Now that Kate has flown my coop, I have decided to embark on a new project: Creating The Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets. Collected over the course of 10years — often with the help of many readers — we know all the 80 brands, from Ace & Acme to York & Youngstown. I have many of the brochures. Now, it’s time to become best friends with my $900 scanner and get the Encyclopedia organized. First up: Shirley All-Steel Kitchens, of Indianapolis, Indiana. It’s first because it was sitting at the top of my pile. For, like, six months.

Tip to view photos: On a desktop computer, click on any photo and it should double in size (up to 1,000 pixels wide) on screen. Hit ESC or anywhere off the photo to return to the story.

According to my 16-page catalog, Shirley All-Steel Kitchens were made by the Shirley Corporation– and clearly, this was a family venture because the president was John W. Shirley. His obituary was published in the Indianapolis Star on Oct. 23, 1985. (A credit card was required for the free trial, so I ditched.)

I’m guess that Shirley Corp. was a descendant company or renaming of Shirley Radiator and Foundry Co.

Features that may distinguish this brand from others:

• Surely (Shirley!): The logo on the sink cabinet
• + Look inside the sink base door, there may be a label
• Likely: the air vents on the sink cabinets
• Likely: the steel sink designs (see p. 7 for its feature) — Shirley likely had their own stamping press just for their sinks
• Possibly: the what not shelf (see p. 14)
• Possibly: very simple cabinet pulls

Other than these… this kitchen looks to be a pretty “standard” design — full overlay slab doors with knife hinge… cabinets in a variety of sizes… simple looking cabinet pulls.

Made a bathroom vanity, too:

• BUT also check out this steel bathroom vanity — steel bathroom vanities are rare, and this one also includes a steel sink-top and groovy door pulls — and it’s pink — nice!

The circa 1952 Shirley Steel Kitchen Cabinets catalog:

Above: A close-up look at the Formica options. Countertops also were available “in any standard gauge linoleum or maple wood…”

• See the growing Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets here.

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English Rose metal kitchen cabinets: One of three brands we’ve identified as made and sold in England — and, still made today! But being a U.S.-based blog, we have mostly U.S. readers (84%), so it’s only now and then that we get to read about Retro Renovations from across the pond. And what a delightful story this is: Ondrea and James paired up, and soon enough, were feathering their Bristol, UK, nest with a “new” kitchen. In this case: combining two sets of vintage aluminium — (in U.S. talk, aluminum) — English Rose kitchens into one… and there’s lots to the story, of course!

Edited a bit for flow, Ondrea writes:

Hi Pam,

I’m not sure where to start! I moved into my two bedroom bungalow, as I was downsizing after three of my four children had flown the nest. My 26-year-old still lives with us. I grew up in this area, and the bungalow is in a great location — very near the Bristol harbour, Ashton Court and the suspension bridge.

The bungalow from the outside looks very unassuming  (like a wooden shed)! and lacked in character, being a 15-year-old newish build. I knew that one day I would have to add something to make it unique and not just a granny bungalow  –  yes, I also have grandchildren.

I’ve always had a love of anything vintage, I enjoy flea markets and charity shops. 1950s is my favourite.

I was lucky enough to meet James three years ago, and we have many shared interests. At the beginning of this year. we decided to sort out the bungalow kitchen. We looked around all the shops that sell modern units. I thought they were all similar to each other and not built to last and that they cost a fortune. At first we discussed James’ making wooden units to look 1950-60s.

Then I spotted a set of English Rose on eBay. It was February, and I had teased James for not being very impulsive (he’s a deep thinker — likes to plan properly!) So there and then — sitting on a bus — he bought the first set of units online. I cried with emotion (sounds silly, I know) — best Valentine’s gift I ever received.

English  Rose is made from aluminium! It’s lighter than steel and doesn’t rust, also it’s the metal that was left from Spitfire aircraft.

(Pam here:) As often is necessary in projects using vintage metal kitchen cabinets, the couple needed to buy two sets of cabinets — or cupboards, in UK-lingo — to get the number and configuration they were aiming for. I’ve heard from some Retro Renovators who have purchased three kitchens — and from those who have “finished” but are still looking for one last piece to fit just righ.

• See all of our stories on vintage steel kitchen cabinets — 81 brands identified — in our Kitchen Help / Steel Kitchens subcategory here.
• Sometimes stories of other readers remodeling using vintage steel cabinets may be found in our Kitchen Help / Readers & their Kitchens subcategory here.

Ondrea continues:

We bought two batches of cupboards from eBay and sprayed them all to match. One kitchen came from Cornwall (cream & red), and the other, from London (blue & green).

The next few months were very hard work. We took them all apart like a giant meccano set and sprayed  everything!

We didn’t use any outside contractors in at all. James did all of the work himself, the spray paint, flooring, tiles, shelves, even sewing the curtain hems. He’s such a star!!

The finished kitchen, the cooker is 1960’s — a “Creda Carefree” — a bit modern! Curtains and clock are original 1950’s.

I also found this lovely 1960s larder.

When James moved in with me, his most treasured possession for sentimental reasons was a 1950s radio that belonged to his friend Keith. Keith has passed away now — he was unable to use the radio so new-in-box as he had cerebral palsy. Now we have a whole kitchen to match!

***

Wow. Just wow. Ondrea and James, I adore your story, your kitchen, and your touching tribute to Keith. You are our dose of love and joy to start the week! Congratulations on feathering your nest so creatively — and beautifully. And thank you for sharing your story and photos with us!

Read more about vintage metal kitchen cabinets from the UK:

• My first story on English Rose cabinets in 2008.
• You can still buy English Rose-style cabinets made today.
• A place in the UK that sells them refurbished.
• A 1956 English Rose kitchen complete with Revo oven
• In the UK, there were Anemone and Paul cabinets, too, it seems; I count four U.K. brands if you include the reproductions as a new brand.

And don’t forget, all’s being built and tracked in the:

• The Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets

The post Ondrea and James’ English Rose kitchen: Two sets refurbished into one joyful remodel! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Since I first wrote about the English Rose-style wood kitchen cabinets made by John Lewis of Hungerford in the wee early days of the blog — 2008, there has been an explosion of interest in midcentury interior design. Online marketing has improved greatly, too. After yesterday’s story about Ondrea and James’ new kitchen using vintage aluminium English Rose cabinets, I went back to check for any updates to the John Lewis of Hungerford page and indeed, found several gorgeous new examples. Their PR team gave me permission to grab them for the blog, so here’s a look at some recent projects by the company. It’s interesting to see some of the contemporary design elements used — while at the same time, it’s undeniable that the underlying retro English Rose vibe is calling the shots. All those chrome recessed pulls!

