There’s a big payoff for blogging day in, day out, for more than five years: You see a lot of stuff. My archives are just brimming with all kinds of rare features found in midcentury American homes. I was thinking, “Golly, I’ve seen quite a few very interesting vintage kitchen sinks,” so I decided to go through my archives and see what I could find. And find, I did. Here are thirteen vintage kitchen sinks — some are super rare, as in one siting in five years… others are a bit more common (although still rare in the grand scheme of things)… all are delightful. First up:
- Youngstown Servi-Center — Very very rare, I think. We have only ever seen one.
BE SAFE / RENOVATE SAFE:
This story is about odd and wonderful. But remember: There can be hazards in the materials and products in our old houses and vintage products — so get with your own properly licensed professional to assess what you are dealing/working with. See our Be Safe/Renovate Safe page for more info.
Elkay Stainless Steel Console — Also just one spotting in the wild.
- And here’s another Elkay design — the Elkay Consolette — discovered by reader Karen in Oct. 2014.
- Tappan Ultraflo kitchen sink: Woot!!! zzzzzzzappppppp. NOT! I have never seen this sink still extant, in the wild.
- American Standard “Midway” sink — Porcelain drainboard sink — built like a kitchen island. Circa 1954 image. We have never seen one of these in the wild — only in this advertisement.
- Added Dec. 3: I just spotted this in an old story — a vintage Elkay (I’m guessing) similar to the American Standard Midway — but in stainless steel. Originally spotted in the Corbett House.
- Update Jan. 16, 2013 — Kate spotted this big stainless steel sink — similar to the Corbett House sink, but also featuring two drainboards — at her local ReStore. Wow. I’m guessing: used commercially
- Updated March 24, 2013 — Another variation on the vintage Elkay, this one spotted on craigslist. I’m calling this rare(ish) because you cannot get this kind of deep bowl/shallow bowl combo today. Listing said: Mid Century (1955) 84 inch stainless steel kitchen counter with 2 integrated sinks. Vintage Elkay Lustertone (top of the line back then, and today), excellent condition, no gauges or scratches, just normal fine wear in the stainless steel. Counters angle towards sinks on both sides. One sink is 14″W x16″L x 8″ D with opening for garbage disposal. Second sink is 22W x 16L x 4 D (the lady of the house had a stool under the sink). Entire piece is 84″ x 25″. Called Elkay — today, a new 80″ Lustertone counter with 2 sinks would retail for $2,800. Perfect for a modern or mid-century modern renovation. $450 or best offer.
- Kitchen drainboard sink with integrated top-loading dishwasher — These units from Youngstown (and maybe other makers) were not super-rare. But still coolio to the max.
- GE Wonder Kitchen — Super fabulous: GE made the Wonder Kitchen — these wereThese were marketed as one-piece, space-saving, space-age kitchen units. The cabinet modules were united by a long single piece of stainless steel counter top, which also had a sink and electric range engineered right into into it. Above: Read more: Chris buys a Wonder Kitchen on craigslist, restores it, and installs it in his Mies van der Rohe apartment kitchen. We also have seen “Hotpoint Wonderline” kitchens — same exact idea; at some point GE owned Hotpoint, so these may be the same kitchens, just rebranded.
- American Brand drainboard sink — Not so easy to see in this particular photo, but the faucet is designed to fit into a specifically designed niche. You can still get the replacement faucet for this sink today. I get the original reader question on this… I point them to the resource… and they are amazed. I am amazed.
- American Standard Fiesta Sink — Came in a variety of colors and bowl configurations.
- Another stunning American Standard kitchen sink with a unique shape, round bowls and a mysterious original faucet.
- Ebco kitchen sink with two bowl shapes — I have only ever seen one vintage kitchen sink like this, combining one square bowl and one round bowl. Sold for $150 at Historic House Parts.
Would you like to see a bunch more “typical” vintage kitchen sinks? How about these 15 vintage sinks from Kohler:
Tom says
Just a general comment….
I’m so glad I found this site 2 years ago. It’s listed in my favorites and it truly is. Every new post without fail has something interesting, fun & clever. Kate & Pam’s hard work to find us all of these gems is appreciated more than I can express. What a genuine delight this site it!!
Anna says
I have a Youngstown double drainboard double sink from 1948. It’s AWESOME! My whole kitchen is straight out of the 40’s with the Youngstown metal cabinets. I would never change it!
Robin, NV says
The Tappan Ultraflow sink is just terrifying and it begs the question WHY?? I know “push button” was synonymous with “modern” but yikes! Aside from the obvious problem of electrocution, I’m thinking it would be a bear to clean.
The last of the Kohler pictures was also kind of an oddity, this time with the sink placement. How strange to position it against a wall and not at a window or looking across the room. .
