We met many awesome Wilsonart people at KBIS — seriously, how fun is it to talk boomerang laminates — but this was a particularly happy connection: Sally Chavez, a senior designer, introduced herself, we got to talking, and she mentioned that the “Betty” of Wilsonart Betty laminate (a welcome design here) was named for her mother. That’s Betty (center) with daughters Sandy (left) and Sally in a circa 1964 photo taken at the family home in Dearborn, Mich.
(Note: The original photo is blurry, it’s not your monitor:)
As a member of the Wilsonart design team, Sally works to select and determine patterns and colors for the company’s residential and contract laminates. She was new to the team when the laminates soon-to-be-known-as-Betty and -Endora were gearing up toward introduction.
The turquoise colorway immediately reminded her of the wallpaper and paint in her precious family photo, so she asked if they could name the laminate Betty, for her mother, who had died just a few years earlier. Yes, they could! So they did.
How was Endora, the name for the pink colorway chosen? Sally said the team then researched and considered other popular names of the era, and chose Endora.
Thank you, Sally, for sharing this wonderful memory! It makes us love Wilsonart Betty all the more!
Link love:
- See all our stories about Wilsonart Betty and Endora laminates
- Order free samples of Betty
- Order free samples of Endora
- All our stories about Kitchen Countertop options
Monique R says
Great story…we just purchased a 60” x 144” sheet of the “Betty” laminate for our 1963 kitchen re-do. Thankfully a small galley kitchen so one sheet at $245.00. Have plans to do a complete documention of the re-do to share. Kitchen still looks EXACTLY like it did when home was built in 1963 (we updated the appliances though). Some folks might say we should leave as it….but I can’t stand the original laminate. I’ll keep you posted….re-do begins early 2019!
Mac says
I love the snack table that Patti made with “leftover” Betty material. Very clever and attractive.
Rick G says
Fantastic story !!! – I’ll be ordering a bunch of the Wilsonart laminate real soon, we’ll be in our “new” ( but vintage / 1960’s ) home in a month & it’s begging me to reverse any & all ….. YUK ….. “updating” that was done ASAP !!!! bathroom & kitchen counters are top on the list out with the boring & in with the Kool 🙂