Digging into the website, I see these cabinets were introduced in 2005. While they have the look of vintage English Roses, I count them as an all-new brand since they were “inspired by” and are not marketed as reproductions per se.

And UPDATE: Get this: These are NOT metal. According to the PR team:

The Creme de la Creme range is made from specialist moisture resistant mediate board, with hard wood frames and European oak drawer boxes.

So: They come “off” our Encyclopedia of metal kitchen cabinet brands! Shows why a journalist (errr: me) cannot assume anything! I’m glad I finally asked!

But: Does show you can get the look of vintage metal kitchen cabinets using wood or MDF or etc.

These beauties are not likely to come inexpensively. From the website, it sounds like they are made-to-order.

For more information on Creme de la Creme kitchen cabinets from John Lewis of Hungerford:

• See more photos of kitchen details + get contact info at their website here.

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It’s an English Rose kitchen hat trick — three days of stories about these wonderful vintage design kitchen cabinets made and sold in England back in the day. Today’s finale: Photos of vintage banquette seats — a feature that I have never seen offered in vintage steel kitchen cabinets that were made and sold in the U.S. Reader Sarah sent me these photos four years ago, when she had them for sale. Yes — gulp — four years ago — good thing I never throw anything out including emails. I think they are soooooo coool!  And lookie this —>>>>

The “kitchen seats”, as Sarah called them, open up for storage inside! Those crafty Brits!

Thank you, Sarah! P.S. Sarah told me they were sold long ago….

• Read all our stories about vintage English Rose kitchen cabinets here.

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The oven in Christine’s kitchen — complete with original-finish pink Lyon kitchen cabinets — finally gave up the ghost and could no longer be repaired. A mini-makeover was soon under way — and the “after” — just lovely! Double-happy for me, Christine was able to use our new laminate — Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart First Lady Pink — for the project.  Christine has been extremely generous in providing detailed information about the contractors and resources she used. 

Photo viewing tip:
On a desktop computer, after page has fully loaded, click on any photo and it should double in size onscreen so you can see the detail better. Click ESC or off the photo to return to the story.

Christine writes (edited to combine multiple emails):

Hi Pam:

I finally got a chance to take some pictures of my pink kitchen remodel. As you’ll see it was designed around the original 1962 Lyon steel kitchen cabinets.

Above: Before. Alas, the oven could not be fixed.

My pink oven broke, and the appliance company in California, which I found through your blog, and which sent me parts in the past, couldn’t rebuild the part I needed this time. So I had to say good-bye to the oven, hello big counter top and laminate wall.

I started the remodel the same month you released your laminate line. SOOO lucky for me! The installer even created matching grout so the counter and backsplash look seamless. Thank you for creating this wonderful boomerang laminate. I LOVE it!! I wish I could’ve used it in so many more places, but some got broken during the remodel.

When we took the pink stove out we found two glitter laminate chip samples —  one for the kitchen and one for the pink bathroom. The pink counter in the pink bathroom had been removed before we bought the house. I tried to salvage the gold counter top but the biggest piece was damaged by the oven that sat on it. The other side I had planned to reuse in my basement, but it didn’t work out. I gave the largest, nicest piece away so it wouldn’t go to the landfill.

As you know, I’m still trying to sell the left over Wilsonart pink pieces on Craigslist here and the metallic laminate here. I was able to use a lot of the pink laminate I bought — I use smaller pieces as place mats, the front of my old stove cabinet drawer, or other DIY projects. It won’t go to waste — it is just TOO cute! I just kept trying to find more counters around my house to use it on.

• Counter top: Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart First Lady Pink [see all of our stories about the line here.]
• Edge: Wilsonart Satin Brushed Natural Aluminum
• Pink grout: Miller Urathane Grout to match counter *Purchased through The Floor Store
• Floor: Azrock VCT Pinch of Salt * Purchased through The Floor Store, installed by Adams Interiors
• Refrigerator – Fisher & Paykel
• Dishwasher – Bosch
• Slide-in Stove – Fisher & Paykel
  • Appliances all *purchased through Basco Appliances, installed by Corrib Construction, Sharpe Plumbing and Precision Electric
• Sink and Faucet: Kohler Vault sink, Mirabelle faucet *Purchased through Ferguson, installed by Sharpe Plumbing
• Window: Milgard *Purchased through 52nd Ave Hardware, installed by Corrib Construction
• Lights: Ikea globe lights, GE LED bar light *Purchased through IKEA and Home Depot, installed by Precision Electric.

Above: Toward the end of setting up this story, I asked Christine if she could send a photo of herself to include with it. She asked if I wanted her to set one up with her wearing her mother-in-law’s 1960s prom dress. Heck to the yeah! And oh my, it’s fabulous, she looks fabulous in it, and they both look fabulous with the pink kitchen! It’s a fabulous fest!

Thank you, Christine, for so much time to write up your resources, take photos and invite us into your kitchen. Which is, of course: Perfect! 

The post Christine gives her pink 1962 Lyon kitchen some retro TLC — including Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart First Lady Pink laminate appeared first on Retro Renovation.

My new treasure: A rare Lyon kitchen cabinets salesman’s sample kit. Why rare? Because the little pieces are made of heavy duty metal (pot metal? aluminum?) — not plastic, as we normally see in other sets from Republic (see my exquisite set here), Geneva (we spotlighted a set here), etc. Take a look at my video – this set is an oldie! *soproud* it’s now mine. Note: This video features the song Acoustic Meditation by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License. Thanks, Jason!Seriously, I have quite the historical collection of ephemera covering all 80+ brands of vintage metal cabinets amassing. 

Some photos, nom nom:

Above: The mystery piece. As reader Rosemary suggested in comments, yes, perhaps it is the top / back / corner of a banquette… but the rest of the pieces are missing. I’ve already put the kit away. But as soon as I can I’ll get it back out and assess the sizing to guess if this is a possibility. Thanks, Rosemary, for the idea!

The post My rare Lyon Kitchen cabinets saleman’s sample kit — with real metal cabinets ! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

My new hunka hunka: A vintage, lighted display clock that surely was used in a store that sold Geneva cabinets. I jumped on this Buy-It-Now the moment I saw it on ebay. I already have a Geneva kitchen merchandising banner in my kitchen full of 1963 Geneva kitchen cabinets, and this was a perfect addition. 

I also have a vintage sales banner in the kitchen

As promised, the case lit right up and the clock started turning the moment I turned it on.

