Retro Renovation» pink bathrooms

A Mamie pink bathroom for Sims 3 – midcentury classique for the virtual world

pam kueber — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:40:52 +0000

Last year Sarah — who creates and shares designs for Sims 3 — created a midcentury modern Sims kitchen based on my kitchen. I went poking around her blog, AweSims, again, and wouldn’t you know it, she has created a Mamie pink bathroom for Sims! It was an “extra” to go with a blue jazz room, but hey, the bathroom is proving twice as popular — 3,800+ downloads so far. Pink bathrooms: Super popular back in the day… resurgent in real homes today… and de rigeur virtually, too. Sarah, is that an American Standard sink? I need to bone up on my designs, I’m slipping. Yes: Awesome! xoxo

Are you new-ish to the blog? Maybe you don’t know about my mini-campaign — to Save The Pink Bathrooms. Click on over to this site to learn all about ‘em and to Take the Pledge!

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Retro Renovation’s “The Hard Way Award” winner 2011: Janice and her from-scratch pink bathroom

pam kueber — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:30:00 +0000

In 2010 I instituted “The Hard Way Award”, honoring one reader each year who chose the path less traveled: Pursuing a Retro Renovation that, on the main, bypasses off-the-shelf big box supplies in favor of a more arduous period-inspired renovation using hard-to-find and/or salvaged material. A renovation that truly shows the passion for… doing things the hard way. This year’s winners: Janice and her husband Greg, who on their own gut-renovated a remuddled bathroom in their 1954 house — and install, in its place, a Mamie pink bathroom trimmed in black and white.

Janice also chronicled the story in blow-by-blow detail — providing other readers valuable resources and insight. Janice explained how it all got started:

My love affair with pink bathrooms is a new one. I never once thought about wanting or needing a pink bathroom when my husband and I first started searching for a mid-century ranch three years ago. Had I known then what I know now, I might have held out until I found the perfect time capsule bathroom. But, I didn’t know better and we bought a house with two bathrooms – neither of which are pink. After reading all about the Save the Pink Bathrooms crusade and drooling over the RR Blog’s readers’ own pink beauties, I decided I might not have inherited a pink bathroom, but by golly, I could build my own.

In reality, this award also recognizes Janice’s renovation of her kitchen in 2010. Janice, you are an inspiration. xoxo. Hey, there is no prize per se for this award — just the accolades and admiration of the entire Retro Renovation Nation. Nation: Hows about let’s send Janice and Greg lotsa Comment applause! :)

Runner-up: Carrie and her family for their spirited kitchen renovation. And there were other great stories, too. You all make it so hard to *choose*. Yes: You are all winners!

Previous winners:

2010: Susan and her Youngstown kitchen saga

Retro Renovation’s “The Hard Way Award” winner – 2010 I decided to make an annual award. It’s the Retro...
Janice adds a 1950s pink bathroom to her mid century house — from scratch Janice is one busy woman, who Gets Things Done. A...
“The Hard Way” – New Year’s Reality Check, 2011 Welcoming 2011, here’s the story that now has become our...

1930s pink bathrooms — Leo Carrillo Ranch, Carlsbad, Calif.

pam kueber — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:30:06 +0000

Snaps to the king and queen of pink bathrooms — Nancy and Thommy. You may recall, Nancy’s pink poodle bathroom is world famous, not just here at Retro Renovation but also as headliner of the New York Times pink bathroom story. Now, our daring duo has served up a pair of pink potties from the Leo Carrillo Ranch, an historic site in one my original home towns, Carlsbad, California.
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I talked to Gerry Streff, the archivist from the Leo Carrillo Ranch, and she said that the bathrooms were built at the same time as the house. She checked the financial records — receipts for items purchased for the construction — and followed up with me:

I did check the date and the tile was purchased from Gladding McBean in October, 1938 (Hermosa Tile division.) Carrillo also has checks from the company doing the bathroom construction in 1938.

I consider myself the nation's pre-eminent expert on the history of pink bathrooms (umm, I know of no challengers), and while I have anointed Mamie Eisenhower founding-mother of the pink tsunami that washed over America in the 1950s, to be sure: We had pink bathrooms before that. I don't know exactly when the color started to seep into bathroom consciousness. I'm guessing as early as the 1920s... and that the key to this certainty will be found in tile history and to a lesser degree, in bathroom fixture history. In any case, I continue to hypothesize that pink's dominance in the loo did not ensue until World War II was over -- when home construction reignited after the long Depression malaise ... and after the massively popular Mamie spread the love.

Interesting fact about the pink bathrooms at the Leo Carrillo Ranch: They are in the bedroom wings of the house — which are separated from the kitchen-living room-dining area via outdoor walkways around an interior courtyard. Yes, that means: No bathrooms — not even a half-bath — within the main living areas. You must walk through the courtyard back to the bedrooms. Gerry explained that this design placement was part of mimicking true “rancho” style: Living was oriented toward being outdoors. Numerous elements from this outdoor-orientation were carried through to “ranch-style” houses of the 1950s and beyond, and is the leading hallmarks of the style.

Notice also, the bathrooms both appear to be a classic Mamie pink, trimmed in deep burgundy. I would call this a “deco” palette — we saw this kind of pastel-matched-with-a-dark-jewel-tone carried on through the 1940s. Remember this color palette: Toilet seats from 1938 (art: My collection.)

About the Leo Carrillo Ranch

Photo: Leo Carrillo Ranch / City of Carlsbad

The Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park sounds like a really special place to visit. Leo Carrillo came from a well-to-do San Diego (his grandparents once owned the island of Coronado). Carrillo was an actor and preservationist. He had roles in about 90 films, but probably is most remembered for his role as Pancho, the sidekick to the Cisco Kid. The show was the first television series shot entirely in color and was enormously popular. Carrillo started building his rancho as a retreat, during the height of his Hollywood career. Today it is owned by the city, and is a place for visitors and special events.

Links:

Leo Carillo Ranch Historic Site - visitor information
Friends of Carrillo Ranch — much more extensive historical information
Article about Joan and Alan Kindle, who in 1985 launched the campaign for the Ranch’s restoration.

Finally: Looks like you can see all episodes of The Cisco Kid on Hulu. I tried to watch one, but I found the pace, acting and Hulu ads torturous.

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