50s & 60s home style
This section concentrates on furniture and decorative objects found in
ordinary homes in the fifties and sixties. This subject has been covered
many times before. However, the focus has always been on the avant-garde of the period - rather than the kind of
things ordinary people had in their homes. This is a selection of
the kind of items my parents and aunts and uncles bought for
their homes in the fifties and sixties.
Lighting
Electric lights had first become common in homes in the twenties and
'thirties. Then, the popular style of lamp shade was to have an
alabaster or "fruit bowl" pendant, hanging from chains from the
centre of the room. Standard lamps were also popular.
In the sixties, the lighting became an object of high fashion.
The use of new plastics made many new space-age designs possible.
British Homes Stores' lighting department was one that lead the
way in the sixties.
The space-ship style lamp (above right) is made by "Rotaflex Ltd". It
is made from a single nylon strand wound round a large number of
times. This kind of lamp shade was popular from the late fifties
onwards.
This space-age lamp (right) is made from spun resin. This kind of
lamp was very popular in the sixties. There were smaller versions
of this one, table lamps and pendant lamps all made this way.
Furniture
Furniture from this era was long and low. The coffee
table, on the right, is a good example of this style. It was made
from bent plywood, possibly by "Myer", in the sixties. The coffee
table was often an item of high style in a suburban home. You
could sit down and relax on the sofa with your cup of Nescafe at
this table. The shelf underneath is for magazines - maybe "Punch"
or the "Sunday Times Colour Supplement".
One new piece of furniture, that became popular in the fifties and
sixties, was the telephone table. Most telephones were installed
in the hall of suburban homes. The telephone table was designed
so that you could sit down whilst talking on the telephone. The
table, right, has a formica board for the telephone to stand on and
a shelf for telephone directories. It dates from the late sixties,
or possibly early seventies.
This sofa bed, right, dates from 1958. It was manufactured by "Vono"
beds. The style is typical of the era - wide and low. The sofa
appears to float off the ground on very slim legs. It converts to
a singe bed by folding down the arms and putting the two cushions
from the back on top of them. Viewed from the side, the arms
resemble the fins on a fifties American car. The grey bouclé
material is also very fifties.
The square box look to furniture continued through most of the
sixties. However, as well as modern looking designs, manufacturers
produced a range of more traditional styles, designed to fit in
with homes furnished with real or reproduction antique furniture.
More on retro furniture: 60s furniture
Clocks
Clocks
were another common item that people bought for the living room
in the 1960s. This wall clock (left) was made by "Anstey &
Wilson". It dates from the late sixties. This type of clock, which
resembles the sun, with spikes radiating out from the centre, was very
popular in the sixties and early seventies. In this example the
movement is electric, and not uncommonly for clocks of this
period, was made in Japan.
Smaller clocks for the mantlepiece were also popular. One
company, "Metamic", produced a range of stylish clocks throughout
the sixties. This example (right), has an eight-day movement.
"Metamic" also made battery and 24-hour clocks as well.
Style touches
This coat rack is of a style known as "cocktail
cherry". It was very popular in the 50s following the Festival of Britain in
1951. The inspiration came from molecular models used in the world of
chemistry. The style remained popular well into the sixties and
can be seen on magazine racks as well as coat racks.
Turn your home into a lounge bar! The orange (right) is an ice
bucket (1950s). There were also apples and, more commonly,
pineapples. Port was a favourite tipple of the 50s. The glasses
in the circular rack date from the fifties. The feet are in the
cocktail cherry style.
The "Sparklets" soda syphon (left) was a popular accessory in the
60s. In fact, they were first made in the late 'forties. This
example dates from the 'fifties. They are filled with CO2 from a bulb.
A series of models were available - the "Streamline"
(illustrated), the "Hostmaster" and the "Globemaster". The
"Globemaster" took two bulbs. In 1963 they cost 74/- for the
"Hostmaster", 103/6d for the "Streamline" and 111/- for the
"Globemaster".
Sparklets soda syphons have been seen on "Only Fools and Horses"
(in Dell's flat) and on "The Good Life" in the local.
50s style
This coffee set (right) was manufactured by J & G Meakin in the
1960s. Meakins produced a range of coffee sets with this basic
shape, known as "Studio", and numerous different patterns. The
tall shape of the coffee pot is typical of the era - as is the
pattern - a flower - the motif for the 'sixties.
50s & 60s Ceramics