The only thing is: Its operation is controlled by the plug. I need to get an adapter with an on/off switch so that I don’t have to plug it in all the time. The clock will always be wrong. But that’s okay. It’s the whole lighted aspect, along with the clock turning, that makes this a super duper piece of sales memorabilia.

Right now I have the clock set standing on the counter, in the corner where my Treasure Craft cookie jar set has sat for 10+ years. The clock is designed to stand, or, there are openings in the back to hang on the wall. It’s just 24″ wide, so I have several great spaces in the kitchen where it could fit if I hang it. I need to think about where to place it for the long term, including how the plug fits in. 

The clock was made by Price Brothers Inc. of Chicago and New York.

Hey. Chicago. Traveling to Kentucky for my father’s 80th birthday, I picked up the book “Devil in the White City.” What a fantastic book — riveting and such amazing research — it won a bunch of awards. But warning: Serial killer also involved. The book the TRUE STORY of all the famous architects and landscape designers behind the creation of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Their “White City” World’s Fair that was an architectural and entertainment marvel. But ACK, at the same time as the fair, the “devil” nearby was Dextering young women, and author Erik Larson weaves that depravity in, too. Like I said, true story — stranger than fiction. I’m 90% done. Highly recommended! 

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Do you want to build a ‘new’ kitchen using vintage steel kitchen cabinets? Well, buckle up: Because if you’re going to fit someone else’s cabinets into your space, you may have to collect quite a few to fit your kitchen layout. How many? How about: 60. Yes, Drew is most definitely a The Hard Way 2017 contender after collecting 60 vintage Geneva steel kitchen cabinets — from four different sets in four different locations — so that he could get the “just right” layout for his apartment in an historic Chicago complex. And to increase the level of difficulty even more: He hunted a rare “Impasto” finish. That Lazy Daisy was… a unicorn, but he found it!

The “After” photos: [Tip: On a desktop computer, wait for page to load fully, then click on photos and they should double in size on screen]:

A lovely blue kitchen that suits the space beautifully. Thanks to Drew and to realtor Newman Realty Services for permission to show these photos. Yes: The condominium apartment is now for sale here.

Here’s Drew’s kitchen cabinet collecting story, edited for readability and to combine several emails:

Hi Pam,

First off, thank you so much for creating such a valuable resource for all of us. Your blog was a starting point for me, via Google, when I decided to renovate my kitchen and keep my original Geneva Kitchen Cabinets with the Impasto finish.

I’ve been meaning to write to you about my project for some time. My home in Chicago is now on the market, and I’d like to share with you my successfully completed project before it sells.

Long story short: In 2009, I bought an all original 1962 condo in Chicago’s storied Sandburg Terrace housing development.

Sandburg Terrace was designed in the 50s and built in the 60s and early 70s as a urban renewal project on Chicago’s near north side. It’s 2,600 units span four long city blocks. The first building was built in 1962, Alcott, which is the unit where my condo is located. 

Drew’s kitchen with the original Genevas with their Impasto finish

The early Sandburg units were built with Geneva cabinets that have the Impasto finish. Mine was originally built with a set of yellow cabinets that were in excellent shape when I bought the unit – the cabinets were the main reason why I purchased my place.  

Editor Pam notes: The “Impasto” finish was a nubbly finish created, I *believe*, by stamping the steel with an embossed plate. You can see the Impasto nubbly finish in the wall cabinet above. It’s likely that manufacturers introduced these sorts of finishes to address complaints about fingerprints showing on the more common glossy smooth finish, and Impasto-like finishes also may have hidden dents better. Another example: See these vintage Capitol cabinets — their solution was a “color-flecked” sort of granite-like finish — photo also at right: I tend to think this was done with paint, not embossing of the steel, but I am not sure.  I’m sure I have other photos of this feature in my brochure library. I’ll get some scans up soon, for the historical record.

Back to Drew:

I always knew that I wanted to expand the kitchen and about three years ago began searching for additional cabinets. In total, I found four additional sets through Craigslist, ebay and my local salvage store with the same finish — a miracle.  

My cabinets came from Geneva, IL; Hartford, CT; and Evanston, IL. They were all different colors. I created an inventory of all the cabinets and then worked on designing my kitchen. Missing ones were identified and purchased one by one using the original sales materials — the Lazy Daisy came out of a barn in southern Illinois. 

The cabinets were electrostatically painted by a local commercial coatings specialist in the popular Pantone 2016 “Snorkel Blue” to modernize the cabinets and make them new for a whole new generation to fall in love with them.  

I selected a KOHLER Cast Iron undermount sink and a Silestone “Mont Blanc” countertop that kept with the spirit of the original gold flecks. The widespread faucet is the same manufacturer as what was original to the unit: Central Brass in Ohio [Amazon affiliate link – Pam]. The original ceiling fixture was restored and painted to match the cabinets.

Appliances are from the GE Artistry series [now discontinued but it looks like there is some last stock remaining in stores – Pam] completed my retro look. 

At the height of my collection of Geneva cabinets, I had over 60 pieces split between my condo, two storage units, and a friend’s basement. All extra cabinets found new homes with people who were as passionate about them as I am. 

 

Your blog was key to inspiring me to do the project, find the sources, and make sure I restored everything correctly. 

 

I used a German Chromium cream to shine all the original hardware, which was boiled first in a crockpot to clean off years of exposure to great meals. The bumpers were replaced on all the drawers and doors with modern door mutes, and all the original metal coated shelves got a bath in Dawn in my bathtub – it was an overnight treatment.  [Readers: Do your own research / consult with pros when making decisions on how to clean old stuff. Renovate Safe – Pam] 

 

It’s bittersweet that happy life events have caused me to put my place on the market.

Additionally, the bathroom was restored similarly. All the chrome fixtures are new in box Hall-Mack fixtures from the 1960s and I replaced all the original Central Brass fixtures in the sink and tub with new ones from the company. A friend of mine in the design trade restored the original Hollywood ceiling fixture. The medicine cabinet and mirror are original to the unit. 

 Thanks for the chance to share my story with you — and thanks again for all the inspiration!

 

Best regards, Drew

Howdy hudee, Drew, what an accomplishment! 60 cabinets — from four different kitchens! I had 67 before I started and ‘made it’ by just one filler piece. But: All my cabinets came from one space, a cooking-school kitchen. Your story is way more typical. You get many many gold stars for tenacity!

Thank you for sharing your story — and good luck with the sale and your next adventures. It will be interesting, for sure, to hear what comments are made by prospective buyers.

Link love:

• See more photos of Drew’s renovated Sandburg Terrace condo for sale now via Newman Realty Services Inc.

