We know that many of our readers love 1940s decor. To be sure, there’s a lot to like! For example, this 1940s kitchen — with its lovely green cabinetry, bits of red scattered about the room and that fantastic linoleum floor — is just calling me to come inside and spend an afternoon baking pies. For some, creating these kinds of rooms is easy — others may need a little help, especially if the room they start out with is less than ideal. Luckily this week’s vintage catalog provides lots of ideas and inspiration. The catalog was directed by Hazel Dell Brown — an amazing historical figure, the longtime queen of interior design at Armstrong.
This vintage catalog is formatted to feel like a scrap book of ideas that Hazel Dell Brown has collected over time. She has “hand written notes” scrawled in the margins and little sketches here and there to illustrate her ideas. What a charming format for what is basically an Armstrong linoleum sales brochure.
Linoleum floors were common in 1940s decor
The catalog contains several ideas specific to linoleum patterns — which were super common in 1940s decor. Hazel points out that this flooring can come to the rescue when a room’s furnishings are undistinguished. Remember, in 1944, we were at war. Materials were scarce. From the sounds of this catalog, folks were making do with the furniture they had and adding spiff around the edges.
The catalog also shows different ways that linoleum can be used — including on kitchen counter tops. Today, we hear often from readers who find remnants of vintage flooring in closets and at the bottom of cabinets.
Precautionary Pam notes: I also want to relate that in her book “Linoleum”, Jane Powell says that while linoleum is known today for its use of renewable resources (cork, linseed oil, namely), heavy metals such as lead may have been used in the manufacturer of old linoleum. So — Precautionary Pam repeats: Be sure to test the materials in your old houses for vintage nastiness like lead, asbestos and more — get with your own properly licensed professional to determine what’s in your house and its layers, so that you can make informed decisions about how to handle. Be Safe / Renovate Safe.
But now on to the meat of the catalog — the decorating ideas. Today, some of these decorating ideas may seem… over the top. But remember, this was war-time. Homemakers likely only had paint, fabric and — yes, flooring — to spice up their interiors. Look at ‘most any magazine of 1940s decor aimed at the middle class, and the ladies were painting and stenciling and embroidering and slipcovering. There was a lot of applied embellishment. You made do.
And here’s another example of the Pennsylvania Dutch style — shown with a brick patterned linoleum floor that amplifies the warmth from the fireplace across the entire room. Oh, how we wish we could get this floor — and even more so, the famous #5352 — today.
The use of warm and rich colors in this space — combined with the symmetrical arrangement of furniture — make for a calm, cozy and inviting living area. Of particular note — the way that linoleum inlays were used in conjunction with a small area rug to visually create one larger area rug. Using a small cloth rug with a less expensive linoleum floor inlay underneath is a smart way to “have a bigger rug” without the added expense.
This example of a linoleum inlay works with the design and furniture layout of the room. We instantly know that the focal point of the room is the dining table and chairs — because it is in the center of the room and has been “pointed to” with the linoleum inlaid floor. It is only after we have taken in the table that our eyes wander to the red draperies, the pie cabinet and yes — the red ceiling. This room is so 1940s decorating style. It makes me want to paint a ceiling a bright color. What a fun idea.
Here, Hazel cleverly uses curtains to add a space in the master bedroom for the new baby. Once again, notice the repetition of the scalloped shapes in the valance, on the curtains and the table skirt. One of the key elements of design is repetition, and Hazel shows us how.
Four 1940s bathroom designs
The bathroom above is my personal favorite from the catalog. The die cut rosettes and scalloped design that are inlaid into the floor are so sweet — to me, the epitome of 1940s decor. Notice how both the flowers and the scallops are repeated throughout the room — making for a cohesive and feminine space. There is an Armstrong linoleum product on the wall — “Linowall” — too.
The star and ribbon inlay in this bathroom’s linoleum floor is so much fun — it is also interesting to note that the mirror seems to have been painted with a ribbon to coordinate. And, check out the vanity — is the counter simply made of layers of glass?
This sunny bathroom has a space for everyone — gym locker style — but is made to feel like home with thoughtful decoration, cheery colors, hanging greenery around the window and personalized names to label each family member’s individual space.
