That Hair. Those Colours!

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duh!

That wasn't the point.
I remember those clothes, that hair, that, er, um, ...color...
It is sort of like a visit to the dentist, you never forget stuff like that.
Of course, I personally know two KA's which are even older and still running perfectly.
Now that was a dishwasher.
(Of course, Grace Slick did say, if you claim to remember the '60s, you weren't there...)
 
Who, Tammy or Grace?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I wonder just what prompted that particular color. Laundress, you are the expert for marketing - do you know why these things come to be?
Sure seems odd, especially considering that their is a wide consensus today - and I definitely remember at that time, also - that Harvest Yellow and Avocado were just not the nicest colors...
 
I would really like to see the real numbers from one of the larger companies like Sears or GE to see how many of the colors and what colors sold vs. white. It seems to me that yellow, in one form or another, was available for at least 3 decades. I would bet, however, white outsold the closest runner-up by about 10 to 1.
 
Earth tones

I think the Harvest/Gold and Avocado colors represented a period when the idea of Earth Tones was quite in vogue. This was a period of lots of stained wood and polished brass, along with ferns (the infamous "fern bar" era). In those decors, even avocado might fit in.

I notice we've also seen a return to earth tones with Martha Stuart's color palette - with that light olive green hue predominating. I suppose one could be charitable and call it "jade". I used to call it "puke green" until I fell in love with some of her green painted gardening hand tools.

Unfortunately, as is probably the case today, most people probably didn't remodel their laundry rooms or kitchens to match the earth tones of this period, at least not for a laundry set. So an avocado washer dryer set would probably stick out like a sore thumb in a predominantly white kitchen. And it would really clash with a pink or turquoise 50's era kitchen.

As you might guess, I never did like those colors much, but I don't recall reacting negatively to them when I came across them in a 70's kitchen. At that time I was more enthused about the fact that all the appliances were new and functional, more than anything else... lol... and they did seem to fit in with the dark woody motif of the time.
 
She looks like Barbra Parkins in one of the montages of Valley of the Dolls. Big hair, flowing gowns, life is a breeze, buy Gillian, or GE, or whatever, and your life will be flowing gowns and big hair waiting for your husband to come home from the office and bed you properly for doing the laundry so perfectly, and keeping the house so clean. "Why, Jane, the laundry and linoleum are immaculate, lie down on the floor now, you hot bitch".(It just didn't happen) This was the subtext of ads in the 50's and 60's,- "please your man," and insist on the products that will help you do that.
 
Do not think it had anything to do with being "bedded" (properly or otherwise), nor pleasing one's husband. Certianly NOTHING to do with being a "hot b***h" (cannot believe you said that), just advertising taking it's que from modern fashions/trends. In the 1950's would have been the "New Look" with high heels and pearls, or a starched shirt waist and pearls. As always the idea was to show a housewive free from the misery of housekeeping and able to be "beautiful" and preserve her looks. Modern appliances also freed up time for a woman to do other things. Hence all those adverts of women playing tennis, playing Bridge with the girls, or even simply playing with her children. Milady now was a lady of leisure even if she didn't have a girl to come in and do the hard housework.

KA is simply trying to be with it, as probably many women were when they choose the latest "fashion colour" for their kitchen. Remember also that period of time was very much one of women being in some cases slaves to fashion, not wanting to be caught dead in last season's much less last year's trend.
 

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