Wowza. I was away all last week and missed this vintage retractable kitchen light fixture – which came, then went, for $85 – a steal. I hope that a retro renovation reader snapped it up, as it might be the single most fabulous kitchen light that I have ever seen. From Sears Harmony House. I just keep repeating: It was not meant to be…It was not meant to be…Daggonit.

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Metanoia suggested this feature on Sears’ Harmony House brand several months ago. Oopsy, my email accounts are out of control so I just surfaced it. It’s wonderful! Metanoia, I haven’t heard from you for a while. How are you? Thank you!

The info below is straight from the Sears brand history website, it’s actually quite cool! There are a few more photos on their site – I chose the one above because I have certainly seen a lot of these ‘enameled wall coverings, in my estate sale travels – now I know one of the places they came from. I’ve also seen them in the Armstrong catalog.

I grew up reading these Sears catalogs – so man, this is a flashback for me.

From the Sears brand history site:

In 1940, Sears introduced the Harmony House brand as an interior-decorating scheme that used four basic colors that could be coordinated with each other. (The year before, Sears catalogs featured “Charm House,” a similar program.) Customers were encouraged to use a color wheel that was supplied in the catalog for coordinating colors.

Harmonizing colors had long been a problem for the company. For example, rose-colored draperies made by one source might clash with a rose rug produced by another manufacturer. Each factory used its own colors, and the clashes that resulted were impeding the company’s sales of home furnishings.

In response to customer demand, Sears eventually expanded Harmony House’s palette to include 18 colors that they considered to be the most attractive to customers. Each color came in light, medium, and dark shades.

Harmony House colors were: Tuscan Rose and Wine, Valley Rose, Federal Gold, Cherry Pink and Red, Jubilee Peach, Spice Beige and Brown, Colonial Blue, Sage Green, Aquamarine, Chartreuse, Dawn Gray, Mint Green, Pacific Blue, Sunshine Yellow, Parchment Ivory, Beige, and Brown, Victorian Pink, Rose, Red and Wine, and Malibu Peach, Coral and Rust.

The Harmony House style and color system was not merely limited to carpets and paints, either; the entire house could be furnished according to the colors. Almost any household item could be bought to fit the Harmony House schemes, including: covered upholstery fabrics, draperies, slipcovers, desks, bookcases, bedroom furniture, sheets, towels, table lamps, wall paints, clothes hampers, canister sets, boudoir lamps, shower curtains, garment bags, chenille spreads, dinnerware, wallpaper, lounge chairs, dinette sets, living room sets, mirrors, carpeting, tile, and appliances.

See my earlier post with a complete brochure on Harmony House colors.

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I love the photo above so much, I had to feature it again. It’s Mamie Eisenhower’s outrageous pink hat, perched on her pink hatstand. Now, back to our 61 pink kitchens, #21-30 today:

21. Love this pink kitchen designed for a 1957 Modernfold door ad!:

22. Is that plastic fruit to the left of this photo, of a quite ‘real’ 50s pink and birch kitchen, from Kitchen Business, 1956?:

23. This comes for 1944, and the reddish hues of the drawing hint at all the pink to come. Be sure to enlarge and read the text. With the end of WWII, renovation of the kitchen was #1 on everyone’s list!:

24. This 1957 is a real classic. I love the pink combo with soft green, and I think that I got the idea for the soffit wallpaper treatment in my kitchen from this image. Notice also, the wall cabinet refrigerator to the right:

25. A second shot of the spacious kitchen above — great retractable light, and another (!) refrigerator unit on that side:

26. A 1958 ad for a washer and dryer – aren’t they great? Marketers and designers really tried to get women to accept the w/d into the kitchen. Clearly, it didn’t catch on– we needed our laundry rooms:

27. A 1964 illustration from a Sears Harmony House collection. Move over, Mamie, the 60s have arrived!

8. Another ‘64 image from Sears Harmony House. I adore this kitchen with its painted pink wood cabinets, ’spotlight’ cabinet pulls, and orange floors and orange plaid wallpaper. And look – Corning Ware!:

29. A 1957 “Rose Red” steel kitchen, great grey countertops:

30. And we conclude today’s pink fest with these pink steel cabinets available for sale today, from John Lewis of Hungerford, in England.

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