Fifties Retro Kitchens: Why I Love My Formica Dining Table
84Back In the Fifties
By Jackie D. Kimball
1956. It was the days of unlatched screen doors, doo-wop music,and Elvis crooning on the radio. The Salk vaccine was top news,Around the World in 80 days was the hit movie, and almost everyone I knew ate on a chrome covered tubular steele and formica dinette.
A Day in the Life of a Fifties Child
AT SCHOOL
Elementary school curriculum was "reading and writing and 'rithmetic" with a bit of electives thrown in.Children were respectful to teachers and authority.
In 1956 I was a precocious seven year old . I walked to school which was over a mile away every day. Three neighborhood children sometimes walked with me, if they were ready to go when I walked by. I hated to wait! I loved school, and was always eager to get there.The early birds got to help the teacher.
We read simple DOLCH words in our story books. The books were unbelievably simple with only a few new words introduced in each story.We read them aloud in groups, to our reading partners, and at home. The next day we read the same story for fluency and speed practice. We became good readers.
We read Alice and Jerry and Dick and Jane books. In the stories, the children played outside and helped mother who was usually in her kitchen. Father worked and was interested in his family when he came home. It was not a false portrayal of life for most of us .Students could identify with Dick and Jane playing outside and doing chores happily.
Home In the Fifties
Walking home from school with friends was almost as much fun as school. We locked arms and walked happily along discussing the day .As we neared home we would wonder aloud what we were having for supper. Sandwiches were a treat we rarely had, because our mothers frowned on them as a unsubstantial meal. We children would make plans to meet on the hill after we changed clothes and watched Howdy Doodee Time.
My family was one of the few families on our street to have a television, so there were many days when neighbor children would be at our house as soon as they changed clothes.. After watching the show they left, and Mama would give me a small snack. Daddy was a supervisor at a bakery, and was allowed to bring home one loaf of bread daily.I usually wanted jelly on a slice of bread. I ate quickly so I could join my playmates sliding down the hill on large pieces of cardboard. I could play until Mama called me to wash up for supper.
After saying grace, we sat at our new dinette and ate whatever Mama cooked. It never occured to us to complain about the menu as I see some children do today.Mealtimes were pleasant, and we were taught proper table manners. In my day ,you did not leave the table when you were finished eating, but continued in conversation until the family was finished. How sad that many families today have to make a date to have an occasional meal together.
Those Innocent Days
This was the way we lived.........and I miss those days. Those innocent days when a hottie meant a fast car. Those days when mothers were home to greet their children after school with hugs and smiles.Those days when daddies came home on time and were greeted by the wife and children as if his homecoming was an event, because it was. Those days when daddies did not rush through supper to grab the remote , or stay on the computer in another room until long past his children's bedtime.Those days when parents and children spent time at the table more often than not in the kitchen.
The Hub of the Home
The kitchen was where everyone gathered and where everyone ate. Some of my friends lived in homes with formal dining rooms, but they rarely ate in them. The eat in kitchens were the hub of the home. Mothers spent much of their time there with the radio on. Songs of the day like from artists such as Pat Boone,Doris Day, and doo-wop groups would play softly in the background while we told about our day. Delicious meals like baked chicken, fresh string beans, and corn were the usual fare.
Chrome and Formica Dinettes
The modern eat in kitchens of the day sported a dining set called a dinette , fashioned like the dining sets of casual restaurants. I was so proud of our pretty blue and white dinette set in our kitchen. Then a trend toward red and white dinettes occured , and I fell in love with red and white kitchens, tubular steele chrome covered chairs and tables. The table tops were formica, and most chairs were in soft naugahyde or a shiny material called cracked ice.
To this day, many of us baby boomers fondly remember the happy times in our cheerful kitchens with its formica and chrome dinettes.
Nostalgia Trends in Home Decorating
Decorating in the style of my childhood years brings back fond memories.So many happy times were spent at our dinette of chrome and formica. We worked puzzles , did our school projects,polished our shoes, and folded air dried clothes on the table.
