“Tiger Lily” kitchen sinks, “Antique Red” bathtubs, “Fresh Green” toilets — and new for Kohler in 1972, “Black Black”, too. The late 1960s heading into the early 1970s were chock full of interesting colors for bathroom and kitchen plumbing fixtures. These are some of my favorite colors ever — “Tiger Lily” orange, yes! — and don’t forget: Harvest Gold and Avocado galore. Let’s take a look at 15 photos from a Kohler catalog I recently added to my collection.First off, let’s get the color names:
That said, Google can’t read words in photos, so here’s the list:
Available on all products:
- Kohler Mexican Sand
- Kohler Peachblow
- Kohler Harvest Gold
- Kohler Avocado
- Kohler Cerulean Blue
- Kohler Fresh Green, introduced in 1971
- Kohler New Orleans Blue
Available on selected products:
- Kohler Black Black, new for 1972
- Kohler Coppertone
- Kohler Antique Red
- Kohler Tiger Lily
- Kohler Expresso
- Kohler Blueberry
Now let’s look at some of the colors in action:
Kohler “Black Black”, new for 1972.
Above: My favorite, Tiger Lily, is shown in the “Trieste” kitchen sink. I also spy Coppertone on the “New Man’s Lav” and the “New Urbanite” sink is Harvest Gold.
Avocado Green must already have been a phenom, because there were three photos of products in the catalog. Including of: Urinals; no comment.
My catalog was mostly in black-and-white — it was a catalog for stores to order from, not a consumer-focused catalog. I’m featuring pretty much all the product photos in it.
Above: That the Kohler “Lady Vanity” in Mexican Sand, I’m pretty sure. Those Lady Vanities — and their countertpart, the Man’s Lav, were awesome.
Above: I think the three photos above are all Cerulean Blue. The color is not identified.
Above: New Orleans blue is a deeper blue tnan Cerulean blue. The scan did not pick up the richness I see in the actual catalog image.
Yikes, dig the poles — these were marketed as “stanchions” in sets of four. They included two stanchions with interior water tubing and shower arms.
I’ve seen this sanchioned bathtub in the wild [emphasis: wild!]:
I visited then wrote about this 1963 ‘Showgirl Chic” Palmer Krisel house when I spoke at Las Vegas Home & History Week. An incredible bathroom in an incredible house!
Back to the Kohler catalog: Peachblow shower insert… and a pair of bubblers. Yes, that’s what they call drinking fountains in Wisconsin, at least when I lived there many a moon ago.
Harvest Gold. And a Stangl wigstand in the photo shoot — I had one of those but I… dropped it.
Scrumptious, all of these colors.
Michele DeGroat says
my kitchen sink is Mexican Sand. Very pretty and soothing.
CarolK says
We looked at a house 29 years ago when we were house hunting and it had black bathroom: black fixtures and black and gold wallpaper and no windows. That bathroom was awful! Fortunately, the sellers wanted too much for the house so it was quickly struck off the list of possibilities.
We have colored fixtures (or did) in our current house. but the toilets are long gone. The original toilet in the master must have been blue and the tub and sink in the main bathroom are this peachy beige. I don’t hate them, but I’d prefer pink. I think we’re on our fourth toilet in that bathroom.
Joel says
Why does every bathroom remind me of a James Bond movie?
Carolyn says
The blue “closet” – that’s mine only in Harvest gold! I wonder if the New Orleans Blue toilet was original in DH’s 3/4 bath. And this house was high-end – makes me wonder what my kitchen sink was before they changed it out.
The “As I See It” ad series for Kohler still has nekkid ladies during their ablutions – some things never change.
D’ya think if Paris Hilton put an “I Dream of Jeannie” topknot in her hair, she’d be a doppleganger for the Black Black model?
Ethan says
I so love the colors from this time period and decor, for the most part, looks so comfortable and inviting to me.
Donna Askari says
Ethan, I totally agree with you, the whole time I was looking at these pics I kept thinking how cozy these rooms feel. I love 1970’s décor and colors, from the earth tones to the more vivid colors, all good with me.
ineffablespace says
I wanted a pale blue and a pale pink bathroom pretty badly, but Kohler killed these colors in 2012.
One thing I noticed with Kohler is that they went through periods where they had two colors which were very similar, and it seems like they were transitioning from one shade to another.
We have reached a point of near-phobia about non-white bathroom fixtures and I think the point behind them (all white all the time )is a design fallacy that would not be utilized in other rooms in the house. I have to get to work so no more on that for now.
Grampa Ken says
I too love the colored fixtures for the kitchen and bath. There were many truly beautiful color fixtures as early as the late 1920’s era. I am not very good on the PC, but I’ll try to post some beautiful kitchen sinks I have had and even currently have. The earliest for me was an outstanding 1928 ”Orchid” American Standard in a 60″ model. In addition there were varying shades of light Greens, Blue, Purple, light Yellows, one Kohler called Sand that was too pretty to be called Sand as it was more of a Melon color to me. I have just found two Pink models. One is what people like to call ”Farmhouse” style with the apron, high back splash and rounded corners. The other is a Midcentury Modern style. I truly love these old sinks and get excited when I find a new color or new style, like a kid getting a pony! Yes, when I was a kid I had a pony! OK, I don’t see a way to post pictures. I’ll send pics to Pam and perhaps she will post them to this topic.
Steve H says
There’s a German restaurant in a small town not far from me that has a full compliment of avocado fixtures in the men’s room including the urinals pictured above. I wanted to get a picture of it the last time we were there, but it was always busy.
Jen says
This post is so timely. A couple of months ago, my husband and I bought a split level house built in 1965 with a lot of its original features intact. Both of its bathrooms have the original wall-hung American Standard toilets in a rosy beige color. One has the entire bathroom still intact, so it won’t be touched, but the other has been renovated in very neutral tones. I love colored toilets but would prefer green or gold. American Standard didn’t have the color range I was looking for, so I’ve been hunting for vintage Kohler fixtures. Their wall-hung toilet at the time was the Cayuga, but I have not seen any pictures of the Cayuga in avocado green, fresh green, or harvest gold so I wasn’t sure it was even made in those colors. Is the Cayuga mentioned in this catalog? Of course, it would still be like finding a needle in a haystack…
Dan says
Aunt Shirley and Uncle Pat were the trend setters in my family . They had a powder room with a black toilet! Could anything be more glamorous?
I’m with you on Tiger Lily. Orange is my happy color.