2014 was a great year for reissues of classic midcentury product designs. Still, there are three very basic products — I’m trying not to be greedy — that I would love to see brought back to the market, mass produced for cost, quality and availability. My list is based on seven years of blogging about midcentury modest and modern homes, hearing about what Retro Renovators need and have been excited about whenever the products come up.
1. Glitter laminate:
The absolutely positively #1 item on my list is glitter laminate.
Update, March 2018: Susan has brought this back! See the complete story here.
Made with deco paper — with real glitter inclusions, just like they were starting around 1950 all the way through the early 2000s — yes, this stuff was available for more than 50 years, non-stop. Today, this deco paper is still available — I have personally seen where it is made! Laminate manufacturers: I won’t even be greedy and ask for different colorways. Just give us a white (check the historic examples to get the rightish white) with gold glitter. The white field glitter laminate will solve for MULTITUDES of Retro Renovator kitchens and bathrooms.
Alas — this neeeeds to be a production laminate — it can’t be digital special-order run. As far as I know, the metal glitter cannot be replicated with current on-demand digital printers. That means this must be done with paper with real glitter inclusions. Laminate manufacturers must buy minimum (lotsa) size rolls of the deco paper… once they make the laminate, the sheets must be stored flat, in climate-controlled warehouses… and then there’s the whole marketing machine to get it out to the public. Note, I also tend to think that laminates made with deco paper (on a rotogravure press or as in the case of sparkle laminate, with real inclusions) are nicer looking — the ink saturation will be more intense… AND production laminates are much less expensive than on-demand digital prints because they are mass produced.
Pretty please with sprinkles on top: Will some laminate manufacturer take a big gulp and take a market risk on this? We’ll buy it! Maybe there are enough of us!
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2. Double-bowl, dual-drainboard, metal-rimmed, cast-iron kitchen sink:
Number two on my list: A double-sink, double-drainboard, hudee-rimmed, porcelain-on-cast-iron kitchen sink. The photos above show vintage Kohler sinks from our story about 16 vintage Kohler kitchen sinks.
And above: A 1956 ad for the Kohler “Clearfield” sink — now we know its name. Thanks to ebay seller splittinimagecards for giving us permission to show this photo of this ad for sale, we love having it for our archive.
Note, we love the hudee-rimmed Kohler’s Delafield sink currently available today — it’s a go-to recommendation for a replacement kitchen sink. But oh dear Kohler, can we have a design with drainboards?
Hey, I’d even settle for a double bowl with one drainboard. OR, a single bowl with one or two drainboards. Must have the metal rim, though!
3. Armstrong #5352:
Armstrong Floors, can we have #5352 — believed to be the most popular flooring of all time — back, please? Unbelievable: This floor was made from at least 1935 through to the mid-1990s — 60-some years!
This classic rich brick red color would be fine if we can have only one color. But if you can do other colors, how about something light and creamy (predominantly warm, rather than cool)?
Note: I am not saying Armstrong #5352 floor should be paired with a glitter-on-white laminate countertop. To me, the brick red screams “put me in a warm cozy midcentury modest kitchen” with a rich-colored countertop. But maybe I’d pair glitter laminate with a light, creamy colorway of the floor.
Updated: Like in Lori’s kitchen, photo below, thanks, Lori! Well, she says that floor originally had green squares, but they’ve faded with use. Still, you get the idea of how a monochrome meet-up between a beige 5352 floor and the glitter laminate could look:
And another update:
Reader Jan provided this photo (above) and the history:
Re: the Armstrong Brick flooring among the things we’d like to come back – I found this photo of the side porch at my grandmother’s house. This photo was taken in the late 1950s. My mom can’t remember when this floor was put down – she was born in 1934 and just always remembers it being there. I remember that it was a green colorway -very pretty! (The dogs are Come Here on the bench, Buster in the middle and Kilts on the right – Kilts was a full Scottish terrier and mom to the other two, who were “accidents” with a neighborhood dog – before spaying and neutering was the right thing to do!)
Thanks, Jan!
Some historical images from our files:
What do you think of my list, readers?
I’m wary of pushing our luck by being *too greedy*…
but for the “next wave” of we-wannas, what else?
The Atomic Mom says
1000 times yes on the glitter laminate. I would totally redo my kitchen just for that.
As for those dreamy drain board sinks. Sadly, I used to have one in my little 1949 half a duplex kitchen. Here in Los Alamos, New Mexico where most of the houses were built between 1946-60, those were standard issue. A few still survive in houses here and there. They are lovely.
As for the linoleum …. yes. We have that exact pattern in my Grandparents ranch house. I love it!
vicki says
I have the glitter countertops and want to replace them and I only want the same pattern! I can’t find anything that will go with my blonde cupboards and white/gold fleck tile back splash
Joan says
I just bought a set of round stcking tables with marble formica top. When i turned them over to clean them I was shocked to find the bottom was finished with the white glitter and in pristine condition. I wish the table tops were reversable. DH keeps catching me flipping a table over just to look at the glitter formica :). I would definitely purchase the white glitter for my bathroom vanity and a single drainboard sink for my kitchen if they became availabe again.
Jeannie says
When I was first married in 1990, we moved into an apartment complex where all the units had glitter countertops, which I loved. As people moved out, they renovated each apartment and threw all that glitter countertop into dumpsters. It still makes me sad.
If it was available now, I’d put it in our bathrooms.
Dulcie says
YES times a billion squared on the glitter counter tops!! I’ve still got the original glitter ones on my kitchen counter tops, but it’s been so worn down over 60 years of scrubbings that in some spots the laminate is worn down around the glitter, making little glitter bumps on my counters. That and a super glue catastrophe have made it where my counters need to be replaced, but I don’t have the heart to do it if I have to replace it with some sub-standard modern looking stuff. It’s glitter or nothing, baby!!
Jackie says
I love the old photos!! I would replace my sink if they came out with a new drainboard sink…
Karen says
I HAVE the original gold glitter laminate formica in my 1965 co op apartment in Long Beach, California — I was soooo stoked to find it still in my unit! It does have one big pan burn mark, but that is where my dish rack goes anyway! I would be very happy as well to see it return to market, as it seems very versatile.
Tom M says
I love that floor especially. All are nice however.
Lettie Collier says
I would go crazy if that glitter laminate came back! It’s exactly what I have been waiting for to complete my kitchen. It’s all original except for the counter top, and I’d love to have that back. Our laundry room still has the glitter laminate counter top though.
judy e says
I wish they did make this floor still, I would run out and buy it now. We had this floor in our kitchen when I was young. ……………maybe by the time the rest of my renovating is done they will make it!!! ne can dream!!!1