If you think that only a few boomers decorate with vintage or reproduction fifties kitchens, think again. Vintage and retro reproductions are a big business. Google retro fifties dinette or vintage fifties kitchens, etc. for a idea of what is available online in fifties decor. Red and white kitchens were the most common colors amongst our friends and neighbors. Other popular colors were blue and white, yellow and white, and black and white.
I absolutely love my nostalgic fifties chrome and formica dinette set which is pictured below.I bought it because the minute I saw it, I was taken back to wonderful memories of kitchens of my childhood. When I'm in my eat-in kitchen, my retro kitchen dinette makes me smile. I can almost see my roller skates in the chair and a stack of school books on the table. I can almost hear Ed Sullivan proclaim that he is going to have "a really good show for you tonight".
Dooooo-wop.......shooop-shhhhhhoop.....doooo-wop
http/www.fiftiesweb.com
This Is My Fifties Retro Dinette
The name of my dinette set is RETRO NOW AND THEN. It is a high quality reproduction of chrome covered tubular stainless steele with a matte formica top.
More Fifties Kitchens
Photos # 1 advertising archives, others flickr .com
 | Amazon Price: $6.99 |
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FCEtier My grandmother's large oval chartruse green set from about 1953 was given to my mother in 1973. Mama kept it until about 1995 or so. She had a yen for a round wooden table on a pedestal. Her grandchildren nearly had a cow when they found out she gave the set away. It seems that some of them had hoped to inheirit it!
So you are familiar with north LA? I live about 85 minutes from Monroe. Small world.
Thanks for reading!
bayoulady - We used to have a kitchen table with an enameled steel top. When we bought the thing, used, we also bought a wooden "library table" (as they were called) at the same time for 8 bucks. That was back in 1956. It had weird spiral legs with "claws" holding glass balls for feet. In 1992 or 1993 I spoke with an antiques dealer and asked him what that table might be worth. He told me that it had been produced between 1895 and 1905 and that no tables like it had ever been made again - and that it was worth an average of $420. Makes me wonder what one of those enameled steel top tables might be worth today. We have lots of old stuff around here even now, and, of course, the best of them all is me!
Gus :-)))
Gus, so did we! We once had a white enamel covered table with leaf hinges on each side. There was a drawer for our onieda flatware in the middle. But then we got sophisticated.....got that formica and that television and we were uptown!Coooooool,man. We had the beat.
I have several antique pieces, but most is reproduction stuff. makes me happy. I'm not into formality.
thanks for your comments!
This brought back such memories, leaves me still smiling, recalling so much, my Grandma had one of those dinettes, chrome legs, pale green, probably a cheap one, I remember my sweaty legs sticking to the seats. :)
And some of our best fun was had crawling inside big appliance boxes and rolling blind down hills. And can't imagine the life of kids these days who can't just walk home, we had a pretty lengthy walk ourselves, but a fearless and happy one, and lived out in the country for a while and gladly rode the bus.
The loss of family time at the kitchen table, of the family life you so well portray, I don't think our culture will ever get back, unless and until there is some major catastrophe that forces it back. In the meantime, two incomes to support our 'consuming' economy, and everyone funded to ensure they can exercise their equal right to spend money on a Happy Meal -- that's probably harsh, but my thoughts nonetheless.
Hi Bayoulady,
I remember the readers with Dick and Jane! Remember Spot, the dog? "See Spot run!". I remember our kitchen. We upgraded our dinette set to avocado green swivel chairs and the table was a round dark walnut formica top when we remodeled the kitchen. We didn't have to roll the dish washer to the sink any more and connect it to the faucet, cause it was built in. And the drop down ironing board became a little closet with shelves. My sister had some suede buck shoes that she kept nice with a little bag full of white powder. She would buff them with by beating them with it. What a blast from the past. I grew up in the 50s. Great read.
It was very interesting to have a glimpse to another culture.... Actually, in my childhood we also had kitchens more cozy than now.... And we read books out loud at school......
KFlippin Thank you for reading, and I'm glad it took you back to our doo-wop days!
caligirl I do remember Spot.Sally was the little sister.Who had a dog named JIP????
Thanks for commenting!
Daliah, glad you stopped by to read, and thanks for commenting!
