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Retro Renovation

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Home / The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture / woddities: wonderful oddities

Dishmaster Bar Boy — a bar sink sold with a Dishmaster faucet, New Old Stock, yum!

Pam Kueber - April 21, 2020, Updated: May 11, 2021

dishmaster bar boy

We love our Dishmasters — vintage and new —  and now, look at this rarity: A Dishmaster Bar Boy — a stainless steel bar sink packaged complete with M-59 Dishmaster faucet, unused and still in its original box now for sale by junqluv on ebay (listing now gone). “For family room, patio, apartment, boat, mobile home” — some fun was going on! 13 years of blogging the retro, and about 10 years of watching for Dishmasters, I’ve never seen this before. Let’s take a look inside >>

dishmaster bar boy sink and faucetThanks to seller junqluv for giving me permission to archive this wonderful vintage kitchen product set here on the blog. He was very excited about this find, and happy to see it captured here for history. He found it among other New Old Stock home products at the estate of a home builder. Note: All the links to ebay are affiliate links — I may earn a wee commission if you click and buy.

dishmaster bar sink

Update: A few questions came in asking what the four round holes are for. junqluv sent more photos!

dishmaster bar boy sink cups

There are four plastic cups that also come with the sink set. I believe that in “bar sinks” like these, the cups were typically used for drink embellishments like limes, pineapple, olives, etc. 

dishmaster bar boy sink cups

I guess you could also stash things like spoons in the cups. The cups are removable for easy cleaning. junqluv isn’t sure what’s int he cardboard package shown above. He thinks the cups might have lids.

It’s great after all these years to continue to see woddities still coming up — keeps my blood pumping!

From the listing:

Rare NOS DISHMASTER DS-400 “Bar Boy” Stainless Steel Sink & NOS M-59 Faucet — and all the connections and white plastic cups that go In the sink too! Condition is New Old Stock ! This is a once in a lifetime find! Original shipping box from DISHMASTER Corporation in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. The DISHMASTER liquid soap has leaked on the box and onto the instruction manual in the M—58 Box – however it has done no damage at all to the faucet or parts. The sink is amazing and shiny perfect! I will put the original box (Big) in another larger box so you will have the original box too!

dishmaster bar boyI was very tempted to keep this find hush hush and try to snap it up myself. However, I already own several vintage Dishmaster faucets — and my home bar is not plumbed — so out into the retro universe it goes!

vintage dishmaster m-59Whoever gets this, be reminded that old plumbing fixtures may not be to current codes — consult pros to assess what you are dealing with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle. Be Safe/Renovate Safe 🙂

dishmaster imperial kitchen faucetdishmaster bar boyThanks, junqluv! Luv this!

 

dishmaster faucet

And above: Remember this, you can now get vintage design Dishmaster faceplates for your NEW Dishmaster (still being made). Faceplates from original tooling! Story here.

dishmaster bar boy

Want to go for it?

>> The ebay listing is here. <<

Remember this other Dishmaster woddity?:

dishmaster princess faucet
Devona found this New Old Stock Dishmaster Princess and sold it on ebay in 2015. WHY didn’t I buy it???

vintage dishmaster new old stock
And above: The original design, spectacular!

Reader Interactions

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23 comments

Comments

  1. Lihplom says

    Just for posterity, it sold for $425 plus shipping.

    It floundered at around the $250 mark until just before the end, when the snipers jumped in and it went to $425.

    In my opinion it went for a reasonable price since it’s not far off from what a quality sink and faucet would run you right now at a big box store. So, functionality cost what it cost – but the cool factor was free!

  3. Jonathan Kidwell says

    Thanks to everyone and more importantly Pam – who posted and commented on this piece… It has been a great experience being part of Retro Renovation’s archive and postings… Who knew!!! That is why people like Pam and her “Eagle Eyes” are so important to the preservation and documentation of American History!
    Thanks again

    Junqluv !

  4. Tarquin says

    Wow! Really cute sink. I remember when I was a kid, bars were everywhere. Everyone had at least one bar in their house. Some people had a bar in the den, a bar cart in their living room, a bar in the basement, a mini bar in the master bedroom, a great big bar by the pool & that’s not all! There was also a bar in the camper & the van.
    Some people even gave up their garage to convert it to a room with a 20’ bar.
    People paid carpenters a fortune to build a bar & turn a room into a pub!
    Pam, you can do a whole story on the “Home bar, a lost art!”

    • Pam Kueber says

      Wow, very cool — looks like it was launched around Jan. 1964. Great research, thank you, Sherree!

  6. Devona says

    Hi Pam!! Thanks for the shout out! You’ll be happy to know that FAB yellow Dishmaster princess went to a great home, one of your readers…in fact, one who’s home you had featured. Still have never seen another in my picking travels, but I’m going to find another one day! LOL…now I need to find the bar sink!! I’ve never seen that one either!!

    • Pam Kueber says

      Hi Devona! That’s great to hear! I truly regret not buying that yellow Princess! Oh well!

  7. Kerri Stahl says

    Hi Pam!
    I can’t figure out what the sink was used for. Do you have more info/pics of this sink in place? I’m so curious now – could not find anything through Google.
    Thank you.

    • Pam Kueber says

      It’s a bar sink… Used in a home wet bar. There are plastic cups that go into the round holes. I think they are used for drink embellishments.

    • carolyn says

      Here we go from wikipedia:
      A wet bar is a small bar used for mixing and serving alcoholic beverages that includes a sink with running water. This differs from a normal bar, usually called a “dry bar” that does not include a sink.[1] A wet bar can increase the rate at which drinks are served because of the sink, which allows for glasses to be cleaned immediately. The sink may also be used for cleaning glassware as well as spills that may happen.

      Wet bars are found in homes for entertainment purposes. A finished basement is a typical location for a wet bar. Wet bars are relatively simple to build, and, thus, many homeowners have turned the wet bar into a do-it-yourself project.
      I couldn’t have said it better myself.

    • Pam Kueber says

      There are also four plastic cups that go into the round holes. I think they are used for drink embellishments.

      • Phyllis says

        That’s the only part that gave me pause, not so sure I’d have my cocktail garnish prep right by a sink. I recall a study noting that the average food sink tends to be a bacteria laden spot from a food safety standpoint. *However* that bar sink is super cool and I was bummed it has sold because I was ready bid on it. Finding another use for those cups would be pretty easy. They’d be great for to air dry bar tending tools like spoons, picks, jiggers and strainers.

        • Pam Kueber says

          It was just my guess that they were for embellishments. Perhaps there are instructions…

          • Pam Kueber says

            One more thought, as you make a good point that having food garnishes right next to an operating sink could be problematic: In the ad a reader found, there was mention of a cover (maybe for the sink? I am not sure)… In that case it could be the sink may have been meant to hold ice during the party… a set-up for drink-making rather than cleaning during the party. Afterward, you could then clean? Just a theory.