“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.
Amy says
It’s so fun to see these gorgeous rooms & fixtures. A couple of years ago I bought a close-out (NOS) bathroom sink in Blueberry for our eventual bathroom retro-remodel. I would love to see some sample bathrooms with that color of sink! I want to have a walk-in shower, to replace the tub, in case that helps!
Joan Renee Stark says
In 1976 I replaced a white kitchen sink with a Kohler Coppertone one in our 1960 house. It went perfectly with the original brown speckled counter tile and brown cabinets and brown appliances. For good measure, we installed a red brick patterned floor tile. Even the dining table and chairs were brown. Now it would seem so dark and BROWN.
Joe Felice says
I think Mexican Sand is still made. I bought a toilet a couple of years ago. Cerulean Blue is back in style today, especially for cars.
Lori BAATZ says
My mom and dad built a house in Florida in 1973 filled with Avecado sinks in the bathrooms along side the Avecado toilets and bathtub! Bedrooms were with green multi- colored green shag carpets! Even the kitchen was a dark green “brick” patterned linoleum! Wow, this really took me back-I can even see that bright lime green sofa she chose! Thanks!!
Julia says
The carpet in the bathrooms always makes me cringe…
Wendy says
I live just north of Kohler and work close by but have never been there. Guess I’ve been missing out and better get there soon! And yes Pam we still call them bubblers(that’s how you tell if someone is truly from Wisconsin:)
Kathryn Nowosielski says
I love how the shag wall to wall carpet goes right up to the tubs and around the toilets! I remember it well! Also, remember how nasty it would get, ugh!
Tut says
My parents’ carpeted bathroom has never gotten gross. It’s fine. Just clean once in a while.
Diane says
Our 1969 house has a bar sink and a full kitchen sink in Blueberry! I never knew the color name until now. Sadly, had to remove our two Lady Lavs because they were in terrible shape, but we saved the 24k gold-plated faucets. They cleaned up nicely.
Pam says
I search our local Craigslist everyday looking at the free things that people are removing to update their homes and wish I could save them all. I also save some of the pictures to look at over and over. Recently I saved a pic of the double faucet tub with the 4 poles in the Cerulean color that was being removed. Also drooled over a lavender toilet. We only have a Harvest gold tub and avocado shower stall in our 1978 home – the more common colors of that era.
Andrew says
1973. A suburb of Buffalo, NY. 1930’s house with 1950’s bathrooms gets a 1970’s makeover.
My mother’s bathroom – Kohler Fresh Green – everywhere. Sink, Low Profile Commode, Tub, and a hair washing sink (kind of like the Man’s Lav described above, except the angle was on the left and there was a gold spray nozzle with a long hose to rinse your hair). All hardware in the flair gold with amber.
I was 10. All I knew was that NO-ONE I knew had bright green bathroom. NO-ONE!
The floor was white and two shades of green in some type of no-wax congoleum. It was bumpy and and patterned in a repeat paisley arabesque pattern.
This posting really time-warped me!
Pam Kueber says
Sounds absolutely dreamy!