When I visited Rejuvenation in Portland, I saw this wonderful early 20th century reproduction sink for sale. I am not sure of the exact timeline for sinks like this. They were originally porcelain enamel on cast iron — and I would guess they spanned the 1910s through the 1940s. These reproductions — from St. Thomas Creations — are made of vitreous china. Even so – the sink looks like the real deal – gorgeous – and would be a wonderful choice for a pre-war retro renovation bathroom – for a bungalow, four-square or romantic revival bathroom, for example.

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It’s not a hootie ring. Or a huddee ring. It’s a hudee ring. I still don’t know why it’s called that exactly – presumably there was a Mr. Hudee involved. But now, we at least have a paper trail via these 1958 and 1959 ads. At this point the ubiquitous metal ring for porcelain kitchen and bathroom sinks was sold by the Walter E. Selck and Company of Chicago. And according to the second blue ad, there were 1062 different kitchen and bathrooms sinks to take a metal ring!

In my research, I see there are numerous other manufacturers. But by 1958 some 5 million Hudee rings seem to have demonstrated their superiority in the market. Alas. It does not seem their days of ubiquity would last much longer. Although: You can still get metal rimmed sinks today from Kohler and Crane.

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DC Girl Rebecca sent in this question about hootie rings. Yes — hootie rings!!

Pam,
do you know if anyone sells just the metal rim to go around sinks? I have a fantastic, huge cast iron sink that I want to reuse after replacing our countertops, but a plumber I had in recently said I couldn’t because no one makes that edging anymore and it’s next to impossible to remove the sink without damaging it.

This can’t be true, can it?

Rebecca

I consulted with John V. of deabath.com, who explains:

Hi Pam;
Unfortunately, the plumber is fairly accurate.  Quite a few of those old Hootie rings were made specifically for the sink, and once the sink is discontinued, the ring goes as well.  The best I could recommend to your reader is to hit up local, well established plumbing houses and hope there’s one kicking around in the warehouse…

I’ve saved them before, and I’ve lost them before as well.  It just depends on what material was used to seal the ring onto the old countertop.  I would certainly give it a go.  And, as long as the ring isn’t physically broken, a body shop can probably repair the damage incurred during removal.  Give it a shot, what do you have to lose?

Believe it or not, the ring were originally made by Hootie Manufacturing.  Love the name….

John

Love that name, too, John, thank you!

Some pristine fixtured for sale now at deabath.com

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Elizabeth asks, “Do I need clips to hold my drop-in sink and hootie ring in place?” Three approaches – read on: :

Dear Pam:

I need assistance from the site/members who may have installed a vintage cast-iron sink with metal rim (”hootie ring”).

My sink is a vintage Kohler item from ReStore that came with its own 32″x21″ stainless “hootie ring.” No clips were there.

We’re now at an impasse with the counter maker, who insists that ALL sinks have clips. He won’t proceed with the counter order/cut-out until we provide clips for this sink.

(1) I’ve spoken with Mac the Plumber’s customer service line AND Kohler’s customer service. Mac says that sinks with “hootie rings” don’t have clips–the overhang of the sink beyond the smaller-cut hole bears all the weight. For its part, Kohler says that cast-iron sink don’t have clips (regardless of ring or no ring) because anything as heavy as cast iron isn’t going anywhere.

The contractor, for his part, has never done an installation like this but swears that an old cast-iron sink that he removed one time DID have clips.

I need guidance from more experienced folks about a) whether they used clips and b) precisely how a sink with “hootie ring” gets installed in a laminate countertop (no tile).

Thanks.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth, no surprise here, Palm Springs Stephan to the rescue. He sends the photo just above – along with the following report straight from his kitchen sink:

The attached photo is for St Louis Elizabeth in regard to her contractor demanding sink clips.

(2) My own sink is porcelained steel (? thin cast iron?) and I believe original, and is dropped into an original 1958 Formica-over-plywood countertop. The faucet was re-done at some point, but I am fairly certain that the sink itself has never been removed from the countertop, since the “hootie ring” appears intact. So I am sending along this photo of the clips. I cannot really tell whether they are original or were added at some later re-sale in order to comply with California building codes regarding earthquakes. EVERYTHING has to be bolted down here, and any seller must make the property quake-code compliant prior to any sale, so they may easily be later additions.

I hope St Louis Elizabeth finds this helpful.

Palm Springs Stephan

AND an update from John at deabath is Pro-Clip, too!

Hi Pam;
(2) Yes, the rings always need a clip.  Here’s the problem, many of the clips are specific to the rim.  Inform the public; if you find a nice metal rim sink at a salvage yard, BE SURE the rim and clips are with it.  When the salesperson at the yard tells you that you can get the clips at any plumbing shop, don’t believe it…..

John

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I don’t know if these were just recently introduced… or whether I missed them all this time…but these two sinks from Kohler are terrific, authentic choices for a 40s, 50s or 60s kitchen. Both sinks are cast iron. And of course — you MUST get the metal rim.