Here’s another thoughtful bathroom, packed with storage — notice how the tub is pretty much “built in” to the storage in front of it. This actually seems like a pretty darn good idea.
Two 1940s studio apartment designs
Look at all the function that is packed into this well designed and decorated space. This design — which is an extra bedroom the homeowner wanted to rent to generate extra income — made a room for rent into a one room apartment instead. A day bed — used for seating or sleeping — eating area, kitchenette, and office space as well as room for storage. With this design, Hazel teaches us that good design can add value. Awesome wallpaper accent wall, Hazel! And, the medium blue paired with chartreuse and just a touch of rose — gorgeous. This is a lovely, lovely room.
This last room is yet another example of remodeling a single space into a room that serves many purposes. This example is described as an unused attic space that was converted into a livable one room apartment — complete with bathroom and kitchen. You hardly notice the sloped ceiling due to a masterful visual trick — using a dark and bold wallpaper to accent the straight and tall walls at the end of the room — and painting the slanted portion of the ceiling a light-reflecting cheery yellow. Keeping the color scheme simple also unifies the various functional spaces and makes the room feel larger than it is.
To see all of Hazel Dell Brown’s thoughtful decorating solutions to common problems, view the slideshow below.
Special thanks to MBJ Collection and archive.org for making this vintage 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:?
Liz Fornek says
Hello,
This is along the same lines as Jane. We are trying to return our kitchen to the 1947/50’s era in which it was built. We are exhausted trying to find someone who does reproduction (and therefore safe) linoleum. Any advice? Does it exist? Are we chasing rainbows??
Thank you,
Liz
Pam Kueber says
Marmoleum.
Johnsonite may also still make it, I’m not sure.
I think that Armstrong discontinued theirs, but it’s worth checking.
I haven’t researched this for a while.
Again: Forbo Marmoleum is the major go-to, I think….
Also see Linoleum City, they should be up to date on all the brands out there: http://linoleumcity.com/
jane buley says
I’ve been trying to find retro linoleum I thought was from the 50’s but looking at some of your postings, I figured out it had to be from the 40’s. My house is a 1930’s bungalow / cottage style. The flooring was pieces left on basement steps. pale yellow background with black, yellow and red geometric designs. there is a black & off white checkered kitchen floor with a pale yellow backsplash. I’m not a yellow or a red color fan but I cant redo the whole kitchen but I love that flooring in the kitchen, if I can afford it. I cant seem to find any dealers in the Hudson Valley part of NYS
Pam Kueber says
jane, all of our research on flooring is in Kitchen Help/Flooring subcategory. Please be aware that old materials and their layers in our houses can contain hazards; for more info see our Be Safe / Renovate Safe page here >> https://retrorenovation.com/renovate-safe/
Sharon andrade says
Just bought 1940 granny house 5 rooms. What a wonderful site to help us “downsizing seniors decorating our “Little Red Hen!!!!!’
Lorie~ Ferndale Lane says
I found this exact same catalog at a yard sale today for $2.00. Love all the interior design ideas in it! My favs are the colonial and Pennsylvania Dutch designs.
Judy says
Oh, just one comment regarding the Colonial Revival trend. In the small town I grew up in, population about 12000, we had two furniture stores. Quinby & Wilson’s Colonial Maple Shoppe and McHugh’s which carried all the other styles of furnishings. That’s it. So Colonial Maple furniture was everywhere even if the home wasn’t particularly Colonial Revival in style. The shop went out of business in the early 80’s. I think more due to retirement of both owners than to changing tastes or maybe a bit of both.
Judy says
We made a fantastic discovery this weekend while working on our kitchen remodel. Peeling off the crappy old vinyl and pressboard flooring under it revealed the original 1949 linoleum in amazing condition. We’re working on getting off all the old glue and wax right now and it’s fantastic. It’s the Armstrong Marbelle, first one on the top row in the ad, can’t read the number. Squeeeeee!!!!!! I did squeal when I saw it. Around the edges is a line of red. It’s changed our whole remodeling plan. So the photos here will also be a big help in coming up with the new plan. I’m hoping when we pull up the horrid kitchen carpeting laid over another layer of pressboard in the adjoining laundry room that the old linoleum is in as good of condition. This is so fun. We had previously unearthed linoleum in wonderful condition in the hallway, front bedroom and bathroom. I’m loving my unique floors.
toni says
I can’t recall any kitchen that I truly envied but yours might be the first! And the other floors, too! How lucky is that?
