Today’s vintage 1960 catalog is a real treat — especially for those of us who love knotty pine. And even if you are not sure about the knotty, this 1960 look at “101 Home Ideas Featuring the 10 Fine Woods of the Western Pine Region” might update your view. For example, I have always considered knotty pine in terms of its Early American heritage…. something that today, we’d play up in a kitschy way. But take a look at the kitchen above: Knotty pine goes all mid century modern — and it looks pretty good! Check out this catalog — 24 pages — to see wood the way that homeowners saw it back in the day.
This Americana kitchen looks like it belongs in a Storybook Ranch house — look at the awesome built in controls for the stove top and the decorative scalloped trim on the counter edges and undersides of the upper cabinets. Dig the window treatments. Dig the wallpaper. Is that a built-in barbecue peeking at us over on the left? Is that a Lamb Chops cookie jar over on the right?
Here’s another view of the same kitchen, taking a look at the eat-in bar area. It combines knotty pine with stone to face the bar. The flooring (vintage Armstrong, wethinks) continues the stone motif throughout the kitchen, while the posts that hold up the interior awning coordinate with the captains chairs at the bar.
Above: A third photo of the same house — you can tell because the window treatments are carried room-to-room. This is a great design idea if your house is small and you want to unite adjacent living spaces; it also saves on agonizing decisions about often-expensive window treatments. We love this cafe curtain treatment, as well — a nice design idea if you want privacy and light at the same time. The curtains themselves are also beautifully designed — a little bit of color, but not so much as to draw too much attention… and the scalloped design where the cafes hook to the rod is a nice, subtle touch.
The kitchen above has a more modern looking pine design — the use of multi leveled counters with what must have been the most cutting edge custom, built-in appliances and lack of ornamentation make this kitchen feel more minimalistic than kitschy.
Does anyone else love the tea kettle pendant light in this kitchen as much as I do? And, laying the copper metal tiles on the diagonal is a lovely idea. Wallpaper: A small-print geometric, on the soffits, just like in Pam’s kitchen. These are nice design touches that adds a bit of fun to this otherwise straight forward utilitarian space.
Could this be? A pink vintage pine bathroom? Yes: The text says, “A gray-glazed pink enamel over clear grade ponderosa pine….” Yum. Terrific storage in this pine bathroom, too.
Here’s a bathroom with loads of personality. Scalloped edges are everywhere. White knobs pop off the wood, over exaggerated hinges line the doors — and those decorative fish tiles set into the backsplash — to die for. I also spy a Hall-Mack revolving toothbrush holder. This bathroom has it all.
More scalloped trim decorate the built-in light fixture and shelves in this mid century bathroom. It is nice to see the pine mixed with pastel and checkerboard in this space — which gives the bathroom a balance between a masculine and feminine feel. Interesting also is how things line up in this bathroom. The curtains meet the edge of the trim on the light, the tile backsplash runs all the way up to the underside of the shelf and mirror. These touches give the room a very intentional and finished feeling.
If it is possible to go overboard with knotty pine in a bathroom — this would be that bath. Knotty pine covers every surface — the walls, the counter top, the knobs, the medicine cabinets — heck, I think if it were possible, they might have used knotty pine sinks and toilets. Sound yucky? Don’t forget: It wasn’t until after World War II that many homes got indoor toilets. Before that, we had outhouses — wooden thrones. We love outhouse stories. Here’s our favorite: An outhouse named Sally.
Round rooms are always intriguing — but this one takes the cake with its radial pine domed ceiling, high shelf for knick knacks, flamboyant wallpaper, and paneling that follows the curve of the room. All with pretty modern looking furniture!
Surely it is not a normal thing to make a fireplace out of knotty pine — even the inside seems to be pine-lined. Huh?
This adorable vintage laundry room — love that washer/dryer combo — employs pine in the built-in cabinet that must conceal all the “un cute” items that belong in a laundry room.
The basement rec room — or in this case, workshop — is a place where we often see wood paneling in a mid century home.
Here an entire basement has been transformed into a fun and usable space with the help of Western Pine. Complete with a built-in bar, shelves and TV space, this is one terrific space.
Speaking of built-in television sets — here is another — this one presumably on the main floor of the house. In the days before flat screen TVs, this must have been an exciting space saver.
The catalog shows several finishes and effects that can be achieved using different pine species and glazes. Yellowstone appears to be the color most people think about when they imagine an knotty pine room. We *think* that Amber Shellac — still available today — is the classic finish.
To see all 24 pages of this fantastic catalog, view the slideshow below.
Thanks to the MBJ Collection via archive.org for making this catalog available via Creative Commons license.
Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image:
Eartha Kitsch says
Love this post. Knotty pine is truly one of my most favorite passions. We have one of those fake fireplaces – it’s strange but you really CAN convince yourself that the room is warmer once you fire up those electric fake logs.
Betty Crafter says
Ahhh…isn’t knotty pine and turquoise just the most heavenly combination?? Love that bar in the first picture. And I especially love me some “naughty” pine 🙂
Robin, NV says
Oh wow – seriously, are we on the same wave length? I wrote about the “comfy country” look on my blog just a couple of weeks ago (under “What is Authentic?”). I’m so glad you’re featuring a design aesthetic that’s not mid mod. Don’t get me wrong, I love mid mod but there were other decorating trends in the 50s and 60s. My Grandma Charity’s house was done in this style – big comfy upholstered chairs with wood accents, little tiered side tables, hurricane swag lamps, braided rugs, etc. She had a rocking love seat, which is something I’m dying to find for my house. “Comfy country” is the look I’m going for in my living room. Mid mod just doesn’t seem right some how – I own a granny ranch after all.
