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Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

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Home / Kitchen

Water fountain — aka bubbler — attachment for your kitchen or bathroom sink

Pam Kueber - Updated: August 17, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

bubblerTurn your kitchen or bathroom sink — into a bubbler! That is: A water fountain. I think this >> bubbler attachment — available from deabath.com  << — is so cute — and I guess because it reminds me of my childhood school days — so retro.

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Appliances & Decor Kitchen

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15 comments

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  1. raz says

    May 28, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    ok. i’m a master plumber. they are called bubblers in my halsey taylor cat. the whole fixture is a water fountain, the part that the water comes from is a bubbler.

    water jugs that you see office buildings are sometimes refered to as bubblers, for the obvious reasons.

    if you google bubblers you will find 2.400.000 dope pipes.

    ice cream. raz

  2. Joe Felice says

    May 28, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    If memory serves,when bubblers were in people’s hoes, they were usually attached to a small, dental sink. And they were usually low enough for us kids.

  3. Allison says

    May 25, 2017 at 10:29 am

    Just as an historical aside;

    Early in the last century, potteries made 5 gallon water dispensers that were meant to be taken out to the farm fields or distant job sites, so that dusty working men could get a cool drink.

    And not only did these waterjugs come with the traditional little twist faucet at the base to dispense water into a cup, they could be purchased equipped with bubblers!

  4. Robin, WA says

    May 24, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Pam – way back when, some of us on RR discussed pencil sharpeners and how they were a fitting accessory to any mid century house. There was some discussion about an upcoming post but I don’t think that happened.

    Every time you feature a time capsule house, I play “find the pencil sharpener.” I’m happy to report that my new 1955 ranch came with one! I was tickled pink when I saw it.

    • CarolK says

      May 28, 2017 at 8:19 pm

      My 8 year old granddaughter was using a good old-fashioned pencil sharpener this afternoon on her colored pencils. I need one for my colored pencils. They work so much better than either the small handheld ones or the electric ones.

  5. Rick S says

    May 24, 2017 at 8:55 am

    This brings back memories of St Joseph’s School in Wisconsin. Each classroom had a wall hung sink with a combination faucet/bubbler. I am sure it was handy to wash hands and get a drink without having to supply cups.

    My mom liked it so much she wanted the same thing just inside the back door to save on kids messing up her kitchen sink and counter.
    With 7 kids + neighbors it was a real concern. 🙂
    rick

  6. Lynn says

    May 23, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    This is cool! I don’t think they’ll work with my more modern faucets.
    Bummer. I remember another style of water fountain faucet that my aunt and uncle had in their 1950s ranch. It was a single handle and had a small piece you’d push out of the spigot body that would spout the water like a water fountain. I’d go to the bathroom there just to drink out of that! Has any one else ever seen those? They were so cool!

    • Sarah says

      May 23, 2017 at 5:29 pm

      My grandparents in Milwaukee, WI had the same type of bubbler spigot that you are describing in their 1950’s ranch! And we do still call it a bubbler here in Wisconsin 🙂

  7. Nancy says

    May 23, 2017 at 10:56 am

    Bubbler…or ‘bubbla’ as my sweet Massachusetts 2nd graders called it! I always thought it was a New England term. I’d never heard the term growing up in Ohio. But then we called soda ‘pop’ and a bag ‘sack’ so what do I know?

    • Martha Guthrie says

      May 28, 2017 at 9:36 pm

      Ohio is righteous. Pop is correct.
      Daytucky Martha

  8. Kelly Wittenauer says

    May 23, 2017 at 9:59 am

    Never heard a water fountain called a bubbler before. Among boaters, a bubbler is an submerged electric pump used to stir the water to keep it from freezing around boats left in the water during winter.

  9. Carolyn says

    May 23, 2017 at 9:10 am

    Oh, good one Pam…except for certain areas of the world, few know what you mean by the term “bubbler” and it just so happens you and I live in those areas.
    According to what I read online, Kohler didn’t invent the bubbler but was one of or the only company who first mass-produced it. Technically, to be a true bubbler, the water shoots vertically for an inch or more and makes a bubbling noise. Someone decided this wasn’t sanitary since some of the water that didn’t make it to your mouth probably got, shall we say recycled before it drained away. The bubbler was cool…until you thought about it. The jet fountain, set at an angle gives a continuous stream of fresh water.
    Ainso?

  10. Becky F says

    May 23, 2017 at 8:18 am

    This Wisconsinite thanks you for calling a drinking/water fountain by it’s proper name, lol! It will always be a bubbler to me 🙂

    • Pam Kueber says

      May 23, 2017 at 9:17 am

      I went to college at Marquette. The first item on the curriculum: Learning the definition of “bubbler” !

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