Brings back great memories my Grand parents had a very similar one back on the farm in the kitchen - had my bacon and eggs every morning on it with a big bowl of porridge. :)
You received your daily bread physically and spiritually, in those days:) It was the norm to thank God, for each new day, and the food that was prepared before us:) Love the pictures of the kitchens, those for sure...were the good old days:) Awesome Hub!
BILLYAUSTINDILLON Glad it brought back happy memories! Thanks for commenting!
heart4theword, Thanks for reading! Yes, I used the words say grace before meals, but around here in North LA many of us say we are going to "say the blessing".(We blessed and thanked God for our food, and then asked God to bless it.)
Awesome writing. Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories. Everything sounded better then.
Sky, it really was. We locked our door at bedtime.Television was not on all day. There would be time during the day when the tv just had a test pattern. We actually knew how to play! We came in in the heat of the day in the summer and TOOK A NAP with no complaining, because we were wore out from playing! When we got back up, we liked to sit in front of our big old floor fan and sing into the fan. I don't know why we thought that sounded so good.
Mamas cooked full meals, and I never remember eating out except at the fair until I was about 12 and the neighboring town got "THE A & W Rootbeer Stand."But as a hamburger cost 30 cents, it was a rarity to go. No matter. None of our friends went either.
It really was a more peaceful time,not like the RAT RACE of today(hurry,hurry,hurry).
A wonderful hub. The ways of the fifties were wonderful in many ways. God Bless You.
Very retro chic! Thumbs up!
I am a 50's child babyboomer too. I like the retro look.Nice hub!
myawn-Thanks for reading and commenting.From one baby boomer to another!
These pictures are great. When my grandmother went into a nursing home she had promised me her red and grey dinette; needless to say............ my aunt got there first :-(
Love your kitchen.......... home sweet home! Thanks for this! Kaie
Kaie Arwen- a red and grey dinette sounds cute.Too bad you didn't get it. Thanks for the compliment on my kitchen and for reading !
I grew up in the 60's/70' but we had a similar dinette in our kitchen when I was small. Ours was green and chrome. That disappeared and we had a fake wood grain dinnette, with brown/orange flowered chairs (how 70's!)
Mulberry.thank you so much for reading and commenting. my grandmother had the chartruse green and chrome...it was waht was called snazzy back in the 50s. my mom inheirited it and got rid of it just a few years ago without checking to see if i wanted it.
Strange how the mind do not have a today, yesterday or tomorrow. Just a mere stimuli via smell, ear or sight, can bring vivid memories back to life.
Looking at the comments, you just managed to do that. So many people were transported instantly to memories, which they can clearly remember as if it is still there. That is good writing, to be able to do that.
Congrats on the nomination for this hub for a HubNugget and good luck.
(She squeals) have I been nominated? You're kidding! Gotta go check that out! Yes, we baby boomers loved those 50s! Thanks for reading and commenting!
A wonderful walk down memory lane. Those dinette sets sell up to $1,500 here in NJ. I also shared a similar childhood. Thanks for the wonderful look back. Congratulations on your hubnuggets nomination.
Fetty, thanks for taking the time to read and comment Yes, I am totally tickled to be nominated for a hubnugget!
So that is what the 50's was like in the USA. Thank you for sharing them. I enjoyed the photos and your stories. :)
These Retro Kitchens sure was a hit with the Hubnuggets. I know you already know but I still want to come by and say it officially!
Official Announcement: (Drumroll please) This hub has been nominated in the Hubnuggets, Home Category. If you love this hub and would like to support it, vote for it please. Right this way: http://hubpages.com/_hubnuggets6/hub/The-Hubnugget
Congratulations on the nomination. Loved this hub. I remember one story about Dick and Jane's little sister Sally. She got lost and a policeman found her. I can still see the picture in my mind's eye today of the policeman bending over her to talk to the curly blond little girl. "What is your name?" he asked. "Sally." "Sally who?" asked the policeman. "Sally, Sally",she replied. I would read it over and over because it made me giggle.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Bravo!!!!!!! Your hub should win the hubnugget contest, you brought back and era, that alot of us have forgotten. Great job.