Judy says
Thanks, Toni, but don’t envy me too much yet. The wonderful, original knotty pine cabinets were removed by the previous owners and installed in the husband’s shop in the basement. They have been destroyed beyond repair. I now have some “lovely” 1970’s Mediterranean cabinets which I h*** [edited] with a passion with the most garish hardware you’ve ever seen. However, I’m hesitant to pull them out and replace them because I can’t afford the same quality, all wood/no pressboard construction to replace them. I’m trying to figure out what to do with them to make them work. New hardware would only be a starting point. Also, when they took out the old cabinets, they also removed the lovely coved molding so around the edges of the kitchen floor, I have some kind of black stuff. However, I think it would be worth the money to find a coordinating linoleum and professional install to replace them. Need to price it out. I know the kitchen originally had it because the broom closet still has the original linoleum with the coves.
And, unfortunately, the previous owners also remodeled the bathroom and removed a privacy wall and a few other changes which means we have areas with no linoleum. I have scoured the new linoleum and none of it matches so we’re trying to figure out a way to coordinate some pieces to look like it was intentional and not a crappy repair. When they remodeled, they removed most of the original tile as well. The only bit left is the shower floor and the frame for where the shower door is installed.
So, yes, love that we have the floors but a lot needs to be done and some creative solutions found to truly make them work. It is a rather fun challenge!
pam kueber says
Paint and/or just replace the doors….
Judy says
Yes, we have been looking at both those options. If we paint, we can fill in the ugly grooves in the cabinet panel with wood putty. That and new hardware would be a nice look, I think. I was testing paint sample colors when we discovered the good condition of the floors. The lovely turquoise color I had chosen clashes with the green in the floor. So now I’m back to having to sample other colors. Not complaining, really. I’m finding it kinda fun. 🙂
toni says
Look at Marmoleum. http://www.marmoleum.com/nextgenerationmarmoleum/
It’s pricey. But what isn’t? I used it in my breezeway; 12×26. Installed it was over $2000.
There has been a lot of discussion in the past on gardenweb kitchens about it. Google will find it.
Judy says
Thanks, Toni, I have. I think it will be easy to find new linoleum to fill in the edges of the kitchen as the kitchen floor has so many colors. I want to splurge on the coved edges and am oddly excited about that. I just remember how cool they look in kitchens and think it’s far easier to keep your floor clean with no sharp corners for dirt and grime to get caught up in. I’m all about making cleaning as easy as possible, LOL.
It’s the bathroom that’s a real challenge. It’s black and white marbled linoleum with a salmon-colored inset line. None of the current patterns have the same color black nor the same marbling. Actually, the black VCT tiles with white marbling come closest but still aren’t quite right and would be slightly too thick. And I can’t seem to find the right salmon color either. Everything is too coral/orange.
We have other work to do before we need to make a decision on the floors. Here’s to hoping more color choices come out in the mean time.
BTW, the living/entry/dining areas must have always been carpeted as there is only plywood under the horrible carpet we pulled up. Darn, was wishing for linoleum there, too. Or, better yet, hardwood. We’re probably going to do glue-down cork. The click style doesn’t appeal to me, isn’t really period appropriate, and would too thick where it meets up with the linoleum.
Your breezeway sounds fantastic! We don’t tend to have them in my part of the country. 12×26 sounds huge. Is that size typical?
toni says
12×26 is not unusual. It’s 12 feet wide and the length of the attached garage.
If you can wait long enough, the colors seem to cycle but they won’t be an exact unmistakable match. If there is a strip of another color between them, it can work. And remember, no one else will be looking at that particular spot like you are. They will be looking at the whole room. If I lived next door I’d be over “helping” you!
In the past I had bought wallpaper on clearance and found out it was so old the color was not still being used for accessories. I had a devil of a time finding drapery fabric! I don’t know if what I found was new or old stock. All I care is that it was the color I needed.
Judy says
That’s good advise, Toni. Thanks. We have a lot of work to do in the kitchen before I really get to doing anything about the linoleum fixes in there. And we won’t be doing the bathroom un-updating project until after that. So I’ll pop into the flooring shop periodically to check for new colors during that time.
