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1946 American brand kitchen

Can you believe it? You can still get the exact faucet required for a vintage American-Brand kitchen drainboard sink. It’s available here from Locke Plumbing. The owners tell me they still sell quite a few of them, including to lots of folks in Europe. Click on the thumbnail of the faucet for sale – you can see it’s designed to nestle right into the backsplash of the sink top. I am told it does not fit other sinks, so no need to go there. Cool, huh? I just love having found this – thanks again go to Russell for turning us on to Locke Plumbing. Remember folks, they are also great if you want to fix a particular brand of vintage toilet.

The also are good go-to’s for:

• Hard to find toilet seats
• Bathroom lavatory faucet with pull-out shampoo sprayer
• Retro-style Delta tub and shower faucet set-up
• And remember, Russell raves about their system to connect you with hard-to-find toilet parts.

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Wanna buy a Dishmaster? Go straight to the manufacturer at dishmaster-faucet.com. They also list other retailers on their site.

Yes,  after selling Dishmaster online here for a while, I’ve decided to stop so that I continue to pour all my time into researching, writing and growing the blog. Online selling has a lot of moving parts, I discovered.  I love this product as much as ever – along with the great folks at manufacturer SilverStream LLC. For sure, I’ll continue to follow the progress of this great little Indiana company as it continues Dishmaster sales into the 60th year.

The photo above: Comes from readers Ken & Kelly. Kelly got a Dishmaster for Christmas. Isn’t it – and their window vignette – pretty? See – dishwashing can be fun!

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As part of my trip to Louisville last week, I visited the home of the Dishmaster – a fun road trip to Mitchell, Indiana.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

Roger Swayer, owner of the company that makes this wonderful authentic retro kitchen faucet, gave my mom Fran and me a tour, told us how he ended up the caretaker of this amazing brand, and then took us for wonderful lunch at the nearby Spring Mill Inn, where we also met his wife Millie.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

The factory is a small operation – with lots of personal attention to the production of each Dishmaster faucet. There are six employees in this subsidiary of the business – including Sharon, above.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

Nearby, Sam was fabricating Dishmaster brushes – on a machine that has been in continuous use since 1948! Roger and Sam explain that it can be finicky, especially after the lunch break – but it gets the job done just as good as ever once it gets going.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

The steps to make the Dishmaster are mapped out on the wall. Every single unit is quality-tested by an employee.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

How did Roger and SilverStream LLC end up with the Dishmaster? Roger explained that the Dishmaster got its start in Pontiac, Michigan. The inventor/owner also had a place in Southern California. So the faucet was successfully marketed in those locations, in particular. Then, as Dishmaster owners – who are exceedingly loyal – retired to Florida, Arizona and Nevada, they took the faucets with them, literally and figuratively. The early models, Roger points out, look like Studebakers, and you can still see the Michigan/automotive influence in the M76  models today.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

Roger’s company SilverStream LLC acquired the original Dishmaster company in 2004, after seeing it advertised for sale in a trade publication. SilverStream had previously manufactured and sold bathroom fixtures – under the brand name Indiana Brass Co. – but they eventually had to exit the business as the mainstream fixture market moved to Asia. They had been looking for something unique to fill the gap – and are seeking to give the Dishmaster brand a whole new lease on life.

From Dishmaster factory, Mitchell, Indiana

At the end of the tour, Roger even showed me all these mint-in-box, new-old-stock Dishmaster faceplates from history, bought up with the factory and tooling four years ago. Guess what I came home with.

• Want to buy American?
• Want authentic retro?
• Want to save water, detergent and energy?
• Want to make after-dinner clean up fun?
• You know where to get a Dishmaster of your very own!

Thanks so much to Roger, Millie – and Ronda, my key contact at SilverStream LLC – for their exceedingly kind southern hospitality!!!

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Dishmaster was founded in 1948 – in the wake of World War II and during a period of massive American economic expansion. Before the war, most Americans lived on farms or in crowded cities. The country had suffered through nearly 20 years of deprivation, first from the Great Depression and then the war.

It’s hard to imagine today, but until 1946 the concept of a “fitted kitchen” full of matching cabinets and all the gizmo’s to go with them was a foreign – or at least unreachable – one to most Americans. During the war, technology rose to meet our fighting needs. After the war, we turned that know-how to building up our country. And that started first and foremost with new homes — and inside of them, with the American Dream Kitchen.

The Dishmaster is a very typical invention of the time. Automatic dishwashers were around – but were still quite rare in domestic environments. In many farm kitchens, you can imagine a Dishmaster being added to the new steel Youngstown sink base with its porcelain drainboard. In a new suburban kitchen, the atomic styling was mirrored in the headlights of the ‘48 Ford – another famous ‘48 model!

Dishmasters started in Pontiac, Mich. Gerity was a merchandising partner in the early years.

Today, the brand and tooling are owned by SilverStream LLC, which manufacturer the Dishmaster in Mitchell, Indiana, and offers it for sale online and through various retailers. Another great icon – saved! Thank you, Silver Stream!

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I love this product and its authentic retro style.

Make a happy mess in your kitchen – then have some more fun cleaning up. Yes – this faucet makes washing the dishes fun via the “Push Button Dishwashing” action of the special aerator brush wand – which dispenses soapy sudsy water and rinses clean, too. Feel good about use of precious resources as well: The Dishmaster can conserve water, energy and detergent when used in place of an automatic dishwasher. And, it’s Made in America, by a small company right in Indiana that literally came to the rescue to save the brand! Thank you, Silver Stream LLC!

In this economy, who wants bling for Christmas? Get yourself a Dishmaster!

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Jan asks:

We are having the hardest time trying to find a replacement faucet for our 1950’s Crosley kitchen sink. It is a wall mount faucet on the cast iron sink. Can you help?

Jan, these are around – but the first place that I’d check, is deabath.com. They seem to be real experts in finding plumbing parts for vintage sinks and more. In addition, you can consider a Dishmaster, from dishmaster-faucet.com, their old-fashioned M76 model can be “wall-mounted.” Good luck!

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