Vintage Stainless Sinks?

[danemodsandy]

I have a rather odd question:

Does anyone here know about - or have pictures of - stainless steel kitchen sinks from the 1950s? I know they were available (Elkay began offering them in '35), but what they looked like is not easy to find out about. I'm particularly interested to find out if today's "overmount" style was available back then - this is the kind of stainless sink that almost everyone has. You just cut a hole in the countertop, and there is a nice wide rim that supports the sink in the cutout. Widgets on the underside screw into place, holding the sink where it's supposed to be. Or were early models undermount, or what?

This has to be the only place in the world where you can ask a question like this! ;-)

Thanks in advance. P.S.: Pics would be nice, if anyone has any.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.:

I've been able to dig up some photos of vintage S/S sinks that were what we used to call "sink tops", meaning the kind with a backsplash and moulded-in drainboards. What I'm looking for is info on vintage sinks intended for installation in a Formica countertop.

Just for grits n' giggles, here's a photo of a S/S sink top:

 

[xraytech]

Sandy, I dont know if this will help much but I will try to answer your question with my experiences in some vintage kitchens.

I do believe that they came in both forms, under mount, and over mount, as zI have seen both.
In Grandma Rose's kitchen which was done in 1965 has an overmount Elkay stainless double tub sink.
In my great grandmothers kitchen from a similar time had an undermount stainless double tub sink.
and In our home ec kitchens at school(1998-2004) were all original from 1958, including the GE Fridge and electric ranges. They had the formica with the stainless trim around all the edges and the sinks were single tub stainless undermounts.

Those are the only unupdated kitchens I have been in other than Grandma Mary's kitchen, but she has a sink top like pictured above in porcelain.

Hope this helps a little

 

[danemodsandy]

Sam:

Thanks for the response. Do you have any recollection of what kind of trim went around the cutout for the undermount sink?

I'm also still looking for a photo of an overmount model from the 1950s. What this is all about is that I'm helping a friend restore a 1950s kitchen to a condition accurate for the period, and we want absolute accuracy in the details. If we cannot document an overmount sink from the '50s, then we have to find something more authentic, whatever it might be. It has a godawful Harvest Gold thing, battered to hell and gone, in there now.

What is planned so far is a strip and repaint of the wood cabinets to their original white, replacing the painted-over hardware with new chrome stuff (Oy, was my friend happy to learn that the most popular cabinet pull of the time is still available, at only 99 cents a pop), replacing the horrid '70s replacement countertops with red cracked-ice Formica with the metal edging, and laying black and white Armstrong Excelon VCT on the floor.

Sink is still a problem, though, so if anyone knows anything, I'd be grateful. Knowing that an overmount was used back then would simplify the search for a sink enormously, to saw nothing of the reduced cost.

 

[thomasortega]

Vintage?!?!?!

We still have this kind of sink here in Brazil, there are many different models and sizes and they are very cheap.

Here, if you want something premium, you buy one of those fancy SS sinks and a granite board.

Something I didn't know about the US and John told me during his visit...

Granite can be very expensive in the US, that's one of the reasons Corian was created.

While that, in Brazil the granite is so cheap that's frequently used in public restrooms and swimming pools (some low end variations can cost less $10 per square meter) and Corian is very expensive. (low end pattern costs something like $5000 per square meter.)

*Prices in American Dollars

When I replaced my stove, i had to cur and resize the granite surface. The cost was ridiculous. $2 for the stone plus $15 for the service.

 

[danemodsandy]

Thomas:

We have stainless sinks very cheap here too, but that's not the problem.

The problem is: Was the overmount sink (the least expensive and most commonly available type today) used in the 1950s? If it was, we can install one cheaply and easily. If we cannot document such a sink during the 1950s, then putting in an undermount sink or a sink top is going to be very much more expensive, because this kitchen's owner wants absolute authenticity for the period. I was around in the 1950s. I do not recall seeing any overmount stainless units then, and most sinks of that time were undermount or had a rim.

Just to show you, this is a new overmount sink. These are the cheapest to buy, and the easiest to install; you just cut a hole in the counter, drop it in, and secure it with the special mounting bolts provided. The hole doesn't even have to be neatly cut, since the overmount flange covers a multitude of sins:

 

[xraytech]

Sandy,

With the undermount sinks, they were trimmed with a flat band of metal that was like the metal trim on the formica countertops.

 

[circlew]

Hey Sandy

During the 1950's, the most common method (at least in this area) of mounting a sink - whether stainless steel, cast iron or other material - to the countertop, was by using what is called a Hudee (pronounced Hoo-dee) Ring. The church I belong to (Kitchen built 1959) has an Elkay double bowl stainless sink (still almost new looking) set in a stainless countertop, using this type ring. These rings are still made - Vance Industries is one mfr. A few cast iron sinks from Kohler still use this frame, though I don't know of any stock stainless sinks that do. You may want to check with Elkay and/or Just Mfg. Co. They both have extensive custom fabricating capabilities, and probably will have a suitable solution. Sorry I don't have any pics. You might want to look in old magazines such as BH&G to find ads showing this. Hope this helps you out.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

Thanks for the info. I remember Hudee rings very well, though I did not know their name. We had a Kohler cast-iron sink with one in the house where I grew up.

It's looking more and more as if this is the kind of sink that will have to be found for authenticity's sake; I can find no documentation on an overmount sink during the first half of the 1950s. I do have a small St. Charles Kitchens ad photo from 1948 showing a stainless sink set into a laminate countertop, but there's not enough detail to see the rim area:

 

[gansky1]

The St. Charles catalog that I have from the early 50's shows a SS sink with a separate rim. Another home builders supply catalong from 59 shows a rimless SS sink with flanges measuring 1 1/2" on the sides, 1" front and 4" at the rear. It doesn't give opening sizes but also does not specify needing a Hudee rim as the enamel and cast iron sinks do. In the Spring 1959 Sears catalog a new addition to the sink offerings was a rim-less stainless steel model that looks constructed similar to those offered today.

Hope that's helpful ;-)

 

[danemodsandy]

Greg:

Thanks so much. It's beginning to sound as if only a sink with a Hudee ring is authentic for the early '50s, that the overmount sink was a development that came along later in the decade. That's valuable info, because we're going for a very early-'50s look here. Now the trick will be to find a vintage sink with an intact Hudee ring - they're damaged often and easily when old sinks are removed. Clips can still be found, but a replacement Hudee ring in the right size can take some serious searching, from everything I've been able to find out.

 

[athanasius80]

Have you checked Retrorenovation.com yet? I recall people were in a similar predicament there too.

 

[danemodsandy]

Retrorenovation.com...

...Yes, I checked there. It's pretty much as I suspected; one is going to have to find a sink surviving in good condition.

By the way, thanks to all who have chimed in on this thread. I have reached the age and the point in my work where very little is new any more. It's fun to have something to learn about, and I appreciate everyone's help.