Well, the laundry room linoleum has been excavated, except for under washer/dryer. Wow! It is really pristine. It just needs some new molding around the edges. Happy dance!
We tore up the most {edited} kitchen carpeting ever in that room. A strange geometric design with the classic rust brown, avocado green in it, along with some black and what was probably cream at one time. It has been quite lumpy to walk on and we sure found out why. The adhesive underneath had disintegrated into black sand. Seriously, we shoveled up buckets of sand. So nice to have that gone. The room is much more cheery now.
Victoria says
It’s amazing how many interesting historical details you can glean from this brochure. I like the way the first photo is showing a kitchen set up to can tomatoes. That’s very much a WWII activity.
Fixing up an older house was a necessity — new housing starts were pretty much banned during the war. Also, if you lived near any industrial center, there was a chronic housing shortage — so being able to turn a room or attic into an apartment was really important.
What a great document!
pam kueber says
Yes, you are absolutely right about the housing shortage — and the design ingenuity required to accommodate the growing population in the face of it!
Loreen says
I’m pretty pleased to find this great site. I need to to
thank you for your time just for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it
and I have you bookmarked to see new stuff in your site.
hollie says
Hi
I have a 1943 bunglow and we are redoing the kitchen. I don’t know how authetic everything will be but we are having a great time faking stuff. For example we deffinately NEED a dish washer but we didn;t want it to mess up the look of our old fashion kitchen so we built a cabinet that looks like an old ice box but it really just hides the dishwasher 🙂 But I was writing to tell you how we got the “brick Floor” in the Pennsylvania Dutch style kichen above. I saw that pict on another site and it was the inspiration for the kitchen floor. We found some 6″ x 6″ red quarry tile at our local Habitat for Humanity restore for really cheap. We used a tile snapper to cut them in half so they where 3″ x 6″ (which is the same as most subway tiles). Then we layed a harring bone “Carpet” in the middle of the room with regual brick pattern running bond around the outside. It turned out great and it looks just like the brick floor in the Pennsylvania Dutch style kitchen. We love it!
Shari D. says
These are all fabulous illustrations of the possibilities of past eras. Like some of the rest of you, I too feel like I came along way too late! But after studying the social histories of this decade, there are some things I’m surely glad I missed out on!
As for the decorating though, I imagine during the actual War years, there was a lot more focus on War production and other war-related jobs that an enormous percentage of the population were involved in, most especially the women, who were called up “for the duration” to free the men for the fighting work. In addition to “keeping the home fires burning,” being responsible for all the things the men left behind, tending Victory Gardens that produced about 40% of the vegetables needed for civilian use, dealing with “cooking from scratch” as usual in the face of rationing and the lack of prepared or convenience foods, they worked at War jobs too. An amazing percentage of the female population were involved in the Military as well as War production, and replacing the men at all the civilian jobs that were left vacant when the men went off to war. All the single women went to work first who were not already employed, followed by the married women who could (without babies and toddlers to take care of) when there were no more single girls to employ, then the older women! Amazed the men were though at what we could actually DO when the chips were down and we were needed away from diaper/kitchen/cleaning duties!
Still, the old attitudes died hard, if at all, and women were never paid the same as men in the same jobs, even the women who later on TRAINED THE MEN who moved to other jobs or joined a different facility later on during the conflict, and the old “double standard” still ruled the roost most of the time.
Like you said though, all materials were quite scarce, with paint, papering and fabric creations being pretty much all there was to deal with.
Even fabrics though were scarce, with the War Production boards putting clothing on the “endangered list,” declaring how clothing was to be constructed to conserve fabrics. They were responsible for the size and number of pockets, single-breasted men’s suits instead of double, narrower lapels, the number of buttons that could be used on a single garment, the turned-under depth (and height!) of hemlines, the number and size of pleats and gathers, shorter sleeves being preferred over long, cuffs disappearing from mens’ pants, and women’s coats that just met in the front with very little overlap. Even the use of elastics even came under fire when the sources of natural rubber dried up because there were no more imports from the countries that produced it. Shoes came under the sharp eye of the Board, rationing leather, encouraging the fads of fabric sandals and espadrilles, fabric covered heels that were usually wood underneath, open toed shoes and so on.
