Back in the day, many manufacturers made and sold versions of glitter laminate. Materials historian Grace Jeffers says that the design was pioneered by Formica — they launched the industry’s first glitter-embedded laminate, “White Sequin,” in 1957. Other laminate companies jumped on the bandwagon and soon enough, versatile and pleasing real-glitter sparkles were covering millions (surely) of countertops across America. Today — a look at a boatload of samples of glitter laminate from personal collection and from our Retro Renovation archives, which together comprise our new “catalog” of the various names for this design… and which includes glitter on plain white and colored papers and later, glitter inclusions applied onto more complex paper designs for even more atomic effects. So far we have found 40 42 examples from companies including Formica, Wilsonart, Textolite and Nevamar.
The names for basic glitter laminate on white:
Formica called it White Sequin — The first sample shown above is a paper reproduction; the ‘glitter’ is ink — not the real deal, a cheaper way to show samples, I presume. I included it to show the graphics and the name — we can guess it’s from 1960 because of the “1-60” printed on the sample. This was just three years after introduction. The second sample is the real melamine-topped Formica White Glitter as it would have been installed on a countertop — you can see the real glitter shining through. Oopsy, my melamine chip originally had printing on it — the logo and pattern name. I made the mistake of aggressively cleaning it with a vintage cleaner I bought on ebay — without testing first — and the cleaner took the inky text right off. You can see the shadowy remainder of a different, later-era (1990s, I believe) Formica logo. Drats. The chip seems otherwise fine, though… Hereforeto — no more cleaning of my vintage laminate hoard, except for soft dusting.
Thank you, Robert, of ElectraChime — he sent me a bunch of these Formica samples — including all the paper samples I show here — for the permanent Retro Renovation collection! I greatly appreciate it!
Above: Textolite called it “White Gold”. Textolite was a General Electric (GE) brand.
Missing from our archive: Wilsonart called it “White Glitter.” Grace Jeffers says that Wilsonart later named it “Lamé.” I am sure they must have had one (see below, when I show all their Glitter on colored papers.)
Above: Arborite called it G.G. on Snow White. I don’t know what G.G. stands for. Grace Jeffers confirmed that G.G. stood for Golden Glitter. Arborite — a Canadian company now owned by Pionite correction: Wilsonart — was the last company to offer glitter laminate — I believe they offered it into the early 2000s — that’s when I obtained this sample from a local store.
Companies that existed back in the day and which may have had glitter laminates:
- Formica
- Wilson Art (now Wilsonart)
- Textolite
- Micarta (the brand of Westinghouse, which in 1979 was still expanding production)
- Consoweld
- Pionite
- Nevamar
- Panelyte
- Arborite (Canadian company, I think)
- … there may be more.
- See this story for the names of all companies selling laminates in the U.S. today.
Good news: Where to buy glitter laminate now being made again:
Now, let’s look at the different “simple glitter” collections and some of their color options. Again, this is not necessarily a complete list — these are just the samples I have in my personal collection and from a big story in 2012.
Formica Sequin in at least four colors:
I have Formica Sequin paper samples in four colors:
Wilsonart’s Glitter laminate in at least 12 colors:
Not from my collection, but from this story we did in 2013 showing a supernova constellation of Wilsonart Glitter colors… They were being sold as key chains for $10 each, and as soon as I published the story, readers snapped ’em up:
- Aqua glitter laminate
- Beige glitter laminate
- Charcoal glitter laminate
- Cocoa glitter laminate
- Coppertone glitter laminate
- Flame glitter laminate
- Frosty pink glitter laminate
- Powder blue glitter laminate
- Pumpkin glitter laminate
- Red glitter laminate
- Wintergreen glitter laminate
Textolite’s Gold came in… how many colors?
- Surely Textolite must have offered this laminate in more than just the plain White Gold. Alas, my sample collection only includes this one colorway.
