Kim Novak's Maytag dryer

[norgenocker]

Just watched "Strangers When We Meet"--made in 1960--with Miss N, Kirk Douglas, and a truly reptilian Walter Matthau. Supersudsy--no All or Dash in this production--and pretty sexy for 1960, and a great Los Angeles period piece. But I digress. Seen near the end in Kim's house is a Maytag dryer that appears to be coppertone. It could be another dark color--not sure. My question is--when did coppertone come in? I've always associated it with the '70s, of course. Or--what color could it have been? Any Maytag color experts out there?

 

[frigilux]

Coppertone was around in the 1960's. My parents bought a house in late 1966 and put a coppertone Kenmore range and refrigerator in it. A coppertone Lady K dishwasher was added around 1974.

 

[jeffg]

This may or may not help:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/ARCHIVE/VINTAGE/2005/3676x59.htm

"Frigidaire first introduced the coppertone color (called shaded copper) in 1959. There were two WCI-59 washers on the Aberdeen farm in coppertone."

 

[easyspindry]

1956???

I knew people who built a house in 1956 and had GE brown washer and dryer. Was that coppertone? Not sure.

Jerry Gay

 

[jamiel]

How funny...I watched a bit of that movie Sunday afternoon...very kool period piece...snapshot of suburban LA 1960. Up-swept hairdos, Ford Falcons, Vons supermarkets...

 

[hydralique]

Unfortunately, upswept hairdos and Falcons are mostly gone, but Vons is still one of the largest supermarket chains in SoCal.

This last Sunday I went on the Home Tour sponsored by our local LA chapter of the AIA (American Insitute of Architects). They do two or three of these each year, usually focusing on new homes. In this case, though, three of the four were renovations of existing homes. Two of these were in Truesdale Estates, the last part of Beverly Hills to be developed. It's in the hills on the northern part of the city between the Hollywood Hills and Bel-Air.

Most of the homes there date from the late '50s through the early '70s, and these two were from '59 and '60. Both were beautiful one-story modernist homes, with lots of glass around swimming pools set in patios looking south with views of the LA basin. Unfortunately, all of the appliances had been replaced with new stuff, but oh boy the houses were great. One still had a built in wet bar that was sunk two steps down in a terrazo floor, and ceramic tile walls in the powder room with little fleur-de-lis motifs! I kept expecting Lisa Douglas to waft around the corner swathed in chartreuse chiffon . . .

 

[rickr]

My parents built a new home in 1956 and it had a coppertone Tappan electric wall oven. It even had the shading on the edges. The same oven was still installed in the home when we sold the home in 1998.

 

[norgenocker]

the house architect Kirk Douglas

was building for writer Ernie Kovacs while schtupping the hot-to-trot Kim who had the coppertone Maytag) is in Bel-Air. Director Richard Quine was schtupping Kim while the movie was being made, and lived in the house with Kim afterward. Quite an amazing house--truly gorgeous--can't seem to find out who the real architect was--not an ordinary builder's house at all. Apparently the Nov '61 Bel-Air fire nearly destroyed it (supposedly Kim was on the roof with a hose--she knew how to deal with hoses, no doubt--and saved it). If you haven't seen the movie, hydralique, you should. Tragically--imo it really is worse than if it had been burned down--the house has been remodeled into something that looks incredibly cheap and generic--a real desecration. Part of gone, gone L.A. About as much left of that L.A. as there are old Laundromats and Bendixes. (I'm trying to keep this relevant to laundry....)

 

[hydralique]

Hmmm, could be somewhere near Roscomare, just east of the 405. I know Roscomare got hit really badly in that '61 fire. There was one good outcome, however, in that many homes along the street were rebuilt after the fire in mid century modern. Quite a few are still there, although some have been corrupted.

 

[rp2813]

I love LA and am interested in its history. Call me a Bay Area renegade. I also like films that showcase the old LA even if they're modern ones. I'll have to see if Netflix has "Strangers When We Meet."

 

[appliguy]

Frigidaire introduced Aztec Copper in 1959

In 1956 GE had a light choclate milk color called woodtone brown. What was known as coppertone is an off shoot of Aztec Copper and was not available in 1956 Rickr. PAT COFFEY

 

[rickr]

All I can tell you is we had one dude. Coppertone Tappen from 1956.

 

[danemodsandy]

Coppertone in 1956

An unshaded coppertone refrigerator can be seen in 1956's "The Opposite Sex", which is a remake of "The Women", made in 1939. The reefer appears in a Reno dude-ranch scene where Dolores Gray (as Sylvia Fowler) finds that another woman there (Ann Miller) is the reason her husband wants a divorce. A lengthy catfight ensues, much longer and more elaborate than the fight in the '39 version. Anyway, appliances present include the aforementioned reefer and a mammoth Garland or Wolf commercial range.

 

[laundramatt]

Kim Novak

I don't think I ever saw a girl with the name 'Kim' that wasn't beautiful. And Kim Novak was one of my favorites.

 

[norgenocker]

well, Matt,

you should see this movie. She's slimmer than in Vertigo, and really is incredibly good-looking in it. She even seems to be able to act. She was sleeping with the director--Richard Quine--at the time, so I guess he really lavished the attention on her.