ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE: FRIDAY MARCH 12, 2010

Smack Dab In The Middle: Design Trends Of The Mid-20th Century

This Month: “Splish Splash: Delights Of The Art Deco Bath”

by Donald-Brian Johnson

The modern bathroom has a sparkling and cheerful color scheme that is distinctly new. The popularity of “hospital” effects has gone by, and now, combined with the perfect mechanical efficiency of modern plumbing, we can effectively make any such room a delight. Bathrooms should be well planned, decorated in warming colors, and equipped with those delightful accessories which show the thought and care of a good housewife.

Lurelle Guild

Designed For Living, 1936

In the Art Deco bath, “those delightful accessories” evidently encompassed anything lavish enough to take one’s mind off the actual business at hand. There were altar-like pedestal sinks and corner lavabos. Raised tubs with elaborate tile patterning. Sunken tubs with more of the same. Intricately inset wall mosaics. Oversize frosted windows, with detailed interior leading. Arched ceilings studded with signs-of-the-zodiac panels. Iron scrollwork adorning doors, mirrors, and towel racks. Sparkling chrome-and-glass light fixtures, in a weirdly appealing blend of stark modern styling and romanticized mythological themes. Statuary, either standing in solitary glory, or made to hold something useful, like a mirror, a lamp, or a dressing gown. Lush, (if somewhat impractical for a bathroom), floor-to-ceiling fringed draperies and plush woolen carpets. And marble. Lots and lots and lots of marble.

Most of these “fantasy baths” were, of course, beyond the reach of cash-strapped consumers, their Deco dreams curtailed by Depression doldrums. Still, would-be home decorators of the 1920’s and 1930’s, poring over House Beautiful, Ladies’ Home Journal, and the annual Home Owners’ Catalogs, could always play “just imagine”. After all, those colorful illustrations dotting the pages were primarily useful as springboards for the imagination. No money for marble? Substitute less costly Armstrong linoleum in a marble pattern. Can’t afford plush woolen carpets? A plush area rug from Woolworth’s could prove an almost-as-effective room brightener. (Better still, those Woolworth’s rugs often came with matching curtains!) And, as Pittsburgh Plate Glass was always ready to remind buyers, glass block was just as nifty, and provided just as much privacy, as frosted, leaded glass windows - at a fraction of the cost.

Interior design magazines offered a romanticized ideal. Art Deco householders, working within limited budgets, provided the reality. Then, as now, creating the appearance of luxury could prove almost as satisfying as “the real thing”. Among the bath trends proving most readily adaptable:

ï The use of bright color. In the April, 1930 issue of House Beautiful, Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company noted that “the period of the Chippendale bathtub is drawing to a close,” and recommended such tantalizing shades as “T’ang Red, Clair de Lune Blue, and Rose du Barry”.

ï “Theme” baths. Cambridge Tile found great success promoting such unified designs as the “Typically American” bath in red white and blue, its nattily nautical patriotic motif liberally sprinkled with anchors.

ï Glass, and more glass. Among those pushing for a bathroom awash in glass was, (no surprise here), Pittsburgh Plate Glass. PPG was particularly proud of walls covered with its Carrara Structural Glass, “guaranteed to give the bath its quota of loveliness”.

ï The use of unlikely materials. Johns-Manville, for instance, recommended covering bathroom walls with its (cough) “baked on asbestos wainscoting”.

ï Up-to-the minute modernism. Armstrong Linoleum took the lead in embracing Art Deco’s futuristic thrust, with bath designs incorporating the out-of-this world chrome lighting fixtures of the Chase Brass & Copper Company.

Do you have a big elaborate bathroom, and plenty of money to spend on it? Then run riot with mirrors, black Carrara glass, white fur rugs, and beautiful dressing tables! (Of course, I won’t pretend for a moment that this sort of luxury isn’t very expensive.)

Dorothy Draper

Decorating Is Fun!, 1939

Ah, the Art Deco bath. To put it bluntly, in a way advertisements of the time never did: you could sell toilets, or you could, more delicately, sell “le toilette”. Guess which approach moved more fixtures? Right you are!

Donald-Brian Johnson is the co-author of numerous books on mid-twentieth century design. His latest, “Deco DÈcor,” offers a complete tour of the Art Deco home, including the bath. (Schiffer Publishing, Limited). Please address inquiries to: donaldbrian@msn.com

NOTE: Photos accompanying January’s “Smack Dab” column on “Mexican Silver Jewelry” were by Leslie PiÒa.