John Jowers is the owner of Antique Appliances — one of the longest-standing companies known for restoring vintage ranges and refrigerators. Golly, I’ve known about his company for more than 20 years. It first came into my view when I wrote my first story ever about vintage homes, a story about vintage stoves for the Sunday “At Home” section of the now-defunct Ann Arbor News. So, I was kinda geeked when he wrote me last week to ask where he could find a sheet of glitter Textolite to restore the “countertop” of a 1964 GE Americana range that he is working on. John, I don’t think you’re gonna get the answer you wanted to hear…
Prospecting for Textolite White Gold
He sent me a few photos and wrote:
Any assistance in locating a sheet of GE Textolite TX-4500 in White Gold would be much appreciated.
And what fun is this! He added:
The last image is my dad, Marvin Jowers, in 1964 at a GE Appliance product preview in Las Vegas. The lady is the GE home economist, demonstrating the new style refrigerator.
GREAT photo, John!
Where to find vintage sparkle or glitter laminate?
John, you are surely right that the laminate used on the GE Americana was Textolite. That’s because GE also owned Textolite. Tidbit: I live in Lenox, Mass., one town over from Pittsfield, Mass. Pittsfield was the longtime home of GE Plastics, until the company was sold about a decade ago. Laminates are plastics — and we still have some companies around here that are tied to the laminate industry.
Alas, John: This glitter laminate is not made any more. We have done several stories about this issue in the past. Glitter laminate was first introduced by Formica in 1957, and other companies quickly jumped on the sales trend. Because of the incredible popularity of this laminate, I started archiving vintage samples and so far, have identified 42 historic designs of glitter laminate from Formica, Wilsonart, Textolite, Wilsonart, and more.
The only way that I know of to find this laminate today is to scour places like the ReStore for Humanity and look for a piece that you can repurpose. I was at my local ReStore on Friday and spotted a decent-sized piece of Textolite Primrose Twilight, above.
Additional notes:
- I have bought three pieces of sparkle laminate from the ReStore over the past five years or so. So, it is around — but it may take time.
- I recall that some readers have commented that the glitter can oxidize over time and change color. So that ups the ante further, in terms of trying to find a good, usable piece. (All of the pieces I have are in great shape. It’s like… that stuff was almost indestructible.)
- Be Safe/Renovate Safe: If you are considering trying to strip the laminate off the old substrate, be aware that vintage materials and their layers may contain hazards. Best to get with your own properly licensed professional to assess what you are dealing with. For more info, see our Be Safe/Renovate Safe page here.
Other retro laminates available today
Will your customer accept a reproduction of a different 1960s laminate? If so, how about “Compre” by Wilsonart. This is a document pattern from Wilsonart’s archives and could work for the ’64 Americana given the laminate is predominantly white and with the gray flowers, would harmonize the chrome on the refrigerator.
Wilsonart has the largest selection of retro laminates — including our “Retro Renovation by Wilsonart” boomerang laminates 🙂
There are some other tone-on-white laminates to consider in this story.
And to dig in to all our research, see our Kitchen Help / Countertops subcategory.
Good luck, John!
Readers: Check out John’s company, Antique Appliances, here. He has all kinds of treasures to see, including this hard-to-find 1949 Roper Town & Country — it’s ready to be completely remanufactured for a new home — maybe yours?! If you’re looking for a retro refrigerator, I also have these 10 tips on how to get one.
Michael says
How about this.
http://www.bellalaminati.com/decorative-laminates/reflex-and-spark-pearlescent-laminates/A-5513.html
Pam Kueber says
meh. I want glitter, not holographic foil…
mag says
Thanks, Michael. Any port in a storm, IMO. Maybe one day, a manufacturer will start those glitter laminate machines back up, but until then…
Nina462 says
Believe or not, my kitchen countertops are this gold glitter pattern! It would be swell to have a matching fridge.
