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Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

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Home / By the Decade / 1950s

The Eljer Ellis toilet … great 50s style for the bathroom

pam kueber - Updated: February 6, 2019

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

1959-eljer-bathroom-ellis-toilet

1959-eljer-bathroom991There’s nothing I like better than a pretty, midcentury toilet. This 1959 Ellis model from Eljer has wonderful lines, and came in 7 “decorator colors” including this great shade of pistachio green that is heading in a straight line toward avocado.

The text says that the toilet, along with coordinating bathtub and wallhung sink on chrome legs, were designed by the Dave Chapman firm. Chapman was a well-known industrial designer and seems to have had a long career with Montgomery Ward, in particular. See his IDSA bio here. Eljer has existed since 1904 and along with Crane, is today part of the American Standard brand. I keep an eye on Eljer’s product line … As far as retro renovation choices, they have one wall-hung sink (Murray II) and several simple toilets (with some of my favorite names: Titan…Diplomat…Patroit!) worth a look.

CATEGORIES:
1950s

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7 comments

Comments

  1. Elaine says

    June 13, 2017 at 12:13 am

    My daughter’s new home has this toilet stamped Apr 6, 1964 but can’t read the model#. Can anyone help?

    Thanks!

  2. Samantha says

    December 31, 2010 at 12:06 am

    pretty sure this is ours, too – also from 1961!

  3. Mark E says

    December 29, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    My favorite element: the sleek, unique bolt cap covers !! My parents still have one in service—- since 1961.

  4. Ben says

    March 5, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    Did anyone else notice that there isn’t toilet paper next to the toilet but instead a towel at toilet paper level…

    I really like this toilet, but thought that was kinda funny 🙂

  5. Elvis (aka) Jane says

    March 5, 2009 at 4:41 pm

    I noticed that toilet named “Patriot” years ago, and I’ve always giggled to myself about it. But I didn’t know about the Diplomat or the Titan until now…what a lineup!

  6. Jita says

    March 5, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    GREAT toilet!

  7. scathingjane says

    March 5, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Thanks for this article.

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