All to conserve every scrap available to furnish materials for the uniforms and other fabric needs of the military. No, they didn’t wear the colors and the types of fabrics civilians did – it started with the raw materials and how they were put to use. Even farmers were brought in to the fray, being directed by the Government to plant much more flax than they ever did before, in order to get the fibers to make parachute cords and webbing, ropes and other durable, heavy material needed to provide their needs.
Of course we know that silk hosiery, rapidly followed by the new nylon stockings, went to the war effort as well, and being replaced by leg makeup with eyebrow pencil being used to recreate the seams of the day that indicated a woman was wearing stockings. Soon enough, socks were being worn by every age, and barelegged women were being seen as “Patriotic” giving up their stockings for the effort!
Many women re-purposed old clothing like never before, cutting their dresses apart to remake them into newer styles, or cutting them down to fit younger sisters and daughters. Children’s clothing was also remade from older siblings’ clothing, and Dad’s old suits were cut down to fit the older sons. The phrase “Waste Not Want Not” was joined by others, such as “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, Or Do Without!” And for folks who had just crawled out from under one of the most crushing economic depressions since the Civil War, it was something they were not unfamiliar with. But they were surely getting weary of having to keep on doing it! Especially with all the new War productions jobs making unemployment a thing of the past; women joining the men who could not go to war as well as the ones who were deferred for Essential War Work, and earning their own incomes and still finding their spending curtailed because there wasn’t much left to buy, except War Bonds, which were encouraged at every turn, even at the movies and by Bugs Bunny!! This produced an amazing pool of spendable cash at the end of the War and in the years following, producing that seemingly unending source of cash with which to buy everything they could get their hands on when the production economy reverted back to civilian goods instead of War materiel.
I was surprised that nobody else mentioned this, and I read every comment to make sure I wasn’t duplicating someone else’s efforts, but I noticed something particularly special in the blue “Baby Themed” bathroom. The “wall” with all the little shelves on it, just to the left of the bathinette, is actually a very shallow hinged section of shelves attached to the back of the door, which probably opened either to the hallway, or the Master Bedroom, or even a closet! It surely appears as a “False Back” to the door when the shelves were closed up against the door. It’s a shame we can’t see the other side of it, to be able to tell if it were painted to match and therefore disappear against the door, or if it were painted a contrasting color that might even match the other colors of the theme of the bathroom! What a cool idea, even for today, for rooms short on storage space, even though this bathroom doesn’t seem to be lacking it. Also love the towel shelves at the end of the short bathtub wall!
cheryl says
Just wanted to say thank you very much Shari for your explanation. I had always wondered where all the money came from for all those new purchases after the war. I knew people during the war were being very frugal but it never dawned on me until you said something, but hey, they were making money during the war they just had nothing to spend it on.
Thanks again, I enjoyed reading all that.
ShariD says
Cheryl ~
So glad you enjoyed my post here. I must apologize for the extended length of it, because I have a tendency to get going on something and can’t seem to find a place to stop!
As for the Post-War economy, the proliferation of War Bond redemption surely helped fulfill the long-term desires for rampant consumerism, but the amazing growth in higher education, home building and buying and employment that went hand-in-hand with the returning GIs and their use of the many benefits of the new GI Bill certainly played an enormous part in it. The percentage growth in college educated white collar workers was astronomical, and white collar salaries went along with it. Also, not all the women employed during the War left the work world at the end of the conflict. Many more women than were given credit for remained in the workforce to help their young husbands get through those college educations. Colleges even started unofficial clubs for working wives of students, one of which I read about awarded “PhT” degrees on those wives when their husbands graduated – called “Putting hubby Through” degrees! The economy supported by working wives while their men completed college educations was substantial. Others worked to save money for larger down payments on new suburban homes, or just on larger homes than they could afford on one income. Furnishing those homes was another goal for many. Four rooms of furnishings was a substantial expense on top of the cost of the home to put them in. Most wives worked either until their short term goals were reached, giving their husbands time to advance some in the workplace, making more than an entry-level salary, or until their first child was on the way.
The economy continued to grow with a few fits and starts for over 20 years this way. That generation of citizens genuinely did contribute the largest share of sacrifice and growth than any generation prior or since then IMHO. The Greatest Generation indeed.