This selection now becomes my #1 choice for a kitchen sink, if you want white cast iron and don’t want to hunt down or wait for a vintage sink.

The double-bowl Kohler Delafield is 32″ wide – and allows you to order up to 5 holes for your faucet, spray and other accoutrements.

The single-bowl Kohler Bakersfield is almost as wide.

Kohler.com

Faucet choice

• My favorite faucet for a kitchen sink is this model from Chicago Faucets. It is expensive, but wonderful…heavy and with a nice long spout.

Elkay stainless steel sinks

• And these Elkay steel sinks are also great, if you prefer this material.

Classic white sink/counter drainboard sinks:

• Now, if we could just get someone to begin manufacturing the classic sink/countertop combo in white cast iron…
  

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Maggie writes,

Pam..thanks for your great photos. I’m moving back to my childhood home and restoring the 1959 kitchen. I’m looking for the silver color trim ring that seals in the TURQUOISE porcelain sink! That matches the turquoise wall oven and stove-top and the white, black and turquoise design in the floor! Thank for any help or direction!
maggie

NP, Maggie. Mac the Antique Plumber to the rescue again — well, maybe. They seem to have these metal mounting rings (sold separately from the vintage style sinks, which are also a great find!) in number of sizes.

However, one big potential issue/problem I can see – is if you have an integral faucet. These are not for that style. I’m concerned, I’m afraid that’s what you have – because that’s what I have – my metal ring is about 42 x 21. My reco, if none of these listed sizes are right, to start: Ask the Mac folks, my experience is that they are great. Let me know how what they say. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll search some more — and maybe other readers have some ideas.

AND IMPORTANTLY, what is this torturing us with a juicy description of your kitchen and NO PHOTOS? What do the cabinets look like? Send ‘em to me, sister! Thanks for writing, Maggie!

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Today, it’s a complete look at Kohler sinks suitable for your 50s bathroom retro reno.

Most 2008-design sinks are either very minimalistic (a simple round bowl mounted under solid surface) or…Victoriana on steroids. 50s style bathroom sinks are a sweet…or streamlined.

Fortunately, Kohler has an array of sinks appropriate for retro reno’s. You can see the classic “Tahoe metal frame” in the 1959 bathroom above — and below in today’s portfolio. Scroll over each thumbnail image for the model-name. I used Tahoe sans frame, and Thoreau, in two of my three bathrooms:

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American-Standard, an absolutely great name in postwar bathroom fixtures, continues to make several porcelain sinks that would look great in a 50s or 60s bathroom.

Isn’t the Hexalyn model at the top fabulous? So much fun to wake up to every morning. Set it into a countertop of retro laminate with steel edging, install one of two vintage style lavatory faucets (Deabath.com or American Standard), add a mirror, sconces, wallpaper and accessories — and you are all set to go. These are all very delicious.

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The bathroom fixtures above are from 1955 — deep in the heart of the postwar boom. From “Homart” — a Sears brand.

I have more images from this brochure – stay tuned – but I love this page in particular as it gives a great look at sink and toilet styles that were very typical. Please click on the main photo to see the correct scale and lines of the fixtures.

Scrutinizing this material also enabled me to make my third (whoopee!) recommendation for a bathroom sink faucet. The American Standard Colony single control is not too far off from the vintage design of the two sinks on the right. (The faucets on two sinks to the left look identical to one of my earlier recommendations.)

If you like the sinks with chrome legs, be sure to see my sink posts. And that countertop sink to the far left can still be had from Kohler, their Tahoe model, including with steel trim, if you like. Finally — ignore that orange and bright yellow tile in this advertising material. These colors are only shown for contrast, I think. Yellows were used in the 50s, but nothing this neon took hold, as far as I’m aware.

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This ad from 1953 spotlights the Elkay Lustertone sink/countertop/drainboard combo. You can still get these today – and they are an awesome choice if you can make it work with your cabinetry and layout.

Stainless steel is a great surface to work on and to be sure, when you’re moving dishes into and out of the sink, it’s great to have a waterproof surfaces to the right and left.

<—- This Elkay Lustertone sinktop is almost identical (albeit a single-bowl) to the one above. It would look great butted up next to stainless-steel trimmed laminate. And don’t forget to put a slab of butcher block nearby.

<—- This second choice has a double bowl and can be set directly into laminate (no countertop edge) or onto another countertop material like granite (argh).

And this one —-> combines double bowl with edging although I’d need to find out if that super bright surface is for real – I don’t like it.

Overall: It seems like the best choice may be #1, if you can live with the single bowl.

I have numerous posts on countertops - they are all worth reading to put together your own plan, if I say so myself!

<—- BTW, notice in the 1953 design how the grey steel kitchen cabinet is married with the colonial pine. Very typical of the era.

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