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10 years blogging on the topic and howdy hudee: Our 85th brand of metal kitchen cabinets has popped up: The Humphryes Manufacturing Company of Mansfield, Ohio. I was poking around and spotted the brochure, from 1950, here. 

There aren’t too many photos, but these cabinets appear to have inset (rather than the more typical overlay) drawers and doors. The pulls are pretty simple looking. The scan of the brochure is also cut off at the top and bottom — it might be that these were simpler, “efficiency” kitchen units for motels or small apartments rather than full-line cabinet sets for homes.

Golly, though: Even at the potentially lower price point, these Humphreys cabinets passed the Hot Fat, Alcohol, Impact (and more) tests — and received the seal of approval from the Steel Kitchen Cabinet Institute!

More info about vintage steel kitchen cabinets from the worldwide web’s number-one resource — us!

• A Short History of Steel Kitchen Cabinets
• The Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets
• Our complete category of all stories about metal kitchen cabinets

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Our 86th brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets — The White House Line by Janes & Kirtland — and it appears to be one of the very earliest fitted kitchen sets — and, it appears to be the precursor to the St. Charles line. No photos of the cabinets on this one until I acquire a brochure. But for my Steel Kitchen Cabinets Encyclopedia, I need to capture the recent conversation with reader The Other Theo about The White House Line of steel kitchen cabinets.

Based in St. Charles, Illinois, The White House Line started with “dressers” — free-standing “Hoosier” style cabinets. Then, the company expanded to fitted kitchens. Then, they seem to have morphed into the famous, top-of-the-line St. Charles brand. What a wonderful history!

Let’s get started with the conversation and research that began on this story about our 85th brand of vintage steel kitchen cabinets, Humphryes:

I replied:

Hi The Other Theo, for my compendium/Encyclopedia, I am only focused on full-scale fitted kitchen manufacturers. I don’t research metal Hoosier cabinets. I think there were lots of metal Hoosiers, but I’m not interested because I focus on the postwar era, and that’s when fitted kitchens came on strong, transforming American kitchens in a way that’s still relevant today.

The Other Theo responded:

If I’m reading this 1938 brochure correctly, it looks like the White House Line made the jump from Hoosier cabinets to the unit kitchen cabinets of the late 1930’s. So they almost made it to the postwar period.

https://www.ebid.net/us/for-sale/janes-kirtland-inc-1938-white-house-line-kitchen-units-vintage-catalog-144759804.htm

I wonder if the company that cast the iron dome for the U.S. Capitol building made it through World War II?

Me, back at him:

Cool! I guess we have #86! Thank you!

The Other Theo:

Great! Glad you like it. You’ll want to list the manufacturer as Janes & Kirtland. According to a 1927 promotional booklet by the St. Charles Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Janes & Kirtland, Inc. “was located in St. Charles about 1900 as the Faultless Iron Works” (meaning, I think, that the Faultless Iron Works was acquired.) It goes on to say that it “manufactures white enameled steel ware, specializing in white enameled steel dressers which largely go into the ultra-exclusive apartment homes of New York City.” What can you expect from a company with a Park Ave. showroom, I guess?

You may also want to have a look at the items in the shop of the seller of the Janes & Kirtland brochure. There is a good deal of mid-century architectural and contractor information and advertising. Just searching on the keyword “kitchen” brought up materials on steel cabinets from Dietrich, St. Charles, Art Metal, Acme Metal, Geneva, Tracy, and Youngstown, as well as a host of wood cabinet makers and appliance manufacturers from the 1940’s through the early 1980’s.

Of particular interest might be this 1938 piece from the Excel Metal Cabinet Co., makers of “Metalcraft” Custom Kitchen Cabinets:
https://www.ebid.net/us/for-sale/excel-metal-cabinet-company-1938-metalcraft-kitchen-vintage-catalog-144759706.htm

So #87, maybe?

Moi:

I wonder if James & Kirtland morphed into St. Charles…

The Other Theo:

I think the Faultless Iron Works part of the company did at the minimum. According to the St. Charles of New York web site Brand Heritage page:

“The St. Charles Manufacturing Company organized and began operations in a small plant in St. Charles, Illinois. Former owners of the plant were Janes and Kirtland, who made the first steel “kitchen dressers”.”

That happened in 1935. The Janes & Kirtland brochure is still selling “The White House Line” in 1938, the same year that St. Charles says it organized its national media campaign, and two years after Frank Lloyd Wright chose St. Charles for the cabinets in the Kaufmann House (“Fallingwater”).

Picture of the Fallingwater steel cabinets here:
http://www.wright-house.com/frank-lloyd-wright/fallingwater-pictures/photos-medium/7-kitchen-cabinets-ML.jpg

Me:

There you go! Thank you!

And then me again:

1929! http://www.ebay.com/itm/1929-FROM-PARK-AVE-TO-PALM-BEACH-THE-WHITE-HOUSE-LINE-STEEL-KITCHENS-ART-AD-/352129772843?hash=item51fc91ed2b:g:Y7YAAOSwXshWqU1R

The Other Theo:

“When it’s time for your Southern vacation and you close up your city apartment this winter” — talk about “ultra-exclusive” marketing!

I tried to see if anyone definitively referred to the cabinets at Fallingwater as “Janes & Kirtland” or “St. Charles” since I figure that every detail about that house has to be documented somewhere. Alas no, the Internet fails me. The only casual references are to “St. Charles”.

So who knows how long Janes & Kirtland continued selling steel cabinets under its own name… but at least it provides some history on the St. Charles brand that still exists today and why Janes & Kirtland disappeared.

I also found a few references here and there on the Steel Kitchen Cabinet Institute. I found a document that had its business address in the 1930’s, and another that said it changed its name to the Steel Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association by the 1950’s. Trying to search for “Steel Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association” is difficult because there are just too many common words and the “Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association” also exists.

Thank you, Theo! I have some brochures that mention the Steel Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association — I’ll pull them out for the Encyclopedia at some point. The name Metalcraft also rings a bell, but I see it is not in the Encyclopedia, so I need to chase after that too! Who knew, when we started this, that we’d be heading toward 90 different manufacturers from back in the day!

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A thrifter’s dream come true: You drop into the ReStore to take a quick spin, and are standing right there when the first piece of a big donation comes onto the floor. It’s your sister’s dream kitchen — a set of turquoise steel kitchen cabinets complete with a Frigidaire Flair range with hide-away range and a dishwasher. Oh, and all this on the eve of an anniversary that was going to be rough. 

Jason wrote to me the day after his epic find:

I’ll warn you that this story is a bit of a tear jerker.

