6″ long. Who is working on a vintage bathroom? Go get ’em, Retro Renovators!
After this fabulous discovery, I reached out to Ebay seller 86durango86 to see how he came to own all of these NOS liner tiles. He writes:
I work for a carpet/tile store in Northwest Indiana. My boss was going to throw this tile away about 5 years ago. So I snatched it up to sell on Ebay, only I put it in my storage and never got around to it until last week. I am regretful, though, because we used to have a semi trailer in back loaded with old tile. All the old avocado and pastel colors — but we pitched it all about 10 years ago. I was not as in tune with the value of vintage items at that time, so I really missed the boat at that time. Now I am always on the look out to rescue the beautiful art of the past. All of the accent strips are now listed. If I have fewer than 150 listed then that is all I have of that particular item…. and if I have 150 or more I have additional stock of those items.
Yowza — you mean to tell me there was MUCH MORE vintage NOS tile that was just tossed out? It is enough to break a girl’s heart. Hindsight is always 20/20 though — I’m sure at the time it wasn’t worth the cost of storage to most people. At least some of the coolest stuff was saved — thanks to 86durango86 for saving some of this awesome tile and for allowing us to add the photos to our vintage tile archive.
Check out the graphic below to see close up photos of all 24 varieties of vintage liner tile:
Joe Felice says
Thanks for showing us how-much fun we can have with tile. Who knew?
pam kueber says
Whitney, I’m deleting this thread. There is no buying / selling on the main blog, or it becomes chaos. I recommend: Subscribe to our newsletter. Whenever I see lots of NOS tiles like this for sale, I almost always post about it. For example, see this recent story, there might still be more left (click the links in bright blue)
https://retrorenovation.com/2015/10/09/vintage-liner-tile/
JuliaA says
We were just at B&W on Saturday and Jesse helped us estimate all our tile needs and costs or a 1920s bathroom redo. We also checked out the hand painted deco liners but the price for a single line around the room increased our total by $1000. One option is using a plain liner for most and a more elaborate liner choice for just the tiled tub base area using the Revival Classic Retro Liners from Mission Tile West. The website states they can make in any of their classic colors and most match B&W colors. Worth checking out. Gorgeous patterns and some match these swizzle sticks. Happy Redo!
Karen says
I’m trying to find the link for these retro liners…I need the black & white deco one desperately. Help
Karen
pam kueber says
Long gone sold on ebay. See all our research on where to get liner tiles in our Bathroom Help / Tile category, there ARE other sources: https://retrorenovation.com/category/bathroom-categories/tile/
Shelly Ferguson says
my kitchen is original 1950’s and I would love to incorporate these swizzle pieces into the subway tile backsplash. can you direct me where to find them please. Thank you
pam kueber says
They were on ebay, now mostly gone. See the comments, I think you can still contact the seller, there may be some left.
Check ebay right now also — I recall seeing some from another seller. Search terms: ceramic tile pencil strips, liner tiles, listello tile, etc
Or, see this post, including comments for today-sources: https://retrorenovation.com/2015/01/14/hand-painted-liner-tiles-33-examples/
pam kueber says
Kathy, it would be best, probably, if you list them on ebay or etsy. Then let me know the link, and I will promote it. Yay!
Jennifer Tippens says
Hi,
I know I’m starting to sound like an advertisement, but I promise I don’t work for them… I’m out of state. If these vintage tiles are sold out in the color you like, B&W sells a “Deco Liner” which can be customized in the colors one wants. As of right now, a two color deco liner in any two colors would be $15.98 each. The pattern is on their website, you can ask for samples of colors you might be interested in from them and they will send you a price list. It is like the oval and diamond pattern sizzle stick. Someone online has scanned in a lot of their colors with their color codes, but the monitor changes them so it can only be a rough guide.
pam kueber says
$15.98 vs. $3.00. This is why the ebay find was so spectacular. But yes, B&W have them. Also see my stories on World of Tile. They also have some NOS.