Formica’s Silversnow Laminate came in at least four colorways:
Oooh, in 1960 — again, just three years after Formica introduced its gold-flecked “Sequin”, it also had introduced a glitter design with denser, smaller, silver flecks — they called it Silversnow. Perhaps the inclusions are mica, rather than glitter? I have four paper sample chips:
- Red Silversnow
- Green Silversnow
- Cocoa Silversnow
- Black Silversnow
Glitter Laminates with deco paper with designs
Formica’s Spindrift came in at least two colors:
Formica’s Spindrift also was in my batch of samples that I date to 1960. It features two additional elements printed on the paper underneath — smudgy-veining + whisperthin cracking-veining. From my paper collection:
- White Spindrift
- Light Aqua Spindrift
Wilsonart’s Satellite laminate came in at least six colors:
Wilsonart’s Satellite was glitter over paper with one additional element, subtle smudgy-veining:
- Beige gold satellite laminate
- Aqua gold satellite laminate
- Frosty pink gold satellite laminate
- Powder blue satellite laminate
- Primrose gold satellite laminate
- White gold satellite laminate
Textolite’s Spungold design came in at least two colors:
The smudgy-veining in my Textolite chips looks strong, more powerful than the Wilsonart’s shown above. I have it in two colorways:
- White Spungold
- Beige Spungold
Textolite’s Nugget came in at least two colorways:
Glitter on simple starbursts, nom nom. These samples — which came along with all the melamine samples — were on paper. I speculate: Brand-spanking new, so tucked in, pronto, even before pressed samples were available. Only two colorways on my sample chain:
- Textolite Gold Nugget laminate
- Textolite Champagne Nugget laminate
Textolite’s Twilight came in at least six colorways:
Twilight featured gold or silver glitter — the glitter was not real chunky — over paper that was pretty highly veined. However, I would say that the veining was not realistic, it was stylized… abstract, even. As if to say, “We’re only kinda sorta pretending to mimic marble — this is laminate, after all, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.”
- Textolite Golden Beige Twilight laminate features two shades of beige veining with gold glitter on top.
- Textolite Silver Gray Twilight laminate features two shades of gray veining with silver glitter.
- Textolite Primrose Twilight laminate, two shades of yellow, gold glitter.
- Textolite Dusty Pink Twilight laminate, two shades of pink, gold glitter.
- Textolight Aqua Twilight laminate, Aqua and green veining, silver glitter.
- Textolite Lavender Twilight laminate, lavender and taupe veining, silver glitter.
Nevamar’s Flair came in at least two colorways:
Above: A pink “Carnation Flair”.
And above: A more neutral Beige Flair.
So there you go. Did your eyes pop out of your head? Did your greedy retro-loving hearts cry, “Gimme! Gimme!”?
Neil says
One observation, for the white/gold-fleck yearners: I’ve bought and sold many short metal, free-standing kitchen cabinets that had the original white with gold flecks, and actually it’s rather unimpressive to the eye. The colors with gold flecks are much, much more tasty.
Neil
pam kueber says
Neil, I don’t understand your comment. I have three diffent, salvaged pieces of vintage countertop with one of the basic white + gold glitters…. and they are fantastic.
tammyCA says
Yes, you are killing us here. I’ve never seen the twilight..so cool, esp. the Aqua & green ’cause those are my colors but love the lavender, too…and, I’ve always loved the glittery pinks & blues. Why the heck can’t they just remake these? I wish they’d make Formica & chrome tables & end tables again..I’d buy them right up! I’m so sick of the barfy colors in today’s market.
Marguerite says
Soooo beautiful! Everyone has the same reaction to these it seems. Too bad we let an antiseptic look take over kitchens. My mom had pink faux marble Formica on our countertops in the 60s. Added pizazz to the kitchen. Now that I recall, all my aunts had the different colors. I’m imagining the nice aqua and turquoise. My grandmother’s kitchen had that. Wonder if color will ever come back mainstream? Gonna take a while for folks to get over the white and stainless look though.
ChiTownCommuter says
I agree with Debbie — it’s torturous to admire these wonderful glitter laminates knowing that they’re not in production! (Not yet anyway… I have hope…) I’d replace the laminates in my kitchen and bath instantly if the white with gold was available.