Generally I think people know that if I can do something for my sister I probably will. And if you know my sister you know she loves vintage stuff, particularly kitchens. Today would have been our mother’s 71st birthday — she passed away a little more than a year ago. It’s been a day full of tears, but not all sad ones.

I found this kitchen yesterday while on a random stop at a local Habitat for Humanity. I had just finished my workout and was walking around the ReStore because it is in the same neighborhood as my workout of choice. I happened by the first piece as they brought it onto the floor; the set was unassembled and nothing had a price on it yet.

To say it’s my sister’s dream kitchen is probably an understatement. I’ve occasionally read on design blogs about how someone randomly walking around a vintage store finds some incredible item right as they were putting it on display. They always catch it for some ridiculously cheap price on some momentous occasion, just to add to the lack of believability.

I found this set on the day before mom’s birthday, and I got it all back to my house on her birthday. Nobody knows for sure, but I’d like to think mom helped with that.

Thanks!

In our email exchange Jason added, “Eventually we will build my sister’s dream kitchen. It’s a few years off, but she’s absolutely blown away that we found her dream set.”

My sympathies on your mother’s passing, Jason. What a lovely gift to your sister. Thank you for sharing your story!

The post Jason finds his sister’s dream kitchen … perhaps with help from Mom above? appeared first on Retro Renovation.

How long might it take to pull together a historic kitchen of your dreams? How about: seven years — and that includes buying the house. Yes, I checked, and my first email from Jennifer was in Dec. 2011 — seven years ago — when she was “house hunting in the burbs.” She recently updated me that in the years since, she’d found a new house and is finishing up on remodeling a “new” kitchen full of salvaged American Kitchens brand cabinets designed by famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy. In fact, she has become quite the Loewy expert, and her house includes more his designs, including Rosenthal china, a Sunbeam toaster, Le Creuset Coquelle dutch oven, Mengel furniture, and Borg bathroom scale. Still, the big story is: Those cabinets!

Jennifer wrote:

I’ve collected midcentury since the late 90s. At first, it was the bright pop art type stuff.

I first heard of Loewy when I bought a yellow knockoff (like the Broyhill Premiere but with round molded plastic) at the Chelsea flea market. It was sold as DF2000. It wasn’t. It was priced well and I was ok with that. I didn’t become obsessed with the details until later.

The first Loewy designed thing I acquired was the Rosenthal “form e” set of dishes. I was looking for a set of “real China” for the holidays and found it at a good price. I later bought the “Plaza Form 2000” design and mixed and matched it with pieces from the classic modern line (the shape of the pieces was the same, the artwork was different). They were all marked “Raymond Loewy” or “Loewy”.

I started to do more research. I read “Never Leave Well Enough Alone” and “Industrial Design“. [<<readers, these are affiliate links – I earn a small commission if ya click and buy anything – Pam]

Heidi and Scott also have the Rosenthal china designed by Raymond Loewy in their remodeled Las Vegas kitchen here.

Meanwhile, we started to search for a house. Most of the houses we found, in our price range, were midcentury houses that had been remodeled in the 70s or 80s. The remodels were not current, nor did they fit the houses. So, I began collecting Loewy kitchens in anticipation.

A 1956 American-brand “Pioneer” kitchen color styled by Beatrice West. 

The first one, was a small Pioneer kitchen, color styled by Beatrice West (as I learned on your blog). It was in pretty good shape, but the birch veneers were peeling. I had planned to use it in a future dining room, but my children claimed the dining room site for their own and planted the sofa in it.

The restored cabinets are going to now go in the almost complete lounge. I found 3 more small sets (in 3 states–VT, CT, PA) of all steel for the kitchen over the next 2 years and used them as storage in my Brooklyn apartment. They were in the living room and dining room and filled with books, games, and dishes. In all 4 sets, there was only one lazy Susan corner piece. It was copper. It is now white. We used pieces from all of the sets and have a few left over.

We found a kit cape style house from 1948 in a town we liked. The kitchen was small and also shared space with the laundry room. The garage and the enclosed breezeway, which had been converted to living space by a previous owner, needed to be rebuilt. The rooms had water damage and a lot of rotting wood. So, we decided to move the kitchen to that space and leave the laundry room in the old kitchen space.

I found a working Frigidaire by GM fridge (the one with the round handle–I have a thing for circles) a local online estate sale for $1 and opted against searching for the matching Loewy designed stove because it was electric and I wanted gas. The vintage fridge will serve as a second fridge.

The 2 matching Western Holly ovens and one stovetop came from NJ and MA via craigslist. Again, I loved the round portholes and thought they went well with the circle pulls and rounded shape of the American Kitchens cabinets. The copper pulls on the pioneer set were in good shape, but the lucite pulls on the metal set were not. I found some similar vintage copper pulls and used those.

More circles for the light fixtures and the rounded vintage Joal fiberglass shells for the counter stools.. It’s probably good I wasn’t able to find a round house!

I dropped the ovens and the cooktop off at the Stove Lady. She restored them and also connected me to Fred, who came to my house and rewired my vintage fridge.

The cabinets went to a powder coater. They were stripped to remove the old paint and surface rust and came back bright white. We also had the baseboards, that were originally black, vinyl wrapped copper to match the pulls and the paint on the pulls cleaned up and refreshed. Everything is now tested and safe.

The cast steel sink was powder coated in the same white as the cabinets. The faucet is a reproduction “American Kitchens” found on Amazon [<<affiliate link – Pam]. Yes, Loewy. Yes, it has the spherical black pulls at the end of the chrome.

We had to take down a bunch of ash trees that were infested with the emerald borer and a big maple tree. The trees were unstable and the maple was leaning towards the house.

We had the ash trees milled into flooring and the maple tree milled into doors, cabinet doors (for the copper cabinets) and countertops.

We obsessed over the countertops for a long time. Restoring the Loewy American Kitchen seems to be a popular pursuit in Holland and most of the restorations include the iconic countertop profile shape. I’ve seen them in stainless steel, laminate over steel and Corian solid surfaces. We wanted to keep the steamlined modern shape of the original tops, but it was impossible to do with wood. And, we really wanted to use every bit of the lumber from the property. In the end, we loved the details of the maple on the countertop and can’t imagine the kitchen any other way. I also think the warm wood contrasts with the cold white steel in a nice way. And, our amazing carpenter was able to match the bullnose profile of the wood to the edge of the sink exactly, so the outside edge matches if the wall side does not. I like to joke that the trees wanted to be in our house. We just really micromanaged their fall.

