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Here we see again, how an average housewife of the era may only have been able to afford and purchase the  sink cabinet alone, with its porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron drainboard sink-top… While the catalog is presumably about the full range of cabinets, it is principally marketing the “Modern Cabinet Sink.”  This would be the first piece a homemaker would buy — she would then integrate this into her farmhouse kitchen – which may have had homemade wood cabinets or not, or into her apartment kitchen to replace the old wall-hung kitchen sink. She could buy the rest of the pieces later. What a move forward: Built-ins, made in a material, steel, that was “vermin-free.”  Oh, also notice the stainless steel drainboard sink on p. 4 – a look you can replicate with Elkay aluminum drainboard sinks today.

 

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In response to Friday’s post on the patriotic 40s kitchen, Josh writes:I’m in love with that sink. Do they still make any like that? Thanks for the question, Josh. Unfortunately, not that I know of. But, I have some recommendations:

These porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron or steel drainboard sinks were UBIQUITOUS in the postwar period, so you can find one if you are patient. Watch your Habitat for Humanity/Restore or local Re-Sell type place, Craigslist, my Postwar Steel Forum, and ebay. The one at the left (no drainboards, though, and in reality a ‘farmhouse sink) was recently on ebay – mint in packaging, never used and it went for about $400. Honestly, if I were looking for one of these – I would hold out until I found one in near-perfect shape.

In addition, watch historichouseparts.com, one of my favorite places. The first sink (below) was for sale on their site for $725, and count on a hefty shipping charge, too. Others shown are sold for the most part, check in frequently and I’m sure they’ll be glad to help:

I also recently found a site, thisoldtubandsink.com that says it specializes in vintage porcelain-on-cast-iron pieces, including refinishing. Honestly, I cannot vouch for the refinishing work – and from what I know about this, it can be truly tricky. But this merchant certainly also seem to have a number of as-is pieces in good shape such as this 42×25 double sink at $635. There are other pieces with drainboards as well:

Finally — I recently saw a couple of vintage drainboard sinks in Rejuvenation’s salvage yard, for those of you in the Portland, Oregon area.

And, don’t forget – that another very viable alternative, are the Elkay Lustertone stainless steel sinks made in the 50s and still available today. While they may not be as “sweet” as the white porcelain, they are probably in reality – more functional, as stainless steel does not chip, is very sanitary, and is easy to keep clean. I’ve done a number of posts on these in the past, click here for the most recent.

If you are looking for a vintage drainboard sink, be sure that the length and width will fit your space – and that the height of the integral backsplash will work for you as well. You’ll also need to “mate” the sink to the adjacent countertops, I don’t have any advice on this…

Again – there were millions of these made. For example, in the immediate (and less affluent) postwar period from 1946-early 50s, the sink cabinet/drainboard sink combo was marketed heavily as a standalone piece to be integrated into farmhouse kitchens — the Mrs. would keep her wood cabinets, only buy the steel sink base and complementary sink/drainboard. There were big names all over this action, too — Kohler, American Standard, Youngstown. That’s why you see so many sink bases ONLY (as in the photos from historichouseparts.com, above) for sale.

Finally, in further researching Josh’s question, I found two reproduction sinks that are made currently – both are very pre-war and are really meant as farmhouse style sinks to stand on legs or freestanding. Note, most cabinets today and in the 50s on, were 25″ deep.

Here’s the Nottingham Brass Sandford sink, it’s 42″x21″ and $969 free shipping from signaturehardware.com:


And here’s a Strom sink sold as Clarion by plumbingsupply.com (and others) at $1599 plus $175 shipping:

This Retro Renovation post was originally published on March 24, 2008.

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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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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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Do you need a new faucet for your vintage bathroom sink? TodayI happily add a third alternative to my short list of recommendations. It’s this simple Gerber 4″ lav. Nice lines, nice faucet handles. Also a nice one here with fluted handles.  Hurray.

Update: Nathan went looking for this and Gerber eliminated the image from their catalog. However, it IS still available. Here is what Nathan reports – MANY THANKS, Nathan!

Hey Pam,

I was able to track down that particular faucet that you had on your site.  I contacted Gerber, and they gave me the part number.  I then tried to find it locally here in Abq, but that was a dead end.  So, I then resorted to shopping on the internets (d’oh), and found it here:

http://www.newtondistributing.com/product/Gerber-2-Handle-Faucet-121.html

I ordered 3 of them

Thanks again, and I’ve bookmarked your site

Hasta,

Nathan

Other faucet choices:

One of my very favorites - great deco style

• Deco style from deabath.com

• Single-lever from American-Standard (other companies make this style, too)
• The complete page of bathroom product recommendations

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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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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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Finishing up my recent series on bathroom sinks matched with chrome legs, I wanted to spotlight this Waterworks model. No doubt, it is GORGEOUS. But, the chrome legs with integrated towel bars do run $1,475… while the sink is $315. If you’ve got the cash and the desire, this certainly would be the centerpiece of your retro reno bathroom.

But, if you just want the look and the basic functionality, see my other, recent bathroom posts on wall-mount sinks from Crane that can be matched with $30 chrome legs from Franklin Brass. Another thought: The original fixtures used in our retro homes were NOT luxury. They were stylish…and functional…but, accessibly priced for the growing population. So in that spirit, I really prefer to seek out affordable products to complete a retro renovation.

So in that spirit: Try salvage shops…or even place an ad in your local paper. I advertised in the items wanted section a couple of years ago, and immediately turned up a wall-mount sink with fabulous chrome legs with towel bars, and nabbed the set for $65. It had be sitting in someone’s basement for 20 years. It was in perfect shape, and looks awesome in my tiny but functional – and beautiful – master bathroom.

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