Update: World of Tile has now closed. I’ll leave this story up, for a while at least, to show some of the cool stuff they had.
You know how Palm Springs Stephan and I always caution that when you go looking for “1950s pink”, you must be careful and know that there were many shades of pink on the market back in the day? Well, here is hard evidence: I went for a second visit to World of Tile — that magical mystical mid century time capsule tile store, in Springfield, New Jersey — and Chippy let me poke around, absorb some more, and take additional photos. Back in the “replacement tile” area, I actually took the time to count the number of different pinks in their big long file box. There were 95 different shades and finishes of vintage pink bathroom tile. 95!
There were “Light Pinks”, up in the front.
There were even more “Shinny [sic] Pinks” in the middle. Yes: That would be ‘shiny’ as in glossy.
There were “Satins” and “Crinkly’s”. I forgot to pull out some crinklies to check out what the heck that means. Mottled? I spent about seven hours, in all, at World of Tile this second visit. DH wanted to go see. He walked around with his mouth hanging open and his head spinning. I was in more control, given this was my second visit. But I still was missing some of my processing faculties.
We took Chippy to lunch at the Route 22 Diner, to thank her.
A tower of pink tile. Be still my heart.
95 colors of pink bathroom tile is pretty impressive, don’t you think? I am not sure if it beats 1,062 different sizes of hudee rings, though.
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We stopped at World of Tile last weekend (my in-laws live less than an hour from there) and while Chippy wasn’t there, some VERY helpful and knowledgeable “tile guys” were.
Alas! we were searching not for pink (my pink bathroom was rarely used and is in great shape), but for turquoise for our main bathroom. I want to remove the tub (it’s totally shot) & build a shower. Need about 50 square feet of tile.
My GOSH! That place is incredible…and we didn’t get to go anywhere except the public showrooms, which go on and on. We were there well over an hour and got a ton of useful advice from one of the tile guys.
They took my sample turquoise tile and came back (from the vast caverns below, I assume) with the exact match! Unfortunately, must have been a popular color—they had only TWO tiles left!
So I’m re-thinking my project, based in part on advice from said tile guys.
The visit was really fun; we felt like we were in a time warp. I shamelessly “name-dropped” and you are definitely famous there, Pam!
We were also in Lenox same weekend, so it was a “RetroRenovation” weekend for us!
Andrea, you shoulda emailed. We coulda had coffee! Glad you enjoyed WOT. Yes, isn’t it AMAZING! Hmmm, so what are you going to do re your shower?
Well Pam, shoulda-coulda is right…and I almost DID email but didn’t want to bug you! Wish I did, now! 🙂
Lenox is gorgeous, we went to see Edith Wharton’s house, The Mount (not mid-century and decidedly not modest, but fabulous).
For the tub-to-shower job, barring finding the exact matching tile, I had planned to use an “almost match” turquoise tile from Daltile (Aqua Glow) AFTER our local “expert” tile guy here at home said he would not introduce another color into our turquoise bathroom (which has a black floor). Uncharacteristically for me—and because his skill and judgment came highly recommended—I listened to him and changed my original plan.
Without matching tiles, my initial thought had been to use a contrasting tile for the lower part of the shower…a deeper shade in the same turquoise “family” (Daltile’s Ageaen), with a “checkerboard” border of small tiles incorporating gray, black, and both shades of turquoise to tie together my original tiles & the contrasting tiles (and to bring the black floor into the picture).
Happily for me, the TRUE tile experts at World of Tile agreed with that plan completely, unlike my local guy who wants me to get the “almost matches” Aqua Glow. WOT guy said an “almost match” would look like a “miss” whereas the contrast would look intentional. He said he wished he lived closer as he’d love to do the job—boy, I wish he did, too! Gave us over an hour of opinion and advice about all sorts of house-related things (he restores old houses), knowing all the while that we were not going to purchase anything from WOT.
SOooo….now I am back to the 2-toned contrast option, but am also calling in another tile person to see if maybe I can save the tub and original set up after all. Several tiles are cracked where previous owners installed new fixtures, and the grout has been compromised so the wall beneath may be water damaged.