On a desktop computer – click to enlarge to see the details of the Raymond Loewy kitchen. 1953 catalog in my personal collection. And, to see more details within a Raymond Loewy kitchen, see this story with a bunch more vintage illustrations of 1953 Avco American kitchen cabinets designed by Raymond Loewy.

I furnished the bedrooms with the two different styles of Mengel furniture (by Loewy of course) and designed in 1948–which was the year the house was built. I added a few other pieces by the designer to my collection (the Le Creuset dutch oven, Sunbeam rounded toaster and the Borg scale). At this point, almost everything in the house (save the new fridge) is vintage and fits the scale and proportion of the house. We even powder coated some of the upper cabinets and floated them in the living room as a tv cabinet. While most of the vintage stuff from the late 40s, some disco era bling has been managing to find its way in!

Phew. That was a lot of work.

“Even Wilbur (our pup) is happy with the results,” Jennifer added.

Onto finding an Avanti Studebaker and retired Concorde to add to my collection I’ll leave the Lucky Strikes for someone else…

Phew, indeed, Jennifer. I am in awe of your kitchen — every detail, so thoughtful. What an amazing life-experience — with an amazing end-result. 

Thank you so much for generously sharing this story and all the photos!

The post Jennifer’s epic journey to add Raymond Loewy-designed kitchen cabinets in her 1948 house appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Kudos to reader Joel, who spotted this rare find: A complete set of Levitt steel kitchen cabinets for sale on ebay in — yes: Levittown, New York. This makes at least 81 brands of vintage metal kitchen cabinets — almost all of them steel — in my master list. 10+ years of Retro Renovation, and we’re still discovering things — woot!

UPDATE: 

Overnight I received photos of the logo on these cabinets — and howdy hudee, they are Tracy steel kitchen cabinets — not “Levitt” brand. We already had Tracy on our list — so, we are back to 86! Interesting to know that these were the featured cabinets in Levittown houses in New York in any case!

There are a lot of cabinets!

Thanks to ebay seller jdiior01 for permission to show the photos.

Link love:

• Levittown steel kitchen cabinets for sale on ebay.
• My overview story on the history of vintage metal kitchen cabinets .
• “Encyclopedia” where I keep the complete list.
• All my stories on steel kitchen cabinets.

Thank you, Joel — awesome discovery!!!!

The post Levitt steel kitchen cabinets — 87th brand of metal kitchen cabinets discovered in Levittown! appeared first on Retro Renovation.

56 — count ’em 56 — vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets, spotted for sale where all the best stuff is. Are you a super fan? You know where that is. Oh so pretty vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets: Dreamy Chiffon Yellow paint color… and pretty little decorative French Provincial trimmed-out glass front cabinets up top. [See these cabinets from the same line, featured previously.] This kitchen surely cost a pretty penny back in the day.  Mega thanks to reader Lisa for this tip!

Okay, so where’s all the Best Stuff?

All the Best Stuff’s in St. Louis, of course!

These were for sale for $5,600. 

If you had it to scrape together, I think that’s a fabulous price.  

$100 per cabinet. 

From my story 18 colors for 1960s St. Charles kitchen cabinets

And remember: St. Charles is / was the creme de la creme.

Above: That’s the nubbly finish that we saw on steel kitchen cabinets after they’d been popularized a while. I am presuming: That’s embossing. Meaning, the steel is pressed into this design by a plate under high heat and high pressure.

I am also pretty sure, this embossed finish was created to address the problem of “fingerprints” on shiny flat steel.

Note, my original-finish vintage Genevas have plenty of fingerprints. But, I am quite adept at ignoring “the problem.” 

Howdy hudee, what is THAT going on behind these cabinets? That wallpaper scene. J’taime!

I don’t quite understand the whole story. But these belong to Laura, a longtime reader, who took these out of her kitchen and replaced them with NEW St. Charles kitchen cabinets when they were available once again in the 2000s. I will see if I can get a story on her new kitchen. Meanwhile, she says that she is using some of these vintage cabinets in her weekend cabin and will send photos when that’s done. 

Meanwhile, it seems all 56 of these mello yellow glories sold pretty darned fast. Who got them? Congrats! Are you a lurker? Declare thyself and we shall heap thee with praise and adoration!

Thanks, Laura, for permission to feature the photos — we are so happy that these found a happy home. And thanks again to Lisa for this tip! Keep ’em coming, dear readers!

• See all my stories about vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets here.

The post 56 vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets — Chiffon Yellow, i heart you appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Wouldn’t you just love to jump in the time machine and travel back to 1954, to see the big trade show with all the new Geneva Kitchen Cabinets — and more — being unveiled? Photo: from my personal collection — there are more from this event, which was pretty darned classic — full of regional managers making presentations to salesmen, exciting new-product reveals — cabinets and appliances both, and models on hand too. I will say, though: It looked hot. As in: the days before air conditioning, and everyone was in suits and ties etc. Click on the photo, and it should enlarge up to 1,000 pixels wide.

The post Geneva Steel Kitchen Cabinets — at the big Trade Show, 1954 appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Do you want the look of vintage steel kitchen cabinets — but don’t want the hassle of searching out, and possibly needing to restore, vintage? If so: Here’s a new source for new wood cabinets faced with that oh-so-retro powder-coated steel door: Toro Kitchen Cabinets.  

Company co-founder Heather Tyng reached out to me with news of the company:

Hi Pam!

I am super excited to send you this email. I’ve been visiting your site because I am the cofounder of a company called Toro Kitchen Cabinets. The creative and industrial designer of our cabinet line, Avi Gordon, is a ’96 architecture graduate from the University of Arkansas and a Miami and Southern California surfer who has created a line of cabinets that are right up your alley. 

A fresh mix of modern and retro-inspired design is the basis for the lineup. An all-wood box construction and a metal door blend the old and new bringing a mid-century modern appeal. The line is a semi-custom line that is made in the USA. The door is powder-coated to any color the customer chooses, there is a choice between several handle styles, as well as legs or a standard toe-kick and the box comes in either a light wood, walnut, ash (gray stain) or white melamine. These customizations offer a style that can fit into anyone’s home and look stunning.

I followed up, and Heather sent photos and more information.

From surfboard shaping — to designing kitchen cabinets

Avi Gordon — aka Heather’s husband — is a trained architect who, while shaping surfboards — his hobby — contemplated using those same skills to make a consumer durable product. 

“He began thinking of something that plays to his strengths of design, architecture, and puzzle making,” Heather said. “He wanted a product that wouldn’t become obsolete over time. It should be innovative and also artisan in nature. Additionally, it should be sculptural and repeatable. He wanted it to be tactile. A product that he as well as his customers could be proud of. He knew that if he believed in the product, he could sell it. As it turns out, the idea it wasn’t far fetched  — he wanted to design kitchen cabinets.”

