Amazing exciting news: Authentic Dishmaster Imperial M-59 faceplates for today’s Dishmaster M-76 kitchen faucet are available, made again — new. They come from THE SAME tooling used back in the day — all the way to 1959! Here’s the story:
I first heard a twinkle of this news from a reader on March 24. I can’t remember who. So sorry — you deserve super props, mystery reader!
I immediately reached out to Roger Swayer, owner of Dishmaster, and a longtime friend. He replied in a flash, but swore me to secrecy:
Good to hear from you. Before you read further or open attachments you must swear to keep this a secret for at least a couple more months, cross your heart, hope to die, stick a pin in your eye. Details are not yet carved in stone and we are not prepared to deal with all the phone calls.
Here are the details he gave me:
Our face plate vendor was acquired. The new owners decided we did not fit their business profile and gave us the boot. When they bundled up our tooling to send to us, they discovered they had all the old tooling back to 1959! We are presently prototyping the sunburst face plates in gold (pictured) and in black with gold accents. Along with that, we are working on both black and white covers and knobs. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the black face plate (the only one in existence in the whole wide world) on the black cover before it was sent off to the new vendor but it is an amazing look. You will be the first to know when we are ready to pull the trigger on all this. It will be the main feature of our 70th anniversary celebration.
And then, today, I come back from walking Astro, and see that Roger has sent me five covers to look-see. Yikes! Can I publish now, Roger? They’re on the website, I say. He says:
Have at it. Will let you know when the black plates arrive in a week or so. Black & white Imperial Fours are waiting on black & white screws for the knobs. Who would’ve guessed that would be the hold up?
So here you go, folks! Straight from 1959: Dishmaster Imperial face plates! Yeehaw, it just never stops being exciting.
Where to buy the face plates and Dishmasters too:
- See/order the black one here
- See/order the gold one here
- M-76 faucets to go with are here.
- See all my stories about Dishmasters here.
And, you can get the faucets on Amazon too:
Marc says
Hollo.
Need to know if you have the Dishmaster Imperial III with out the dish brush .
Thanks
Pam Kueber says
I don’t sell anything. Contact Dishmaster directly.
John says
Great article – wonderful that there are fans of this nostalgia to make it worthwhile to manufacture and distribute items like this. And it only works if someone spreads the word about availability – ads would be way too costly. I am fascinated by the Magic Queen faucet in Laura and Rob’s kitchen in the first season of Dick Van Dyke show (similar idea to Dishmaster, later developed into the Electro Queen pushbutton faucet which had no dish wand,) The set dresser for the show must have had a relative with a sales franchise for those faucets – impressive product placement, great gremlin logo.
Pam Kueber says
It was an Electro Sink Center: https://retrorenovation.com/2011/06/24/electro-sink-center-on-the-dick-van-dyke-show/
And more: https://retrorenovation.com/?s=electro+sink
I now have two of them!
Pam Kueber says
And… here’s the Magic Queen: https://retrorenovation.com/2012/06/27/vintage-kitchen-history-magic-queen-faucet-major-new-discovery/
John says
Wow – two Electro Sink Centers are a treasure trove, not many survive. I think the one in the Dick Van Dyke Show is the Electro Queen that came before the Sink Center. It has the solenoid-operated mixing valves, buttons, lights, etc. but no motorized sidecars with all the attachments. The bluray dvd of D.V.D. has enough resolution to make the nameplate visible in some shots, and it is Electro Queen. I believe the Electro-Way Company made Magic Queen, then Electro Queen, which developed into Electro Sink Center. It is difficult to find info on the company, which is listed in Los Angeles and sometimes El Monte, Cal. If someone had a Magic Queen, an Electro Queen, and an Electro Sink Center, it would be an Electro-Way museum.
Pam Kueber says
That’s all very interesting.
We have a Magic Queen on the blog too: https://retrorenovation.com/2012/06/27/vintage-kitchen-history-magic-queen-faucet-major-new-discovery/
And of course, the original Dishmaster: https://retrorenovation.com/2014/03/11/vintage-dishmaster-kitchen-faucet-installed/
Nicole Oliveira says
This is so exciting! I’ve had my Dishmaster for about 3 years and I LOVE it!! I get so many ooo’s and ahhhh’s. We had one growing up so it was a must in my newly custom designed (by me) MCM kitchen. Getting my new face plate today! I missed out last time.
So with these new face plates, do we just replace or put over the existing face? What are the other knobs is he talking about? As for knobs, for those of you who have a Dishmaster, do your knobs turn on my pushing them downward? I’ve always wondered if the plumber put mine on wrong. I’m used to it now but it was a bit awkward at first.