Mid Century Culture Archives -

Category: Mid Century Culture

An update on the blog

Dear Readers, sharing a new phase in Retro Renovation’s history: After nearly 15 years of blogging about the retro, I have decided to step back..

Rare and wonderful: 1941 Standard brand Darlington Dressing Table — porcelain china bathroom side table

Our first woddity of 2021 and something I’ve never seen before: A vintage porcelain china bathroom side table made by Standard, aka the Standard Sanitary..

Vladimir Kagan + Erica Wilson Contour rocking chair — sells for $132,300 !

12/10/2020 Update — Yowza, this item, estimated at $10,000-$15,000 sold for $132,300! Repeating: WHAT A TREASURE! Marry a Vladimar Kagan rocking chair with embroidery done..

1,000-piece midcentury modern jigsaw puzzles from Modern Puzzles

Are you looking for new jigsaw puzzles to work on this winter? I am! And now, we have three new choices great for fans o’..

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

We love our Dishmasters -- vintage and new -- and now, look at this rarity: A "Dishmaster Bar Boy", unused and still in its original box

From Hazel Dell Brown & Armstrong Cork Co. — 12 online catalogs from 1929-1951

Yesterday I published a history of Hazel Dell Brown, including why I believe she is the most influential interior decorator of the 20th Century. Today as..

Hazel Dell Brown of Armstrong Flooring — the most influential residential interior designer of the 20th Century (that you probably never heard of)

Was Hazel Dell Brown of Armstrong Flooring the most influential residential interior designer of the 20th Century -- that you probably never heard of? I believe that, yes, she was!

The history of Armstrong Flooring’s Pattern #5352 — the best-selling resilient flooring pattern of the 20th Century

“The Christmas pattern” … “the mysterious Mr. McClurg” … 42 million yards sold in the first 40 years … These are hints at just a..

New old stock vintage Dishmaster kitchen faucet — happy birthday to me!

*Someone* had a birthday recently and like, the day before, a New Old Stock Mint In Box vintage Dishmaster — the old kind, from the..

The 1974 time capsule house that won the internet this week + four more houses from reader tips

Thanks to all the readers who continue to send in time capsule tips — there are some REAL BEAUTIES this week, including a 1974 California..

Royal Barry Wills Associates Archive now online — 12,000+ items in Historic New England’s digital collection!

Amazing news for fans of Royal Barry Wills architecture (and you know I am his #1!): Historic New England recently completed a multi-year project to clean, catalogue, photograph, rehouse, and provide online access to the Royal Barry Wills Associates Archive.

New Old Stock stunner! Raymond Loewy’s Tiara kitchen faucet for Elkay

If the father of American industrial design were design a kitchen faucet, what would it look like? This! Raymond Loewy’s Tiara kitchen faucet for Elkay...

Blacklight posters in the Brady Bunch house: Get the [ trippy ] look!

Yes, Brady Bunch House mania is about to set upon us. The HGTV makeover show starts airing next week. So, I thought I’d do some..

8 nifty cubbies designed to stash your smokes in mid century bathrooms

There was a lot of cigarette smoking in the 1950s and 1960s, so much so that bathroom fixture designers were on a competitive rampage to..

“Stylistic signpost” — Uncovering the midcentury modern furniture inside Winterthur

“Behind the scenes, Winterthur was a little less Downton Abbey and a little more Mad Men….” What does Midcentury Modern furniture have to do with..

Bathtubs Over Broadway — uncovering the fascinating world of mid century corporate musicals

What are you watching this weekend? Here’s what mesmerized me and my husband on Friday night: “Bathtubs Over Broadway“. This “comedic documentary” is a..

Brayton Laguna Pottery Cat — now being made again by Bauer Pottery from original tooling

My favorite kind of story: The renowned Bauer Pottery, which purchased and moved into another longtime ceramics factory, has discovered many old, original molds from..

12 vintage refrigerators — from rare to wacky to sublime!

In my recent guide to buying a retro refrigerator, buying vintage was tip #6. That prompted me to look through lots of stories in our archives..

306 Hollywood: “A magical-realist journey in search of what life remains in the objects we leave behind”

When I feature time capsule houses, I sometimes note how they are archaeology — they show and help us to understand how people of a..

Josef Frank 1934 Liljevalchs sofa for Svenkst Tenn — still available today

I occasionally hear from readers who want to learn more about interior design and decor from the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s, before mid century..

Shag’s fabulous poster for Dunn-Edwards Paints at Palm Springs Modernism Week

Only Josh Agle aka Shag could make house painting look so hip — so fun — and he’s done just that with this poster created..