Once on this path, she continued, “Avi landed a job designing custom kitchens in a local shop with a good reputation. This move had specific intent. The idea was to learn all there was to know about selling and creating cabinetry. What he had planned to be a one year endeavor into learning the cabinet business had turned into three years.”

The path to this product — in this style — had a few other influences. Avi grew up in Miami, which gave him an appreciation for Art Deco design. Later, he spent 12 years in mid mod mad Southern California, where as an architectural student he studied Case Study Houses. Then, researching sites like Retro Renovation, where they saw the revived interest in vintage steel kitchen cabinets, Avi and Heather saw the potential, more specifically, for replicating that look — and their company was born.

The cabinets are not exacting proxies for old designs, which typically had (1) full overlay doors and (2) drawers on steel boxes [a source for those, made new today, is Moya Living.]

These cabinets can made to look ‘retro-authentic’ or ‘retro-modern’

The Toros, on the other hand, have wood boxes and not-quite-full overlay steel doors and drawers. I tend to be a retro-reproduction purist, but that said, the not-quite-full overlay doors and drawers wouldn’t bug me, I think, if the box were painted or laminated the same color. Clearly, though, Heather and Avi appear to be working to extend their design in to the retro-contemporary space by (1) mixing box and drawer colors and (2) showing the cabinets set on legs. This is a much more modern look. Good news: Looks to me like the design is flexible to go either old-skool or new-skool — smart business.

In their email to me, Toro makes a case that foregoing the 100% overlay also means that there is less chance that drawers and doors might get off kilter and scrape and scratch against each other. I have not had this problem with my vintage Genevas, which seem to have exacting tolerances. But it could be that lesser vintage cabinet designs (GEs come to mind) could have this issue.

In this video of the cabinets coming together, they look quite impressive!:

• The door and drawer heads are the main feature and are composed of 18 gauge cold-rolled steel with a powder coated color.
• A brushed aluminum back brings a nice finish to interior side of the door and drawer plates.
• The cabinet is an all wood ¾” plywood box with premium wood veneers in a European frameless construction that allows for the greatest access to the cabinet’s interior.
• Dovetail all-wood drawer boxes, premium Blummotion soft-close hinges and drawer slides that are rated up to 120 lbs complete the package.
• All drawers are deeper than standard — perfect for sliding cutlery trays and storing big pots and pans in them.
• An option for designers: white vertical grade laminate (again on an all-wood box) to make a hybrid modern look with a ½” reveal around all doors and drawers. This allows the paint to pop off the background color of the cabinets. The eye drawing down the horizontal and vertical lines that the door and drawer heads lead one into the idea of purposeful art and function.
• These cabinets are made, manufactured, and designed in America. 

Pricing

Regarding pricing, this is a very bespoke process, so pricing is established directly with the client. Heather told me:

Hi Pam, It’s been a long road finding manufacturing for the metal doors and also converting files to the correct engineering format. While we could ballpark pricing, it just wouldn’t be accurate for everyone because every kitchen is, of course different.  …Our process is to consult with clients, learn what they want and how they use their kitchen, design a kitchen based on the conversation, create a rendering and present to the client. If they approve, we place the order and drop ship to their home. We recommend that our clients use a professional kitchen installer to provide preliminary measurements of the client’s space and install the cabinets after delivery. 

Link love: Toro Kitchen Cabinets

See all my stories about steel kitchen cabinets here.

The post A new twist on vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Toro Kitchen Cabinets appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Do you want the look of vintage steel kitchen cabinets — but don’t want the hassle of searching out, and possibly needing to restore, vintage? If so: Here’s a new source for new wood cabinets faced with that oh-so-retro powder-coated steel door: Toro Kitchen Cabinets.  

Company co-founder Heather Tyng reached out to me with news of the company:

Hi Pam!

I am super excited to send you this email. I’ve been visiting your site because I am the cofounder of a company called Toro Kitchen Cabinets. The creative and industrial designer of our cabinet line, Avi Gordon, is a ’96 architecture graduate from the University of Arkansas and a Miami and Southern California surfer who has created a line of cabinets that are right up your alley. 

A fresh mix of modern and retro-inspired design is the basis for the lineup. An all-wood box construction and a metal door blend the old and new bringing a mid-century modern appeal. The line is a semi-custom line that is made in the USA. The door is powder-coated to any color the customer chooses, there is a choice between several handle styles, as well as legs or a standard toe-kick and the box comes in either a light wood, walnut, ash (gray stain) or white melamine. These customizations offer a style that can fit into anyone’s home and look stunning.

I followed up, and Heather sent photos and more information.

From surfboard shaping — to designing kitchen cabinets

Avi Gordon — aka Heather’s husband — is a trained architect who, while shaping surfboards — his hobby — contemplated using those same skills to make a consumer durable product. 

“He began thinking of something that plays to his strengths of design, architecture, and puzzle making,” Heather said. “He wanted a product that wouldn’t become obsolete over time. It should be innovative and also artisan in nature. Additionally, it should be sculptural and repeatable. He wanted it to be tactile. A product that he as well as his customers could be proud of. He knew that if he believed in the product, he could sell it. As it turns out, the idea it wasn’t far fetched  — he wanted to design kitchen cabinets.”

Once on this path, she continued, “Avi landed a job designing custom kitchens in a local shop with a good reputation. This move had specific intent. The idea was to learn all there was to know about selling and creating cabinetry. What he had planned to be a one year endeavor into learning the cabinet business had turned into three years.”

The path to this product — in this style — had a few other influences. Avi grew up in Miami, which gave him an appreciation for Art Deco design. Later, he spent 12 years in mid mod mad Southern California, where as an architectural student he studied Case Study Houses. Then, researching sites like Retro Renovation, where they saw the revived interest in vintage steel kitchen cabinets, Avi and Heather saw the potential, more specifically, for replicating that look — and their company was born.

The cabinets are not exacting proxies for old designs, which typically had (1) full overlay doors and (2) drawers on steel boxes [a source for those, made new today, is Moya Living.]

These cabinets can made to look ‘retro-authentic’ or ‘retro-modern’

The Toros, on the other hand, have wood boxes and not-quite-full overlay steel doors and drawers. I tend to be a retro-reproduction purist, but that said, the not-quite-full overlay doors and drawers wouldn’t bug me, I think, if the box were painted or laminated the same color. Clearly, though, Heather and Avi appear to be working to extend their design in to the retro-contemporary space by (1) mixing box and drawer colors and (2) showing the cabinets set on legs. This is a much more modern look. Good news: Looks to me like the design is flexible to go either old-skool or new-skool — smart business.

