Do you have a vintage American Standard sink? If it’s from around 1955, this story might help you identify the name of your design. It’s also fun to look at old brochures, like this one from my personal collection, for color and decorating ideas.
Above: The American-Standard sink lineup in 1955 included, from left:
- The new Roxbury
- The Ledgewood
- The Marledge
and…
Above, from the left:
- Trimledge
- Decledge
- Dentaledge — yes, a dental sink complete with flushing room and built-in backflow preventer! Read more about dental sinks here.
- And the new Buena.
and…
Above: An eighth sink — the Symphony — so beautiful! …
Above: #9 is The Comrade. …
Above, upper right-hand corner: The Viking, a corner sink. …
Above: Those are twin “Companion” lavatories.
The tile-in sink is a Dresslyn. …
And the metal hudee-rimmed sinks are Highlyns, dropped into Merrilyn vanities (made of wood, not steel).
So many sinks — in so many colors — to choose from in 1955!
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Awesome – love my pink American Standard Trimledge sink, Pembroke tub and Master toilet – in my 1955 ranch guest bathroom!
One thing Pam’s blog provides, for sure, is inspiration! Good luck 🍀!
I have that EXACT green Dresslin sink! Well, in my garage anyway, we found it at a salvage yard and are making a base cabinet… soon. This just inspired me, as my bathroom is completely done, except for the sink. Sigh…
We have the blue dresslyn and it too is in the garage awaiting cabinetry for three years now. Sigh…
I’ve been looking for sinks like the dresslyn. Having no luck at the ReStore or finding anything like that new. Has anyone seen anything like that being manufactured today?
The Dresslyn is my all-time favorite; I’ve rescued a total of four. Haven’t seen much in the ReStores lately, good stock may be getting depleted. Recently I found a pair of pink Dresslyns on Craigslist, remodel victims; there was also a matching Master Pembroke tub and who knows how much tile that was destroyed in the process, unfortunately.
I’m thinking it might be worth the effort to monitor real estate listings for future casualties; usually a good chance a new owner will hate on vintage – there’s an opportunity. It’s truly sad what happens with alarming frequency to time capsule bathrooms.
I agree I have rescued a ming green dresslyn and a regency blue dresslyn from a home gut job and am in the process of getting cabinets made for them for my bathrooms. I still have the original tubs and toilets. All that was missing were the sinks which had been destroyed before I purchased my home. It is a painstaking process but I am getting there.
I’d love that Symphony lav for my bathroom! In a pinky beige to go with my tub.
I was just looking through ebay, there are some similar design for sale right now, I think. I used vintage bathroom sink as my search term…
I am fortunate enough to have a 1940 bathroom in original condition… tub, tile, sink, shower stall plus a reproduction toilet. All white. I never knew these fixtures came in such a wide range of colors. Perhaps few people at the time had the courage to choose them!
My Grandmother had the Ledgewood sink in her bathroom. I always loved that sink because it felt “kidsized” to me. Those nude models in the ads were pretty risque! I just want to take a long soak in the blue tile bathroom with the green towels. Bathrooms were really special back then. I grew up in a 1967 terracotta colored brick rancher. Part coolonial and part atomic. Mom chose the gold/yellow and white dappled tile with hexagons for the floor. She chose gold velvet flocked wallpaper (the new trendy pattern now) on white. I always thought the bathroom was so fancy when I was small. The wallpaper is gone now, however, the bathroom is still 100% intact except for the hudee ring sinks. That bathroom has stood the test of time like a champ and still makes me smile when I visit. It’s so sunny, warm, inviting and familiar
Carol, I could swear the model in the Symphony tub is wearing some kind of flesh-colored sleeveless garment there.
I have a pink Dresslyn that I found at Restore. I just need a cabinet for it. Does anyone have DIY plans available?
We have a dresslyn sitting in the middle of our living room floor right now, and are designing a base for it. Of course I pulled out my phone to google ideas and ended up back here! I may or may not end up with some plans out of this, lol!
One thing we noticed about the one we got is that the two sides where it mounts to the counter aren’t parallel in the horizontal plane so the countertop has to account for that.