Elaine says
My Florida 1963 time capsule has the Elkay three bowl sink (second picture) without the electrical option. I love the drain covers and the pull up stoppers. I had to find a new faucet to go with it that had a long enough reach to go over the middle of the large sinks. I’m pretty sure the one that was in there was a replacement. It is now in the utility sink we added in the garage.
Jeanne says
The kitchen and bathroom sinks at my Dads home are vintage. The kitchen sink takes up the whole length of the wall and is mounted to the wall with nothing underneath, all ceramic, less than half was drain board and the other half was a single basin sink. I think the faucet is mounted to the back or the wall and has a tray to hold a bar of soap. The bathroom sink has two faucets opposite each other, the left side was hot and the right side was cold. Made washing your hands difficult, the water was either scalding or ice cold. I never quite understood the logic behind that design. I figured they probably used the rubber stopper (attached to a chain) that sat the ceramic ledge between the two faucets next to the bar of soap, to fill the basin and “wash up” since there was no shower just a tub.
Tracie@MiddleClassModern says
I love all of these pictures.
I found an old house with a drain board sink and cool faucet configuration while looking at houses: http://middleclassmodern.blogspot.com/2012/12/introducing-house-stalking-saturdays.html. Does anyone think those are steel cabinets?
Janet in CT says
Tracie, I wonder. My gramma had a cape built in the early forties and it had cabinets that looked just like this but I don’t remember the sink. They were not metal but looked like it because they were actually painted a shiney white enamel. I always loved that clean look. The green tile bathroom in this house is gorgeous too!
Shari D. says
If it makes you feel any better though, it seems they did leave the lovely green tile bathroom alone! It surely didn’t need to be touched, and they didn’t.
Shari D. says
Unfortunately, the cabinet question is now moot. According to the current listing for this home, it has undergone $40,000 in remodeling, and the kitchen as it stood then is completely gone. The dining area has been changed, and there is now a laundry closet outside the bathroom door with stacked appliances. If you check the listing, you will find this – “WATCH the RENOVATION on SELL THIS HOUSE EXTREME on A&E-May 11!!” So…….another one bites the dust, unfortunately.
I suppose after over a year on the market though, the fact that it wasn’t selling was blamed on the lack of modern updates. It’s not bad as it stands now – in fact it’s pretty nice really – but it’s nothing like it was……
BlueJay says
Pam,
This kitchen currently listed on eBay, has a sink/dishwasher combination from GE:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/metal-kitchen-cabinets-1950-in-CT-/170949619532?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cd642f4c
Vicki says
How about this baby? Wow would I love to have this!
http://www.turncowoodproducts.com/Turnco%20New%20Site/Blog/Turnco%20wood%20lab_files/1957-GE-kitchen-with-cabinettes.jpg
pam kueber says
Yes, this is a GE Wonder Kitchen – mentioned in the story already, though I do not have a photo of my own to feature. I need to go thru all my vintage marketing materials and find one in my collection!
Janet in CT says
Just thinking – I have my father’s repair parts catalogs from way back. I don’t know if they go beyond 1954 when he became a dealer. I need to FIND them in my maze of a basement and look to see if anything from these kitchens is in there. They are the size of huge phone books and about two feet wide and very heavy. I doubt it shows cabinets but I would think it shows the appliances from this “Wonder Kitchen” which is amazing. He put in kitchens too and I sure wish he saved all the literature. He used to have some pieces in the barn but I think they are all gone now. The only one that I know is left is one of those undercabinet short storage units with the sliding doors shown over the sink in these pictures, or often seen under the wall cabinets or the wall fridge. It is just wasting away on the wall in the basement of his house and I NEED to go down there and get it!
52PostNBeam says
Pam, you used to have a wonder kitchen pic in the cabinettes story, though I just checked and it’s gone 🙁 … the file was 1957-GE.jpg
I have tons of pics of wonder kitchens if you need one!
Janet in CT says
Great subject! I love these drainboard sinks too! It just so happens I found a neat one yesterday and posted it under OTHER metal cabinets. This one says forties but I am not sure about that. It is a stainless double sink with double drainboards and if I did my math right, it is a whopping 77″ wide! Made by Tracy and I love the style of it with the stainless curved accent “posts”. Were stainless sinks more commonly used in the late fifties and early sixties, or were they available as early as the forties?
http://cleveland.craigslist.org/app/3442126788.html
Chris says
Janet — I have some product catalogs from the thirties that feature almost all stainless steel kitchens! Of course, they are catalogs of stainless steel manufacturers! 🙂
If I had to guess, I’d say they were available, but not typical.
Pam, do you have any more info?
What a fun article! I do have a serious case of giant drainboard sink envy!
Sandra says
No stainless during WWII, is my guess. I would assume all the work with steel would be directed toward the war effort.
puddletowncheryl says
Who knew that sinks could be so cooool.