Hello bayoulady, This is a beautiful Hub. I remember those days as well. Life was so much simpler. The pictures are lovely and so is your kitchen!
Ripplemaker, Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I am excited just to be nominated for a hubnugget! I am SO a wannabe! Thank you for the official announcement though. I'm going to copy and paste it for my journal.
Yes, that was the fifties.A happy time for many of us. I am working on a sixties hub that should evoke some happy memories as well!
raising me, Thanks. I am very happy to be nominated. the other writers were awesome. It was tough to vote this week!(It always is.)
Yes I remember Saly was the youngest child in the books. Her cat was named puff I think.I am a teacher, and I just don't see kids remembering a story fondly a week later,let alone 50 years later! all the new technology has robbed some of that .
NamVetRich, thank you for the big 'bravo!" I am happy that this was nominated as a hubnugget. I think I am called a wannabe right now!
samiaali, thanks for the comments. Yes, I love my fifties kitchen set. Some probably think why not a formal set, but I guess I like being a little quirky.It suits me to a T. There is not a fancy bone in my body, but I can put on the Ritz when I have to!
Congrats on the nomination! You brought back some great memories. Actually I have a black dining table and chairs which would not have done well in the 50s, but I love it now. Although I do have fond memories of our little crackerbox house way back when.
elayne001,Hi and thanks for the congrats for this hub. Glad this hub evoked some happy memories for you!
Cool ideas and brings back memories! Congrats on your nomination!
akirchner, thanks for the congrats! Thanks for stopping in to read!
Nostalgia! We had one of those when I was a kid. It eventually was covered in "Mac Tac", my mom loved that stuff! I remember playing outside all the time, walking over a mile to get to school, and enjoying most of my classes. You don't hear much of that from this generation of children do you?
Loved the hub. It deserves the hubnugget nominations. Congrats and good luck!
Duchess, thanks for the congrats, and I'm pleased that so many enjoyed the trip to yesteryear!
Wow...Bayoulady...I loved this Hub! I love this era although I am not of this era...but the simplicity and "cleaness" of this time continues to draw me...Good Job! Love your table btw...blessings to you
UlrikeGrace,thanks for reading and commenting! I don't know if you know it yet, but I am one of your new fans. It was a more innocent time for kids. Girls usually played with dolls and tea sets until they wer in the fourth or fifth grade! No lipstick and ear rings til jr. high. In high school, girls wore only skirts and dresses. Ours had to touch the floor if we stood on our knees!(about two inches below the knee!)
To be a fast girl meant that you let a guy kiss you before the third date!LOL! THAT could get you quite a bad reputation!
Bayoulady-I loved, loved, LOVED the hub. How fun. I recall so many of those moments you mentioned about growing up in the fifties. The table-wow! you brought back the image of my husbands grandmothers table in upper peninsula Michigan. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the family members still has it. Thanks! Congratulations on the hubnugget nomination and good luck to you. signed--baby boomer :)
Hi Denise, nice to meet you! Thanks so much for checking out my hub nomination! I'm finding there are a lot of us baby boomers on the hubpages! thanks for the congrats!
And bayoulady I am now a fan of yours!!! thanks for following me...I look forward to reading your hubs...and, yes, when you think of the difference in times...it almost makes one want to hide thier head in shame...but...Jesus never said the "world" was going to get better...He said in Him we would get better...praise God for that! Blessings to you
I'm so nostalgic too! I wasn't born until the 60s, but still love the 50s themes probably because my family couldn't afford to update very often and it was still the theme in our home even after I was old enough to notice these things. I can still remember the TV dinners that actually came in all tin containers with the aluminum covers that had to go into the oven. While my home isn't decorated in anything vintage, I still love collecting things from that era (sentimental reasons, I'm sure).. such as Pink Flamingos (hence Pink Mingos), and I just found a Maynard egg beater at a flea market in great condition for $2.00! It's in pale pink, and yes... I USE it! ;) Thanks for a hub that creates that "warm fuzzy"!
UlrikeGrace,thanks for stopping by to read and comment. Thanks for following !Bless you,too!
