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Colored ceramic soap dishes and shelves for the tub and shower area — NOS from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

pam kueber - Updated: August 17, 2021

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

yellow soap dish pink soap dish blue soap dishUpdate: World of Tile has now closed. See our story on the liquidation sale going on through about Nov. 15 here.

Pastel pink soap dishes, mint green soap dishes, regency blue soap dishes — and more — you can get them all at, yes: The magical mystical World of Tile, our favorite place for New Old Stock (NOS) 50s, 60s and 70s bathroom and kitchen tile, sinks, and more. 

ceramic soap dishes in lots of colors

If you are looking to replace a soap dish that is broken, I would instruct you to do the same thing as if you are looking for replacement tile: Send Chippy an actual sample, so that she can see if she can match it.

soap dishes in 1970s and 1980s colorsIf you are building a bathroom from scratch, you have more room to play. I absolutely adore the soap dishes just above. I guess you’d call them late 1960s or 1970s? I never thought I would get so excited about a soap dish. As I told the New York Times, it is very painful that “my house is done.” I need to sell this one and get another, so that I can renovate it with whole roomfuls of tile from World of Tile.

vintage NOS ceramic soap dishesI am trying to show you all the photos of World of Tile’s soap dishes. They are all in one circular room, just off the main showroom.

NOS colored soap dishesIf you are building a bathroom from scratch, as I said, you will have more flexibility in choosing your soap dishes. But, you are still going to have to be matchy-matchy to a degree — you’ll have to select a “field tile” first. If you want to get an “entire bathroom” from World of Tile, maybe you could plan a vacation that gets you into the area. They are about 7 miles from the Newark Airport. If you can drive there, maybe rent a small van with enough capacity on the rear axle to haul a heavy load of tile home? This stuff is heavy to ship.

colored ceramic soap dishes for the tub surroundPlan on staying in the area couple of days — because you are going to need at least several hours to look at everything at World of Tile, have them check inventory levels, and mull over your final decisions. Be sure ahead of time to bring all your measurements — to know the s.f. of tile you will need.

ceramic soap dishes for the tub and shower areaDon’t forget bullnose, base cove, inside corners, outside corners…. Chippy also can advise you on how much extra to order to accommodate the waste created when you cut the tiles to fit.

For more information and where-to-buy: World of Tile, Springfield, NJ

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29 comments

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  1. Jorge Noa says

    I need some accesories for my bathroom.
    I am in Miami.
    Please let me know how i can place an order.
    Thank you
    Jorge

  2. lizzie says

    HI Out there! Can anyone help?
    Doing a bathrm renovation due to a leak. Classice black and white w basketweave floor. Trying to find replacment wall tiles and never knew it could be so hard to find the right shade of white!!
    Pulled an old one off the wall – looks like it says MOSAIC on the back. Local tile store says it used be a tile manufacturer in the 1930s or 40s. ANY idea how to hunt these down? Thank you!

    ALSO looking for recessed soap dish – 3″ depth, 8″ length, approx 4″ height – old one on the rubble pile – broken.

    HELP!!

    • pam kueber says

      Mosaic Tile Co. – no longer in business. See all our tile research in Bathroom Help / Tile Ideas & Help subcategory.

      Recessed soap dishes are in Accessories, I think… or use the Search box, it works well.

  3. Aime RICCI says

    I need a recessed Metal Chrome Plated bathtub soap dish with mounting hardware that will fit a hole in the wall 5.125″ X 5.125″. Where can I get it?
    Thank you for helping.

  4. Vita says

    Need to find a 50’s gray wall mount bathtub soap dish, preferably with the grab bar. Not sure how to reach World of Tile which is supposed to be reopening. Any other suggestions?

    Thanks