The weird thing about all this is that this American Standard brochure featured a dozen sinks. So, say they offered 2 dozen. Same with Kohler and the rest of the companies. So Americans maybe had a choice of 200 lavatory sinks, but in dozens of colors.
FaucetDirect, a random site I looked at has almost 4000 lavatory sinks.
Of the 2600 sinks that are materials typical in the 1950s, (cast iron, vitreous china, ceramic, fireclay) —
2300 are white.
So we have 8-10 x or more number of sinks to weed through, but many of them are indistinguishable, and most of them are white. I am not sure what the point of that is.
I have three American Standard circa 1962 bathrooms with (I think) “Gracelyn” . Favorite one is in MING GREEN.
Dentaledge – I miss dentist sinks, really! Just how much more “stuff” can they try to shove in my mouth and wonder why I’m gagging? Or drowning?
That Symphony one – if you didn’t have a vanity, at least there’d be room to set essentials on. It looks like a nice solid piece sized for babies, kids, and men.
HA! I was whining about why they don’t make cool stuff anymore but now I see the “new” farmhouse sinks look an awful lot like that Dresslyn.
We have built-in sinks in the 4 bathrooms around our newly bought 1960 mid century ranch (4010 sq.f) in St Petersburg FL. The main bathroom is in peach, the master is dusty pink (featuring a Cinderella bathtub and separate toilet plus closets and a large “dressing-room-like” formica counter with two sinks. The lavatory is ming green and the studio’s bathroom is dark green featuring a bidet (pending of remodeling) All original to the house and in good condition.
Is anything being re-produced? Or just all vintage finds? Curious … finishing up one more bathroom in 1963 remodel
I picked up a complete butter-colored Manchu Yellow bathroom suite last year on craigslist. Getting close to installing these as the bathroom is next on the reno list. I am SO looking forward to my happy and sunny yellow bathroom!
Buckingham bathtub, twin Highlynn sinks (I think) and the ne plus ultra of biffies, the wall-hung Glennwall toilet.
Still searching for the 4-bolt in-wall hanger for the Glennwall. A plumber I contacted quoted me $300 odd dollars for a new one!
I need Hudee rings too, I presume, but my sinks were tiled in without them in what appeared to be the original installation. Maybe just a quirky homeowner?
I have the one with the tile countertop built around it. The sink is all chipped up and the patch kits do not work. Cannot remove the sink without removing the vanity and the wall around it. Any suggestions? Getting it all glazed will not do as that is very toxic and the bathroom does not have good ventilation.
Hi Sue Anne, I am not an expert on this.
Whoever glazes it could provide ventilation with fans and exhaust I would think.
I got a pink Dresslyn off eBay that I had refinished by Miracle Method. They were highly recommended my brother who had a tub done for a rental house 15 years ago. They can refinish it in place. (Please excuse me Pam if no name brand recommendations are allowed.)
My house was built in 1954 and has a green tub–sink and potty are newer. The tub was refinished white at some point, but is now peeling in places, revealing the green. Is it possible to remove the white without ruining the green underneath?
We also have a wall of block glass with an oven door window on the tub wall which I think is original as all the houses like mine around here (Milwaukee) have them. Other than that and the kitchen cabinets and interior doors, it’s a very ordinary house. We bought it for location, hardwood floors, and the summer roon on the garage. Since finding this blog, though, I’ve started wanting to emphasize the mid-century aspects and would get a sink like these if I could restore the tub.
summer rooM
Hi Mimi, I’m so gladding you’re loving your house more! Re the peeling: This is not a DIY site in that respect. On these kinds of issues, find a professional who can help given the specifics of your situation. And be sure to Renovate Safe! https://retrorenovation.com/renovate-safe/
A couple of those ads were a little racy for 1955!
I’m not a fan of having the commode so close to the sink.
I was thinking they were trying to catch the attention of men. Perhaps this was a reflection of the times.
This is even more true of modern plumbing fixture brochures. I don’t think it’s all for men though – women seem to like pics of themselves in the showers and tubs. You’d think men hardly ever shower or bathe based on 90+% of people shown being women – usually younger white women.