Here is a history of color appliances
I have built this list out of information I have gotten from old home magazines from the era as well as appliance brochures etc…. if you see that I have missed anything please feel free to let me know.
Circa 1950
International Harvester and Caloric start offering different colored handles on their fridges and ranges respectively to give the woman of the house a choice of accent colors to harmonize with the color of her kitchen.
Late 1953-1954
Frigidaire introduces the first appliances in colors. You can choose Stratford Yellow, Sherwood Green, or White.
January 1955
GE introduces 5 new colors for their appliances, Woodtone Brown (the color of light chocolate milk), Turquoise Green, Cadet Blue (a sort of Navy Blue), Petal Pink, and Canary Yellow. Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue are not very popular colors. Cadet Blue is gone by 1957 and Woodtone brown is replaced by Coppertone in the early 60's
1955-1956
Frigidaire adds Mayfair Pink and Sheffield Gray to its color palette for the 1956 line of appliances/ Maytag washers and dryers become available in Pasteltone Pink, Green, and Yellow, Kelvinator produces 8 new colors, Bermuda Pink, Spring Green, Fern Green, Dawn Gray, Sand Beige, Buttercup Yellow, Harvest Yellow, and Lagoon Blue, non of which are all that popular. The majority of these colors were dropped sometime around 1960 and replaced with the standard pink, turquoise, and yellow colors. It is also around this time that stainless steel appliances start to make their debut...especially in the new field of built in appliances range, oven fridge etc.).
1957
Frigidaire replaces Sheffield Gray with Charcoal Gray on its new Sheer Look line of appliances. This color is not at all popular and is discontinued after 1960
1958
Frigidaire replaces Sherwood Green and Stratford Yellow with Turqouise and Sunny Yellow (which is a more pastel Yellow)
1959
Frigidaire introduces Aztec Copper to its line of appliances and this color will eventually become know as Coppertone or Copper Brown and be offered all the way into the early 1980's
1963-1965
The number of companies offering Pink, Mint Green, and Yellow appliances have dwindled while the hot colors of the early 1960s are Copper Brown and Turquoise. About this time Frigidaire offers a color called Honey Beige which is lighter than Aztec Copper. Also about this time Whirlpool offers a very rare color on certain RCAWhirlpool and Sears Kenmore models that is very similar to the Woodtone Brown GE had offered a decade earlier, it is called Doeskin and is not very popular and is dropped rather quickly.
1966
GE introduces a new color just in time to go with the Danish modern look of the late 1960s.....Avocado. Maytag offers Turquoise for the last time on its redesigned Washpower automatics. RCA Whirlpool adds 2 more rare colors to their color pallet, Edged Fawn and Edged Sapphire. These to colors do not last long and are gone circa 1968
1967-1968
Around this time, Frigidaire also introduces its line of Fashion Colors which consists of Matador Red, Biscayne Blue, Tahitian Green, and what could be considered an early version of almond called Autumn Haze. Maytag appliances are offered in Cordoba Copper Spanish Avocado and Castillian Yellow. Castillian Yellow is replaced circa 1968 with California Gold (aka Harvest Gold). GE introduces another new color called Harvest (GE never called it Harvest Gold) which becomes available in the Spring of 1968.
Circa 1970
Frigidaire introduces the color poppy on its appliances
1971-1976
No major changes are made in colors during this period
1977
All the appliance manufactures get together through the American Home Appliance Manufactures Association [AHAM ] and agree on new colors that all match from brand to brand. GE is the first to introduce them and calles these colors the New Naturals. The colors are named, Onyx, Coffee, Harvest Wheat, Fresh Avocado, Snow, and a brand new color is added and is called Almond. These colors are more vivid then their predecessors and GE advertises The New Naturals in a huge campaign in all the "home magazines" of the day.
Early to late 1980's
Copper Brown and Avocado start to fall by the wayside as the favorite colors of the early 80s seems to be Almond and what is now known as Harvest Gold. During this time GE and Whirlpool experiment with a light brown/beige color that Whirlpool calls toast and GE calls Sand, as well as a silver/gray color that Whirlpool calls Platinum and GE calls Silver. Both of these colors prove not to be too popular and they are dropped after a few years. Also in the mid 80's Whirlpool starts offering the top of the line Lady Kenmore washers and dryers in black.
Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to do some wiring. I won't plug it in until late tomorrow. Wish me luck.
