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  • Home » Kitchen Help Category » countertops » Vintage linen laminates — 12 colors in my collection of 1950s sample chips

    Vintage linen laminates — 12 colors in my collection of 1950s sample chips

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    Posted by: Pam Kueber • February 17, 2015

    linen laminate retroLinen laminates were among the most popular in the 1950s — I will even surmise the most popular choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops. Continuing to fill out our historical archive, I organized my collection of vintage laminate sample ships… pulled out the document linens… and scanned. Today — close ups of 12 colorways of linen laminate — eight from Formica, four from Textolite. Above: Formica Green Linen — which I am betting was the most popular color. This green is perfect for a midcentury kitchen with wood kitchen cabinets. Sigh.

    linen laminate retroAbove: Formic Tan Linen laminate. Note the weave of the Formica. It is not too sharp / edgy. My “problem” with the linen laminates on the market today is that they are too pokey-looking — sharp-edged industrial rather than soft-edged domestic.

    linen laminate retro

    Above: Formica Primrose Linen laminate.

    In her thesis — the best most comprehensive history of Formica and its patterns that I know of — materials expert Grace Jeffers (and good friend) says that Linen was one of the first patterns that Formica introduced after World War II. It was instantly popular.

    linen laminate retro

    Above: Formica Powder Blue Linen laminate.
    linen laminate retroAbove: Formica Pink Petal Linen laminate.

    Super mega thanks to Robert of ElectraChime for sending me the box of Formica paper samples that this pink chip came from. What a generous contribution to my archives! xoxo

    linen laminate retroAbove: Formica Lipstick Red Linen laminate.

    linen laminate retro

    Above: Formica Gray Linen laminate.

    linen laminate retroAbove: Formica Charcoal Linen laminate.

    Textolite Linen Laminates:

    linen laminate retroAbove: Textolite Daffodil Linen Laminate.

    I have only four samples of Textolite linen laminates. It’s hard to tell from such small samples, but it appears the patterns are different — I’d say the Textolite linen weave is less tight… with more chunkies simulating natural irregularities you’d find in a linen thread. I like the Textolite pattern better than the Formica pattern but, seriously, this is splitting hairs. Or threads.

    linen laminate retro

    Above: Textolite Tan Linen Laminate.

    linen laminate retro Above: Textolite Panama Linen Laminate.
    linen laminate retro

    Above: Textolite Gray Linen laminate.

    Six places to find linen look laminates today:

    • I don’t think any of them are as perfect as the vintage (paleeze, why the need to reinvent, when the original is perfect??)… but we have written about at least six companies offering modern day spins on linen laminates — available today. IMPORTANT TIP: Scroll this “tagged” list to see all the separate stories — they are not agglomerated, they were written one-by-one over time as various companies rolled out their designs. 

    Related stories

    1. Boomerang laminates from Wilsonart
    2. vintage metal table top Kitchen island genius idea: Upcycle a vintage metal table top as a counter
    3. Original 1970s Wilsonart’s Daisy laminate tabletops at Speck’s in Collegeville, Pa.
    4. Nevamar Venus laminate — delightful atomic laminate pattern

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    Comments 35
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    Comments

    1. Tara says

      April 26, 2016 at 9:51 pm

      I have about 5 1/2 pieces of that 50’s green linen formica (color # 106) about 22 inches deep x 5 feet long. They were something my dad salvaged in the 70’s and they were literally peeled off of countertops.

      I’d like to use them on my kitchen countertop renovation but at 22 inches deep they’re not deep enough, so I’d be forced to piece a few of them together to cover the countertops.

      I’m torn about it, since I love the color more than the modern reproductions (which annoyingly they call “green linen”, but are darker). Do you think they are sellable as scraps for people who are looking for the real thing? They are perfectly useable as countertops of bench tops that are only 22 inches deep…

      Reply
    2. Hope Mock says

      July 6, 2018 at 2:45 am

      Must be nice to be Prada! Check out their Bar Luce in Milan, there’s Formica Green Linen all over the place…how did they get that?

      Reply
      • Pam Kueber says

        July 6, 2018 at 10:37 am

        Designed by Wes Anderson — wow! IDK where they would get it. Custom, perhaps.

        Reply
        • Mary Elizabeth says

          July 7, 2018 at 5:14 pm

          Darn! They are closed Tuesdays, and that’s the day I always fly to Milan. 🙂

          Reply
    3. Hope Mock says

      July 13, 2018 at 2:49 am

      I agree that no current retro laminates hold a candle to these babies. Time for Formica to re-produce them for the masses!

      Reply
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