Robin, NV says
Oh and I just saw the comment about outhouses. My grandma’s house in Fort Rock, Oregon didn’t have an indoor toilet until the late 1970s. I used to spend summers with my grandparents, so I have quite a bit of outhouse experience. I can tell you as a little kid who needs to use the potty in the middle of the night, it’s pretty scary to grab the flashlight and head out back – coyotes howling and everything. My cousins used to tell me that snakes lived in the outhouse, which added to the terror.
pam kueber says
see our Mid Century Modest Manifesto, Robin, it’s pretty “famous” –> https://retrorenovation.com/mid-century-modest-manifesto/
Robin, NV says
Thanks Pam. I should have figured you’d be into the midcentury modest thing.
pam kueber says
See all the media stories about the blog, too, many many stories about our spotlight on Mid Century Modest over the past five years — https://retrorenovation.com/pams-kitchen/
tammyCA says
When I think about the home I grew up in (the early ’60s) I see a mix of Modern and Modest. The house was a small 2 BR 1 Bath ’50s brick Ranch..we had the knotty pine kitchen, some rooms paneled in a grayish wood, glass block windows, and the furniture was a mix of Danish Modern chairs, black tiered end tables, and atomic drapes mixed up with some antique furniture & hand me down furniture.
So it’s pretty much the same for me now. As much as I like looking at cool Mid century modern furniture/design I know a lot of it isn’t practical for us. I would choose squishy sofas over sleek. I remember the Danish Modern chairs as a kid and not cozy..and, ‘ouch’..I used to throw my tantrums over the arm. So, my home is not “period”…it’s a bunch of everything.
Sara says
I like the color finishes, especially Shadowy Shoshone and of course that pink bathroom is fabulous! My first house had quite a lot of pine paneling. Mostly applied like wainscotting on the walls but one bedroom had it on the ceiling and closet door. Many people suggested I paint it but I liked it the way it was. Then my second house had the fake 70’s vintage wood paneling that you see in mobile homes. I painted that and it looked surprisingly good. Funny how the real stuff was so popular and then it evolved into the ugly fake stuff…no clue why that ever became popular!
Andreas Jordahl Rhude says
I work in the wood industry. I have ring binders full of “design ideas” for residential and commercial construction from the 1940s 1950s 1960s. Tons of pics like you have shown here. Organisations such as the Southern Pine Association and the Western Wood Products Association printed reams of brochures and flyers with ideas for builders, architects and do it your selfers. Private corporations were also very active promoting to the home markets.
Jay says
Great posting! Yes I like that tea kettle light fixture also. The picture of the woodworking area jogged my memmory. The ShopSmith pictured is what my father had and used to finish the basement in knotty pine. Sort of like the Nutone kitchen center but for woodworking. ShopSmiths were big in the 50s. The TV in the wall was also a big feature of the original Levittown houses.
Jay says
Kate, I’m laughing now! You commented about the “wood” fireplace, when I read the descripion in the brochure by squinting, it reads: False fireplace to add a psychological warmth” gotta love the marketing people.
Kate says
That must be the early version of psychological warmth — in the 90s they had those VHS tapes that just had a zoomed in fire in a fireplace, instantly “turning your tv into a roaring fire.” Remember those? One of my mom’s friend’s had one on when we came over and I though it was weird. 😉
Jay says
Oh yeah! I read somwhere that video images of a burning fire on the TV is still popular in Europe.
Jeanne says
It’s funny that you mention that! My son bought a 50s bungalow that had an old wood console TV the sellers left behind. He left it in the living room and hooked up a DVD player to it and bought the “raging fire” DVD and plays it during get-togethers. It’s hilarious! LOL
I have knotty pine built-in bookcases/gas fireplace in my knotty pine basement. I’ve been too afraid to use it, though. Someday I’ll get it cleaned up enough to photograph.
Sarah g (roundhouse) says
I like the different color finishes shown as examples, odd that they weren’t very popular because as you said the yellow/amber color dominated. I’ve never seen a different variation in person.
My mother in law has a knotty pine kitchen/den. She wants to paint the cabinets white and leave the knotty on the walls. I know this may be sinful…. but it will probably look a lot better… Either way they need attention badly! They look perma-gross even though I know she cleans them.
Janet Gore says
Pam, what a pleasant way to start my day which is filled with one “chore” after another. Knotty pine takes me back to a cozy little cape cod in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The kitchen was absolutely beautiful, and I’d take it back today if I could. We have quite a bit of paneling in out 1960 ranch, which would be a turn off to many; but it’s good quality and is “living proof” that I live in a our mid-century home!
pam kueber says
My mom is from Shenandoah!!!!
Jay says
Oh yeah! Home of Yeungling Beer!
Kate says
I grew up in PA — there is a lot of knotty pine in that state! 😉
Janet in CT says
I really enjoyed this particular topic. I think back in the day, pine was prolific and cheap so it tended to be used more than other woods. It is not that durable though, and soft wood shows every little mark. In the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies, pine furniture was very popular because it was so cheap but fell out of favor fast. Even the maple companies like Heywood-Wakefield and Temple-Stuart started running pine lines. I love it though, and can’t part with my honey finish cannonball pine bed. It was very interesting to see all the different applications from colonial look to more on the modern side. That round room is to die for! Are those windows curved too? Amazing! I also liked seeing the built-in bedroom cabinets. We tried to purchase a house that was full of these built-ins, probably a hobby of the owner who put them in every room! I think of knotty pine as colonial New England, but I also found it interesting that the names of the finishes shown seem to be Native American, like Umatilla and Klickitat, so that reminds me of the western knotty pine use too. Thanks for this great article!
Wendy says
Hi, my house was built in 1950 and my kitchen and den are both heart pine which is almost a hardwood. I have a love hate relationship with it
Patty says
I like the floating tea kettle – which I assume is a copper ceiling light fixture. Cute!