But, might be best to remediate all that (we have 6 leftover 1952 tiles) and try to save the tub (which is pretty bad)…still not sure. But I have at least abandoned the “almost matching” scheme, thanks to WOT!
Sorry! WAY more than anyone wanted to know!!!
As a P.S., over the past few months of agonizing over this & searching for matching tile, I contacted Daltile directly and also B&W Tile in California. Both companies sent me complimentary, showroom quality sample boards—their customer service was wonderful.
I sent Chippy a sample of my blue bathroom tile to match (we need several replacement tiles) and she was super nice and easy to work with. She found 7 of my shade left and they are a perfect match. I hope to visit World of Tile in person some time! Thanks, Pam, for this great resource!
Yup. Can you believe it! Chippy is enjoying this, I think!
I wish I had known about World of Tile when I redid my bathroom! I’m able to “live with” the tiles I ended up using but it would have been nicer to have found an exact match. I saved four boxes of the tiles used in the original shower, they are pinky, beigey, sandy in color….maybe Chippy will buy them? If it were easier to match I’d surely give them to any of your retro renovators, but with so many salmon, pinky tones….there’s no way to be sure!
Glad to hear about this place. We found a few leftover pink tiles in the basement when we bought this house, but not enough to do what we wanted to do. Maybe Chippy can help with our not quite baby, not quite salmon, not quite bright, not quite pale pink tiles!
I really should get some “extra” tiles for my yellow bath–but I can’t bear to pull a tile off the wall for a sample! What if I can’t get it replaced and it breaks? My tiles aren’t in bad shape except for a couple in the tub, I’d really like to get some just in case.
Squee! This made my day!
I am going to have hubs pry out one of the pink tiles from behind the sink so we can try to get a match. I’ve got about 8 tiles with holes drilled and just patched in white.
This would make me SO happy to be able to get all the pinks complete again.
I would like to change my ugly 80’s vanity when I find a period one, so will likely want those tiles behind the sink to show someday. But this is simply too good to be true.
Yay! Pink all the way!
We have a ’50s pink tiled bathroom. One of the top corner tiles cracked in half and needs to be replaced. If I sent a piece of the tile to match the color, can you find me a double bullnose tile for me?
Thanks,
Deb
Deb, I don’t sell anything here. This is about WORLD OF TILE — you must go there. Good luck.
I am planning a new bathroom with all antique reproduction pull chain toilet,bidget,claw tub and shower pan. I would like a mixture of pink tiles, from almost blush pink to a light pink. I would also love different textures in the tiles if possiable. The ceiling will be a nickle silver tin , the accessories and plumbing will all be nickle . I would like several sections to include a few silver tiles on the floor to tie it all together. So far all the silver tiles I have seen are too harsh for the delicate room I am creating with lace and sheers. Plus a very light floral print around the room. Do you have any suggestions? { I was also considering a chair height tile railing in silver tiles}
Cherie, see all my tile research in the Bathrooms / Tile category. After you have gone though it, and if you still have questions, leave another comment… These tiles ARE available…
I have a 1961 house with a pink upstairs bathroom. I am redoing the bathroom and have started to remove the tile plus (1 soap dish and 1 toilet paper holder). I hate throwing out vintage tile and wanted to know of a site that would point me in the right direction for me to donate (or if someone wants to sell it that is fine by me). Either way, I will be stacking it and will continue to looks for someone to take it. Thanks, Tom.
Tom, have you determined yet what you will be doing with the pink tile? After discovering this website, I became an instant convert — up until today I was planning to remove the pink tiles on the walls of the hall bathroom of our 1956 house.
I would need to find enough matching pink tiles for tiling the tub area, which presently has a fiberglass surround. It would be wonderful if your pink tiles were a match to my pink wall tiles.
Judy — see my Bathroom/Tile category. Chippy at World of Tile has a good record of matching old stuff. I counted 95 different pinks in her stash!
