A look back at the Golden Age of appliances
By Andy Kriege, YSN
The ’50s, ’60s and ’70s were the Golden Age of just about everything.
I’m just old enough to remember the tail end of it. My family had a bright red Chevy, complete with a hood ornament, fender skirts and lots of chrome. We got our first color TV in 1968, just in time to watch “Batman” (the series) in color. My father was the morning man on local radio and the local celebrity DJ at area dances. By the time I was old enough to attend his record hops in the mid-’70s, he had established a tradition of ending each dance with the 1970 tune “Colour My World” by the band Chicago.
Those were some colorful times indeed, and nowhere did that color manifest itself more than in the family kitchen.
From Living Color …
From the 1950s through the 1970s, appliances including refrigerators, ranges and even washers and dryers had real pizzazz. They were available in eye-popping colors and were the focal point of the entire home. They were not only colorful but were also distinctly designed and trimmed with silver or polished steel edges that naturally drew the eye. They had rounded corners, gleaming trim and pastel colors that evoked the charm of my dad’s old Chevy. They conveyed a sense of pride, permanence and the style of a happier time. They were, simply put, timeless.
During the Golden Age of the 1960s, numerous appliance brands were owned by car companies. So it is not surprising that the same finishes being used on the vibrant cars of the day were also available for your kitchen and laundry appliances. GM, which owned Frigidaire from 1919 to 1979, introduced its 1960s appliances in vibrant shades of red, blue, green and yellow. Some Frigidaire fridges, ranges and dishwashers even sported jazzy teal or pink tones.
… to a Stainless Sea of Sameness
Oh, how the times have changed. The shift to a garden-variety monotone design began in the 1980s and was complete by the turn of the millennium. Take a stroll down the aisles of any appliance showroom now and you will find a stainless sea of sameness. Stainless steel has become the de-facto non-color of choice.
In my humble opinion, today’s flavorless designs have drifted far away from the cool, colorful and creative designs of my youth. Manufacturers have gotten caught up in an industrial game of copycat, unwilling to color outside of the corporate lines.
Who Killed Color? Blame the Guys!
Was it a color coup that caused manufacturers to lose their taste for interesting hues? Or was it the “red scare” of the ’50s or the “Purple Haze” of the ’60s that made us all color blind?
Whatever it was that squeezed the color out of our kitchens, one thing is certain: you can’t blame the ladies. They were the champions of every advertising campaign. You could not find a single man in any of the ads demoing the equipment during the Golden Age of Appliances. Men were only included to look hungry and figure out how many hams the household had in left in inventory.
While no one can pinpoint the exact cause of the color extinction — some would point to its predecessor, the notorious opening price point “sea of white”— the most likely explanation is the fact that men are now doing more of the cooking and prefer the industrial look of today’s kitchens. The residential kitchen has become somewhat of a second man cave and a place to hang out, entertain and drink beer.
Addendum: Elmira Stove Works is a Canadian company that specializes is appliances with retro looks and modern features, although many of the materials and handcrafted techniques it uses aren’t far removed from the way they were built back when.
Tony Dowling, Elmira’s vice president of sales and marketing, believes consumers are drawn to the product line in part because it feels like a trip to the comforting past. “The styling takes us back psychologically to a simpler, safer time,” he said. “People yearn for a slower-paced, more comfortable balance in their lives. Vintage appliances help fill that need, marrying the familiarity of the past with the promise of the future.”
And like a little black dress or a Sinatra tune, he added, “They will never go out of style.”
