Although they lacked the portability factor of hand mixers, the fact that these vintage table mixers could stir and blend and whip on their own was a huge boon for home chefs – as much then as now.
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Years ago, old-fashioned clock radios like these were on pretty much every bedside table around America, both lulling us to sleep with music and radio shows, and getting us up for work in the morning.
These vintage zodiac cross-stitch designs could be used as-is, interspersed and contrasted with plain squares, or the designs adapted to many other uses — such as cross-stitch embroidery for table linens.
Here, see some of the colors – like pink and blue – and styles of the most popular vintage 1950s saucepans and kitchenware from the middle of the 20th century.
Take some time to take a look back at these retro wall clocks, shown here in both traditional & mod designs, to meet the needs of every type of vintage home decor style of the mid-20th century.
They toasted! They cooked! And, most important of all: these vintage toaster ovens warmed up TV dinners without needing to heat up the full-size oven. See how the little kitchen appliances evolved over the years, right up through the 1980s.
In the past, a few products – like Borden cheese – made it so their glass jars could be reused later as party or hostess glasses. Since people collected them, it was a smart use of double-duty packaging.
Sometimes we get the sense that people in the fifties lived in black and white. But as you can see in this collection of colorful vintage 1950s home decor photos, they lived with bright and bold hues, too.
See several vintage ways to decorate mid-century entrance halls & foyers – using authentic 1950s and 1950s finishes and colors that made them as practical underfoot as they were pleasing to the eye
If you’re looking to make a bedroom look a little retro, take a look at these DIY headboards with a vintage look! They may be just the inspiration you need for some old-fashioned home decor.
With space-age design elements like starbursts and swooshes, and the large backplates, some of the most popular mid-century modern door hardware was absolutely iconic, and easy to recognize.
Although tile was available in a range of hues, when it came to creating the vintage 1950s bathroom tile design ideas homeowners wanted, the most popular colors were the ones shown here.
See a Scholz Mark 58, a marvelous mid-century modern home built in 1958. From the blue bathroom to the wooden wall paneling, every inch of this reinterpreted California Ranch house screams retro… and we love it.
From the middle of the 20th century, see some classic and some creative vintage 1950s kitchen tile design ideas that were popular decades ago!
After WWII, millions of new small starter homes were built all across America. Here, see a collection of these practical, affordable little suburban houses – each one under 1000 square feet.
If you love the mid-century style, or want to re-create that beautiful vintage backyard feel, get 47 of the best old-fashioned patio, deck & porch ideas here for a little retro inspo.
While not exclusively the domain of the fifties, the popularity of vintage pink bathrooms – including pink toilets, sinks and bathtubs, and other home decor – reached its peak during the middle of the 20th century. Take a look!
If you were planning to get a new kitchen for your home in the 1950s, here are nine of the most popular mid-century kitchen remodels and floorplans you might have checked out!
See two different versions of the Roto-Broil 400 – once America’s favorite infra-red rotisseries – popular kitchen appliances from the ’50s.
This flip-over chair – in the original Hudson Valley version of the 1870s or a colorful adaptation – offers the fun of choosing between two seats with a quick flip of a finger.
Looking at these mid-century bathroom color schemes of the ’50s, you’ll see that the look of white, stark home decor was quickly disappearing. In its wake was a trend toward colorful designs. Take a look!
You couldn’t tell a ’50s housewife that pastel pink washers & dryers weren’t practical. They didn’t have to be practical – they were pretty.
Just look at the richly-textured patterns in this mid-century modern carpet! And the vintage 3-level pile apparently offered the highlights and shadows in expensive sculptured rugs.
Here, check out 22 vintage kitchen design ideas – from funky fridges to creative cabinetry – plus other retro appliances and home decor we don’t see very often nowadays!
These vintage insect killer ads from the fifties didn’t hold back, using phrases in their vintage marketing like drop dead, declare warfare and mow down insects. The Gulfspray can holding a gun was also a creative touch.
Here’s a look back at 100 years of vintage Fostoria glass – from candelabra to stemware, in clear crystal or a rainbow of colorful hues – that people have been using and collecting for generations.
Look back at these 1950s vintage portable electric hand mixers, with the kind of removable beaters that kids loved to lick to sample delicious cake batter and cookie dough.
Step back and time and enjoy these charmingly vintage Christmas scenes celebrations from the 1940s through the 1970s.
For decades, it was considered inappropriate for TV or movies to show a married couple sharing a bed. But did married couples really sleep in separate beds back in the ’50s?
Here’s a look back at some authentically vintage ’50s master bedroom decor, featuring things like colorful retro carpets, modernist furniture, and old-fashioned bedspreads.
Look at some old-fashioned gas ranges millions of people had in their homes in the ’50s – right around when electric appliances were about to become popular.
Books in a home once signaled that the residents were intelligent, worldly, and could afford to collect their favorite volumes. Look back at some vintage bookshelves from the past!
Monsanto’s Home of the Future at Disneyland – set in the futuristic year 1986 – was built almost entirely of plastic, either alone or in combination with traditional building materials.
Remember apple head dolls – an early American craft with folk art roots that was popular again in the ’60s and ’70s? Find out how to make these shrunken apple dolls, and more about the art of dollmaking.
When these vintage Zenith ‘Space Command’ TV remote controls first came out, they were revolutionary tech – and everyone wanted one.
Take a fun look back at the stereotypical ’50s housewife, as she vacuums in heels, washes dishes wearing pearls, and makes everything practically perfect.
Here’s a look at actor, dancer & singer Gene Kelly’s house in Southern California, as it looked back in 1950, when he lived there with this wife and daughter.
Here is how the builders of this ’50s small-home design made the most of the space they had available! Take a look at the vintage decor and floorplan here.
These retro yellow kitchens – in all their buttery, warm and sunny splendor – are here for the midcentury home decor enthusiast to appreciate!
From stylish room dividers to savvy storage to simple tips for making the most of a small home interior, get some ideas from the fifties for space-saving small home decor.
Take a 1950s home tour of a ‘junior five’ near San Francisco – a small house that had an entry stairway that starts at garage level and leads up to five rooms – bedrooms, kitchen, garage and more.
Remember having fun in vintage playhouses & forts like these? Take a look back at some of these retro play structures through the decades, from the ’50s through the ’80s!
Here’s a look back at singer and actor Bing Crosby’s house in Holmby Hills, California, as it appeared in 1950.
Starting in 1914, there was a lot of hype about Old Gilbert, Arizona, a little town near Phoenix: ‘the fastest growing and most prosperous community in the Southwest.” See how it’s grown!
Decades ago, vintage table lighters like these ‘played an important part in the art of entertaining. The gracious, easy way to get a light if you smoke.’
See some of the vintage baby gear from the 1950s that parents used when raising our parents and grandparents – including a lot that wouldn’t be considered safe today.
If you’re remodeling a 1950s home exterior, advice from that decade says to follow a simple, straightforward style. Your house will look better and cost less.
Warm up with a look back at 25 different beautiful old-fashioned fireplaces that were once found in homes across the US.
Tide… for your cups and plates? Early versions of Tide detergent said right on the box that it would give you sparkling dishes in addition to clean clothes.
When post-WWII prefab housing was becoming passe, in the ’50s, a new version of the prefab home emerged – the kind of home with many of the mid-century modern design ideas that would become popular over the next decade.
These 60+ vintage patio furniture sets – charming tables, chairs, chaises and more – were as popular in the 1940s through the 1970s as they are now.
Remember these vintage above-ground pools – the kind that were big enough to actually swim in, but that you didn’t need to dig a big hole for?