Sitting in the attic, I just can’t throw them away. I have a toilet paper roller and some towel hangers. This is in W. Laf IN. These things are heavy, all have been torn down and I tried to save as many as I could (probably 85% saved). This is a darker shade of pink on the edges, and at the bottom…the rest is a light pink. With Tub the bathroom was 6′ x 8′ and tiled up to about 4′, not including the tub area which is more. How can I post pictures?
Tom — buying and selling goes to Forum: https://retrorenovation.com/forums
Hello Pam,
Sorry, his is my first time posting to anything. These are free, I have no need to buy or sell, just want to donate to them. I’ll even email Chippy to see if they want them.
oh – okay! you still should post them on the Forum. I also recommend contacting your local Re-Store – perhaps they will help find them a new owner. Many thanks!!!
Tom –
You might check out freecycle.org It’s a great resource for people who are looking to keep useable materials out of the landfill and aren’t looking to sell or trade. They have local groups all over the country
Tom — I appreciated the quick reply. Alas, that would not be a match. Thanks anyway. I hope some lucky homeowner out there can take advantage of your offer.
Pam – I am preparing to ship samples of all three of my 1950’s tiled bathrooms (a pink, a green, and a yellow) to Chippy before the day is done and will hope for the best. How strange — yesterday I was preparing to place a tile order for the first bathroom do-over. All plans are now on hold, due to my stumbling onto your website. Ah, the power of the Web…and of a woman with a strong conviction whose time has come. Thank you!
🙂
Pam,
do you think, since you have been there twice now, that perhaps WOT has the type of matte tiles that created that gorgeous mosaic floor in the unused time capsule kitchen you featured (the cabinet maker from Illinois that was taking out the pink kitchen). That floor was spectacular. Do you think it was American Oleon tiles? Thank you. Your website is fabulous. Love it!
WOT may… you should go to the post of the floor you like (in Time Capsules, I think) and send Chippy a photo to see if she can match it… And thank you for your nice comment, Pia!
Question:
My mother needs to repair her 1954 shower tile.
She will need at least three (Roman Mosaic Tile Co) 6″ x 9″ PINK TILES.
The 6 x9 size tile is what seems to be the difficulty.
Any advice as to how we should go about this??
Thank you,
Jean
See instructions in the story. You need to send World of Tile a sample. Call first so even see if they have 6x9s.
Went to world of tile today for 240 pink tile replacements. The guy told me the price is $12 each. Each! Went down the road to another tile place and they have the pink match for the 1950s pink I needed for $1 each. Jasco’s on route 22. They match perfectly.
Thanks for the tip, Kristin. Sounds like you lucked out in color matching.
Pam,
You and Chippy are both goddesses. Because of you, I knew where to send my 1954 peachy-pink sample to have it matched to replace the wall where the radiator had been.
And Chippy came through with AN EXACT MATCH. I figured she would, given 95 colors of vintage pink tile, but our contractor wanted to send his “tile guy” to all the regular tile places around here (Boston) to try to match it. I knew he wouldn’t, and asked for one of the half-tiles they had to gouge out to send to Chippy. After they’d exhausted their search and failed, they sent my tile to Chippy. It really is, AN EXACT MATCH. I will send pictures if you want.
Still mourning the loss of our pinky-peach American Standard 1954 toilet due to low flow rules,
CMF
🙂 yay for chippy!
I thanked you Pam, in the other site.
But I hunted you down because I didn’t find your name 🙂
My roommate dropped her fine perfume bottle which broke off half the black 4.25″ retro toothbrush holder.
( I told her, “…. no problem sweety, I’ll fix it right up” ( yeah right ?!)
All anyone said was.
“Sorry sir” 🙁
I can’t wait to meet Chippy, the store said they have just what I need :•)
I love Women !!
they are so detailed, lol
You’re welcome. Are you going to World of Tile? It’s a FABULOUS place! Remember to tell Chippy “hi” for me!
…..you know that I am…
(….thinking)
(I wonder if true love is just as easy to find. I wonder if there’s a store for that too ….??)
ok, where was I ? Ah, yes!!!
XO to Pam
xO to Chippy