In their email to me, Toro makes a case that foregoing the 100% overlay also means that there is less chance that drawers and doors might get off kilter and scrape and scratch against each other. I have not had this problem with my vintage Genevas, which seem to have exacting tolerances. But it could be that lesser vintage cabinet designs (GEs come to mind) could have this issue.

In this video of the cabinets coming together, they look quite impressive!:

• The door and drawer heads are the main feature and are composed of 18 gauge cold-rolled steel with a powder coated color.
• A brushed aluminum back brings a nice finish to interior side of the door and drawer plates.
• The cabinet is an all wood ¾” plywood box with premium wood veneers in a European frameless construction that allows for the greatest access to the cabinet’s interior.
• Dovetail all-wood drawer boxes, premium Blummotion soft-close hinges and drawer slides that are rated up to 120 lbs complete the package.
• All drawers are deeper than standard — perfect for sliding cutlery trays and storing big pots and pans in them.
• An option for designers: white vertical grade laminate (again on an all-wood box) to make a hybrid modern look with a ½” reveal around all doors and drawers. This allows the paint to pop off the background color of the cabinets. The eye drawing down the horizontal and vertical lines that the door and drawer heads lead one into the idea of purposeful art and function.
• These cabinets are made, manufactured, and designed in America. 

Pricing

Regarding pricing, this is a very bespoke process, so pricing is established directly with the client. Heather told me:

Hi Pam, It’s been a long road finding manufacturing for the metal doors and also converting files to the correct engineering format. While we could ballpark pricing, it just wouldn’t be accurate for everyone because every kitchen is, of course different.  …Our process is to consult with clients, learn what they want and how they use their kitchen, design a kitchen based on the conversation, create a rendering and present to the client. If they approve, we place the order and drop ship to their home. We recommend that our clients use a professional kitchen installer to provide preliminary measurements of the client’s space and install the cabinets after delivery. 

Link love: Toro Kitchen Cabinets

See all my stories about steel kitchen cabinets here.

The post A new twist on vintage steel kitchen cabinets: Toro Kitchen Cabinets appeared first on Retro Renovation.

American-Standard– well-known among vintage home enthusiasts for its gorgeous early- and mid-20th Century sink and bathtub designs — also made its own line of steel kitchen cabinets. I tend to believe these were not as popular as the biggest brands, namely Youngstown, Geneva and St. Charles, and in fact, I believe that later, American-Standard bought out Youngstown. I’m rededicating myself to working on my Retro Renovation Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets — 86 brands identified! So today, here’s a 1953 American-Standard steel kitchen cabinets brochure from 1953, showing us what the cabinets looked like at the time. 

I don’t know the history for sure, but I think there was first and “American Radiator” aka “American” company, that then merged with Standard Sanitary Corporation.” The earlier “American” also had a brand of steel kitchen cabinets, which can be seen in my 1938 catalog.
 Photo viewing tip: Once the page has fully loaded, click on a photo and it should enlarge on screen up to 1000 pixels wide. Hit the back or ESC button to get back to the story.

1953: The kitchens were so… classic!

Like other brands of steel kitchen cabinet makers, American-Standard seems to play up the idea that you could start with just a sink cabinet, and add additional base and wall cabinets as you got the money. Or, you could buy just the steel sink+base combination and use wood cabinets in the rest of the kitchen.

Above: The American-Standard Midway sink is pretty darned amazing. Means to sit on a specially designed steel-cabinet island, it has a drainboard on one side and two sink bowls on the other. I’ve never seen one of this in wild. 

Above: Some more interesting sink designs here.

Above: Of course, these photos are always great to examine for design details. That’s why I originally started collecting these brochures. I this one, Notice the interesting use of ceramic tile above the sink only.

American-Standard’s design looks like may other manufacturers’: Full overlay doors, chrome handles. 

Such a pretty color combination! The brochure says that the company offered Micarta-brand laminates. Micarta was owned by Westinghouse, according to my research.

The best way to know what brand your kitchen cabinets are, is if there is a logo somewhere. Duh. But if not, sometimes we can tell by (1) the overall design, by (2) the cabinet pulls, or by (3) the shelving and pull outs. However, these need to be differentiated enough to know for sure. 

Want to break up a long line of laminate countertop? Add a piece of butcher block! 

Above: Interesting to see the American-Standard Aeropel ventilator. We’d call this an ‘exhaust fan’. The brochure says:

Winner of two Fine Arts Awards for beauty and utility… The smartly styled, moulded plastic grille can be installed vertically or horizontally.”

Offices nationwide!

Learn more:

• My Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets.

The post American-Standard steel kitchen cabinets — 16-page catalog from 1953 appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Regency steel kitchen cabinets — or were they Regency Quality Kitchens? — or just Quality Kitchens? — likely are a rare vintage brand. These were made in Rosedale, Mississippi.. Further research indicates the parent company was Alabama Metal Products, which started around 1954 and by 1976 was one of the most important industries in town, with 350 employees manufacturing steel kitchen cabinets and vanities — wow! 

The company seems to have a complete line.

The most distinguishing feature of the cabinets may be the second cabinet pull design. Not the chevron, the one on the bottom, above, that resembles a wide, short “u”.Photo viewing tip: After the page fully loads, click on any photo and it should enlarge up to 1,000 pixels wide on your screen. Hit Back or ESC to go back to the story.

The wall cabinets show above have recessed cabinet pulls.

The “Deluxe One-Piece Wall Ensembles” are interesting. This might be another distinguishing feature.

The “Modernistic Glass Front Kitchen Line”, with what looks to be sliding ribbed-glass panels — also is quite notable. I need to doublecheck my own previous reporting, but I believe that Lyon and Crosley also had streamline-style sliding glass wall cabinets like this. (Other companies also had wall cabinets with glass within frames — but not these interesting sliding glass panels.)

Above: “Hang-Bar Construction” for the wall cabinets. That is: The wall cabinets seem to hang on this special bar, which is attached to a stud.

This rare brochure was a nice find, if say so myself!

More info:

• The Retro Renovation Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets — 80+ brands identified!

The post Regency steel kitchen cabinets — 12-page catalog from the 1950s appeared first on Retro Renovation.

One of my goals for 2019 is to work diligently at filling out The Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets. I have about 85 brands identified, and now the question is, do I have catalogs for all of them? I may well, and here’s a first set of uploads to share, for: Berger Steel […]

The post Berger Steel Cabinets for Kitchens — a catalog from 1949 appeared first on Retro Renovation.