Pinkmingo. Thanks for sharing your memories! Yes< i remember those Swanson TV dinners. My hubby took them to work when he got tired of sandwiches. Well, ex-hubby, actually!
It's great that retro is back in style. I grew up exactly like you from reading your hub. Nice work.
Love the retro kitchen! My mom still has such a table/chair set. This hub is a joy to read. Hopefully we can remember to embrace family time together. Voted/rated.
I also went to school in the 1950s and it was just as you described. We went outside and played with the other kids on the block until 5 PM. Most of the dads finished work at 5PM so the kids had to come inside and get washed up before he arrived home. Dinner was put on the table after he changed from his work clothes. Life was bliss.
Thank you for taking me back to the 1950s. When my Dad remodeled our kitchen, he moved our original 'ice box' (yes it was an ice box and not a refrigerator)to the cellar.
We too were fortunate to have a TV but what also fascinated my siblings and me was an electric dishwasher in our new kitchen. It was one huge drawer that pulled out from the counter.
What a lovely trip back in time. It was like reading about my own childhood with Howdy Doodee and the test pattern on TV. We had a nice Black and white set in a cabinet with doors.My brother and I would get up early on Saturday morning and watch the test pattern for hours waiting for the cartoons.
Our dinette was the blue ice you described. Sure wish I had it now in place of the formal dining room set that never gets used except for holidays. We said "the blessing" and sat at the table until everyone was finished then the kids cleaned up the dishes. My sister washed, I dried and brother put them away.
Thanks for a great piece of nostalgia. Entertaining read!
Pamela99, glad I could take you back to the doo-wop days!Thanks for commenting!
Supportmed Wifewhosaves and Charles
I enjoyed reading the memories you shared! I'm glad we had those happy days! Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
PegCole, Thanks so much for sharing your childhood memories! I am enjoying all of the comments on this hub, because of the shared memories! LOVE IT!
I enjoyed this very much! This took me back and I loved the trip, complete with the slap of the screen door. Thank you!
SilverGenes,Thanks for reading and commenting!Glad it took you back!
Bayoulady-You did it! Well done and Rah for the Fifties Retro Kitchen Hub. Congrats for placing #1
Denise, thanks for the hurrah! I was thrilled for this hub to be a hubbnugget! It is my favorite of my hubs thus far.
The retro 50s kitchen look has been 'in' for quite a few years here in Germany. And reading of your childhood memories, it makes me want to go out and get one.
Some of the kitchens in your photos look quite luxurious, even by todays standards.
Beautifully written, beautifully laid out, this Hub is a great read!
All the best, Camlo
camlo,thank you. I 'll try to get to some of yours this weekend.
Hi Bayoulady! I was born in '56, not so far behind you! :) I remember one friend's mother's kitchen so very well, it was all black and white checkered flooring with a sort of diner's booth as the kitchen table. I loved going over there!
Thanks so much for the memories!
lorlie6, Hi. Thanks for visiting my hub. Born in 1956?another reason the fifties were special!lol!
I remember every detail of the retro kitchen....wow. Juke boxes are like this for me. Have you seen the modern things they have now? You tell it what you want to hear, it connect to the internet and finds your music and then plays it. You don't put a nickle in it either. You have to put paper money in it. It takes ones, fives, tens and twenties. Are you kidding me? Good thing there is plenty to drink.
Hey J, My family had a hideous, and it was hideous, yellow speckled formica and chrome table with yellowish green striped chairs to match. Evidently this style hung around into the early 70's. A friend had a turquoise table and chairs which i liked. We also had an old, white Coldspot with the giant steel handle that had to be wrenched up or down to open and close. It must have been 25 years old.
Keep up the excellent writing J!
-J
Stevomac..No I haven't seen the new juke boxes. back in my day, half the fun was standing at the jukebox and flipping through all the choices. Another thing was that was one of the ways the guys flirted with the girls.So romantic when the new guy comes over and gives you a whole quarter=5 songs, and then says,'There's a catch ,now. You have to dance 'em all with me".
I'd pick all sloooooooow songs everytime!