Abby says
I have the Textolite white gold for a bathroom countertop in a house that’s about to get remodeled. It probably wouldn’t work for him since it’s cut out for a sink, but I’ll contact him anyway and see if he can use it once it’s pulled out.
ineffablespace says
Maybe you can give him one of your pieces. 🙂
I think the problem with reproduction is that the fabrication of this particular style actually involved applying glitter, and the current way to fabricate laminate patterns is digital, so the technology no longer exists to create glitter laminate that would look the same.
Pam Kueber says
It’s my understanding that companies still use deco paper — those are the mass market offerings. Wilsonart’s VDL (including the RR collection) is digital made to order, that’s why it’s a higher price point.
The glitter in glitter laminate was embedded in a paper that went on top of the deco paper. When saturated with melamine and pressed at high heat, the paper on top went clear leaving the glitter to sparkle on top of whatever color deco paper was beneath.
Grace Jeffers explains laminate manufacturing here >> https://retrorenovation.com/2013/06/04/how-laminate-is-made/
Angie says
I cannot say enough good things about John and the wonderful people at Antique Appliances. They have been patient and gracious about answering numerous questions from me about my GE wall hung fridge. If anyone is looking for vintage appliances I can assure you they will treat you wonderfully.
Janet in ME says
In the house we rented for a short time, the kitchen had cabinets high on the wall and the backsplash was this very same laminate. Right now the house we bought has this same laminate again behind the bathtub fiberglass wall which was installed right over it. When we tear it out, which is our project for next winter, we should have some big pieces of it. I think that is the only way you will find it – places like Restore where people may donate the scrap when they do a makeover. However, I know it needs to be off a wall because the countertop in the rental house did have the glitter starting to emerge due to the constant scrubbing. Curiously, I found a fellow once on the internet who was looking for it to use on the guitars he made. Too bad they discontinued something so popular. Oh, that big gas range is exactly what they use up here in Maine at the logging camps, where they need to feed a lot of very hungry loggers.
Pam Kueber says
Yes, that guitar story was here, early early days o’ the blog >> https://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/26/jeff-is-on-the-lookout-for-gold-speckled-laminate-countertops-he-uses-them-for-banjo-finger-boards/
Amrose says
My landlord recently renovated the original 1964 kitchen in my apartment but I convinced them to save the sparkle laminate that was in the counters and backsplash. We have Textolite Gold Nugget on the vanity in the bathroom and I think the kitchen was Textolite White Gold. Makes sense since we are in Albany which isn’t far from Pittsfield. I haven’t evaluated the condition or sizes of the surviving pieces but I knew, even with slight wear, it was worth saving.
Sparkle laminate definitely needs to make a come back.
Carolyn says
That Roper range – my first thoughts were threshing crew and then the post-WWII families of 4+ kids. But probably was necessary for entertaining hoards of guests a la “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (Town & Country).
But back to the fridge: I don’t get the trend of deeper and deeper fridges. Are orangutans invading our kitchens? I’d much rather have a fridge where I could see at a glance what I’ve got on hand and maybe have to move only a couple of things to get to it. Time for me to re-institute the Sat. smorgasbord to use up the leftovers before they become science experiments.
Joan Scott says
Yes! I agree with you about the too-deep refrigerators of today and I love the Saturday smorgasbord idea. We have just moved and are combining two households worth of food stuffs. Our cooking future for the next month or so involves using what we have on hand., ie. two unopened bottles of maple syrup and one partially used bottle.
CarolK says
The deeper fridge is why I want a counter depth fridge when we replace ours this summer. I can actually reach the back of a counter depth fridge unlike my current one where I practically have to climb inside to clean it out.
Stacia says
Glitter laminate… the next “Retro Renovation by Wilsonart” line? Not like you’re busy or anything!
Joan St. Doll says
YES, PLEASE!
Marie A says
I have something similar (if not the same) in my 1968 house. It’s in great shape, but I’d love to know it was back in production just in case!
Nancy says
What a FAB design! The counter area is just perfect for loading and unloading! I’m sure the fridge space is too small for most families for today, but it would be just perfect for our household. We shop frequently for fresh fruit and veggies, and don’t use many condiments, so nothing would get lost in this beauty! I could see one of the linen-look laminates also looking mighty fine on this beauty.