Amy says
Our 1969 ranch has the Formica white with gold flecks in the kitchen & bathroom. We refuse to wreck-o-vate! They’re in fine shape. A little bling makes life sweeter! Someday, only if we need to, we’ll replace them with…another similar laminate! We pulled out some scraps of original flooring used as shelf lining and it also had metallic fleck. Loved it. We’re leaning toward a Mannington speckled floor for the kitchen. Fun stuff!
Kathy in San Leandro says
To me, the Twilight series doesn’t look much like marble at all. I see drops and splatters of paint, a la Jackson Pollock. He created his drip-style of art in the late 1940s and was hugely popular. I could imagine his influence being welcomed into homes across the country in the 1960s.
Lavender and Aqua Twilight are my favorites. I have the gold starburst in my kitchen, but it was loved to death by its former owners. Most is worn away to plain white now.
Amber Dawn says
My bathroom floor and countertop are TEXTURED laminate(?) with gold pieces of glitter. Anybody else have this? It’s not easy to see the glitter, but it’s the same random gold specks features in the samples. https://flic.kr/p/fnKRvH We think it’s from the 60’s, maybe the 70’s.
pam kueber says
That’s so interesting! Texturing is a form of embossing — the laminate it pressed with plates that create the texture…
Amber Dawn says
Here’s another photo where you can kinda see the design that’s pressed into it. It almost looks like they were trying for leopard spots? https://flic.kr/p/ri6SZc But given what we know about the original owners, it was probably a safety measure. The master bathroom was a mid-1960’s addition (going by the labels on the bottom of the sink) to the original 1948 structure, whose bathroom is a whole lot smaller.
Also, I love your website! We’ve had our house for 2 years and are still gathering enough vintage decor for me to want to brag about it. I’m still not sure how I feel about having textured laminate. I think it takes away from the fact that there’s glitter, which just isn’t cool. 🙂
pam kueber says
I think it’s fabulous!!!
Mary Elizabeth says
I love it, too, especially with the pink sink.
Amber Dawn says
Thanks! We have at least 4 different types of vintage laminate in our house, the embossed glitter probably being the most recent. If it didn’t have glitter, I wouldn’t like it at all.
However– large sheets of the original 1948 laminate(??) were used to line our kitchen cabinets, and it’s probably the MOST AMAZING PATTERN I’VE EVER SEEN IN PERSON. I don’t know what the design is called, but it has elements of both black and white, contrasted with Rainbow Blobs. https://flic.kr/p/e6DHeE
Someone who’s more of an expert than I am described it as “Early-style lino-type laminated asphalt sheet material.” The back is marked “Congoleum Nairn Inc.” The comments on this photo (which is his, not mine) have more information and pictures of my crazy flooring. https://flic.kr/p/9LmcGM
We’re not sure if it’s still underneath the newer (but still old!) avocado/harvest gold patterned laminate, but if it is, it’s probably all worn out. https://flic.kr/p/fnKzRP
I haven’t even mentioned the kitchen counters, but I think the rainbow
ineffablespace says
I’ll beat one of my dead horses again:
The thing that is important design wise about these laminates is that they clearly are what they are: you look at it and say, “Okay this is layers of paper-like material in phenolic resin with glitter sprinked in it” . They are not trying to look like stone or wood or anything other than exactly what they are. Of current laminates, even many of the “abstract” ones seem to be referencing some other material to some extent.
I don’t think there was anything other than glitter laminate that looked like glitter laminate, and if there was the glitter laminate was probably first.
pam kueber says
Yup. Laminate designs that say, “I am proud to be a laminate” are the bestest. This has been one of my longtime dead horses, too!
Ree says
The house my parents bought in 1965 had a pink bathroom with a Cinderella corner tub and a 2nd bathroom with lavender fixtures. I’m pretty sure that the counter top was the lavender twilight. Loved this article.
pam kueber says
ooooooh, rare indeed. Thank you for the love.
Robin says
Re Arborite G.G. – Gold Glitter!?
pam kueber says
Well, duh! I am too close to these things, sometimes! Thanks, Robin! You get the g.g.-star today!