JayDeck, thanks for commenting. I think my grandmother had a table about like the one you described. It was chartruese!I do remember those refrigerators. ours came off and Daddu had ours rigged with an ice-pick and clothesline rope.
This was a great trip down memory lane, and I smiled all the way through! Although our family never had a red and white kitchen (but we did have the requisite chrome and formica dinette set), I made sure I had one when my husband and I purchased our first home in 1976. That last kitchen photo above could almost be that kitchen!
Love your dinette set, the carpet, and the gingham curtains. Where are those roller skates? :) Voted up and awesome.
Sally'sTrove- thanks for taking that trip of nostalgia! I can't believe I ever thought those old sets were ugly. I only see charm and cheer now!
Oddly, today is the 56th anniversary of my first wedding day, when at 22, I took charge of my first retro kitchen, listened to some of the earliest radio music of Elvis Presley in Waco, Texas, which is where, I believe, he was living at the time, or during the 3 years we lived there while my ex was in the Air Force @ James Connally AFB & I gave birth to my 2 children in the base hospital! Of course, it takes me back.
On a recent trip to Austin with some family, we stopped en route in Waco & ate at the famous Elite Circle Grille, a Waco landmark. Oh, the original Elite was built right downtown in 1919 but burned down and this one replaced it in the 30s, further out of downtown.
It's a most charming place with yummy food (not low-cal!) and one of the features is Elvis' favorite sandwich - - are you ready for this? Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. I kid you not!!
http://www.elitecirclegrille.com/
I had what may have been the best homemade chili I've ever eaten, and I've eaten chili in 5 different states, including Texas, Arizona, California, Indiana and Ohio.
Yes - the old kitchen, where I cooked up my $10 per week's food budget supplies & made most things from scratch and loved it, though the old stove and oven were quaint! Stood on legs and the oven was eye-level on one side with the burners on the other. Of course the table and chairs were those tacky, but now nostalgic & charming, chrome, plastic and formica! When we moved out of a furnished duplex and bought our own furniture, we bought everything in the house except a couple of appliances for $500!! lol. Now one can buy an iPad for that, plus sales tax. hahaha.
nellieanna,thanks for coming by and sharing your memories as well. I always enjoy the comments on this retro hub! I married my ex in 1967, and he gave me a generous $15.00 for weekly groceries. For that we had meat every night at supper, and bacon/eggs every mornig for breakfast. (Interestingly..we didn't start gaining weight until 15 years later when we embraced the diet food items like sugar substitutes!)
The Elvis sandwich , I have eaten (once), and it is unbelieveably rich and delicious!
I just adore the fifties kitchen furniture. Those great big fridges and massive cookers. They look such great places in which to cook, eat and have fun. The goods they make these days just doesn't seem to last, those old things just kept on going.
knell63,thanks for commenting! Yes, it seems that appliances were higher quality back in the 50s/60s!
Bayoulady, thanks again for stopping by my hub. I love this hub about retro kitchens. I love them too and so do my kids!! I wonder if today's kitchens will be retro in 50 years? Or will we still love the character and charm of 1950s kitchens?
Hi,Joy! Thank YOU for stopping by my hub as well.I love my formica table. It is ME. I love nostalgiaaa and I have afew antiques, though 40s and 50s is my favorite style, but not modernistic 50s..ugh..
Where do I order one of those high quality reproductions? I have been looking for a vintage one but having a hard time finding one that is in good shape. thanks, Kathy
Khearn- I bought mine from a furniture store.(I went for traditional wooden, saw the red and white, and HAD to have it. They are a little pricey,though. If you don't see them on the floor, many have order catalogs and will order it for you. also, you can google "retro formica dining table" lots of info.Thanks for stopping by to read!
I've got a brand new pair of roller skates youv'e got a brand new key/I think that we should get together and try them on to see!
loved this hub!! born in '53 but with a daddy that traveled all week/not as many warm fuzzy memories as you cept for the playing outside part
but we all grow differently/the blesing was the same, the dick and jane books were the same/the walking home of course, mostly trying to catch my older sister, she could run like the wind and Id get distracted by a flower or a lizard and lose her! weekends were the best, daddy was home and he would cook outside on a little bbq set he built himself, hubby and I did ours the same way, a hole in the ground with big bricks all in a circle and a grate from the appliance store on top, low to the ground but it works great! my hubby is better at the chopping wood part though bless my dad he was just a little guy and I am as inept as he was with an ax! love to you!
RNMSN-No more roller skates for these old bones and no more jitterbug for my old lymphedem alegs!lol!
Thanks for sharing your 50s memories!HUGS!
Wow--what a walk down memory lane, those were such good days. Our doors were unlocked, we slept like babies--not a care in the world. We would go to the local Burger shoppe and they would serve us out at the car, in roller-skates! We would have a root-beer float in a frosty mug, then we would go to the drive-in and take in a movie--with our family! A whole night out--and we never left the car! How funny! How sweet.
We had a table much like yours--but yellow, with vinyl chairs! But we were happy, and we were loving. Thank you for the beautiful walk down memory lane!
I voted this fabulous hub wayyy UP!
hey laurie! I do remember those rootbeer floats at our A&W Rootbeer Stand.(That was the name of the chain)You could get a float fries and a corn dog for one dollar. Thing is minimun wage was $1.25. Daddy at the time worked at the Holsum bakery and made slightly above minimum wage.So it would take my daddy close 1/2 a day of working to take us out(there was six of us). We rarely went out, but most folks we knew didn't either, so it was no biggie.
Thanks so much for sharing your story those simple ,innocent days with me!
I have the exact table that was left in my nanas house when she died. its in its original condition, I have it in storage It came with 6 chairs yellow and red, and the top is formica hourglass shaped, and the underneath of the table is signed, 1905. A little old man who stopped buy told me for the table to be in that great of condition she must have taken great care of it, then there was just a table there but no chairs, I didn't know where to find out the true value, or where to find out how to find someone to give me true prices of antiques . enjoy your table.
Hi carmella, thanks for stopping by and reminiscing! Unfortunately, my table is a new reproduction, but It definitely looks like the real deal!
Hi Bayoulady,
Awesome hub and a fun trip down memory lane! My father was a carpenter and made our formica dinette table, plus formica furniture for the living room (coffee table and end tables). I still love formica cause it's basically indestructible.
I really enjoyed your vivid descriptions and being a babyboomer related to the Dick and Jane books, walking long distances to school and sliding down hills on cardboard.
Thanks for sharing this cool hub.
happyboomernurse
thanks for your comments. We were so lucky to frow up in the time we did!
I have fond memories of a much sweeter time too. My grandparents had a dinette similar to the one in your picture. I found one a few years ago at an estate sale, the only difference is that mine is yellow. I wouldn't take anything for it. It makes me feel good and makes me think about happier days and wonderful memories. It sounds like our childhood family life was similar. I learned to read using the Dick and Jane books too which were still in use in the 60's. I taught my children to read using them and other Dolch words. I more recently acquired a couple on ebay and taught two of my grandchildren to read using those same books. Thanks for sharing your story, I enjoyed the read so much. Voted up and awesome!
Becky Puetz...My sincere apologies for not replying sooner. My daughter is very ill right now, and I'm not writing during all of this. I appreciate and enjoyed you comments!
I grew up in the 1950's and had a green formica dinette set. I loved to sit at that table and eat and talk. That's where family seem to always sit when they would come to visit. Mama would put on a pot of coffee and have some pound cake and coffee while everyone would visit together. I sure would like a set like that one again, if anyone has one for sale just let me know:)))
hi bayoulady,
I just bought a used pale yellow chrome/formica table
just like yours today for $65 at Habitat
for the Humanities today. it has that slight scallop or curved indention on all four sides and is 36" x 48". it looks original. how do you tell if it's a repro? I'm so excited. it will be delivered this Friday. I've always loved these dinettes. Saw a great one in the movie "The Bridges of Madison
County" with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. Thanks for your lovely post and photos.
June and musiclover.Thanks for your nice comments!
FCEtier 22 months ago
My wife and I inherited one of those dinnette tables from my aunt in North LA several years ago.
Your article gave my morning a nice breeze of nostalgia to start the day.
Thanks!