The history of colored appliances

Circa 1950
International Harvester and Caloric start offering differen colored handles on their Fridges and ranges respectively to give the woman of the house a choice with which to harmonize with the color of her kitchen.

Late 1953-1954
Frigidaire introduces the first appliances in colors. You had a choice of Stratford Yellow or Sherwood Green in addition to plain white.

January 1955
GE introduces 5 new colors for their appliances, Woodtone Brown (the color of light chocolate milk), Turquoise Green, Cadet Blue, Petal Pink, and Canary Yellow. Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue are not very popular colors and are gone by the late 50's

1955-1956
Frigidaire adds Mayfair Pink to its color palette for the 1956 line of appliances/ Maytag washers and dryers become available in Pasteltone Pink, Green, and Yellow, Kelvinator produces a plethora of colors including such beautiful shades of blue known as 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 introduces Charcoal Gray to its new Sheer Look line of appliances. This color is not at all popular and is discontinued after 1960

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 Also about this time Frigidaire drops Stratford yellow and repalces it with Sunny Yellow.

1963-1964
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.

1966
GE introduces the first new appliance color since 1959.... 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.

1967
GE introduces a second new color ....Harvest (never officially know as harvest gold). This color along with Avacado catches on like wild fire and is offered until circa 1984. Also about this time Whirlpool offers a very rare version of GE's Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue on their washers and dryers (that is my guess as I have seen a Woodtone Brown dryer and a Cadet Blue washer) Maytag appliances are offered in Cordoba Copper Spanish avacodo and Castillian Yellow. Castillian Yellow is reploaced circa 1970 with California gold (aka Harvest Gold).

Circa 1970
Frigidaire introduces the color poppy on its appliances

1971-1976
No major changes are made in colors during this period

1977
GE gets rid of all its shaded colors and introduces a new line of colors called the New Naturals. These colors are named, Onyx, Coffee, Harvest Wheat, Fresh Avocado, and a brand new color called Almond these colors are more vivid then their predeccessors and they are advertised in a huge campaign in all the "home magazines" of the day.

Early to late 1980's
Copper Brown and Avacado 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 Whirlpool experiments with a light brown/beige color they call toast. Kenmore offers toast as well as a light gray color called platinum starting around 1987. Both of these colors prove not to be too popular and they are dropped after a few years.

Well that brings us up to the 1990's where I choose to stop lest I vomit on my keyboard from being subjected to awful 90s appliances Drop me a line and let me know what you think. PAT COFFEY


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Post# 102474 1/8/2006 at 12:06 (6,674 days old) by harvestgold (Deland, Florida )
Checkrate/Likes Hey Guys just wondered if any of you guys could shed some light as to what appliance manufacturers offered colored washers and dryers and what years and colors were available and for how long ?? Harvestgold

Post# 102492 , Reply# 1 1/8/2006 at 14:42 (6,674 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)
Checkrate/Likes *Colored appliances* Circa 1950 International Harvester and Caloric start offering differen colored handles on their Fridges and ranges respectively to give the woman of the house a choice with which to harmonize with the color of her kitchen. Late 1953-1954 Frigidaire introduces the first appliances in colors. You had a choice of Stratford Yellow or Sherwood Green in addition to plain white. January 1955 GE introduces 5 new colors for their appliances, Woodtone Brown (the color of light chocolate milk), Turquoise Green, Cadet Blue, Petal Pink, and Canary Yellow. Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue are not very popular colors and are gone by the late 50's 1955-1956 Frigidaire adds Mayfair Pink to its color palette for the 1956 line of appliances/ Maytag washers and dryers become available in Pasteltone Pink, Green, and Yellow, Kelvinator produces a plethora of colors including such beautiful shades of blue known as 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 introduces Charcoal Gray to its new Sheer Look line of appliances. This color is not at all popular and is discontinued after 1960 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 Also about this time Frigidaire drops Stratford yellow and repalces it with Sunny Yellow. 1963-1964 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. 1966 GE introduces the first new appliance color since 1959.... 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. 1967 GE introduces a second new color ....Harvest (never officially know as harvest gold). This color along with Avacado catches on like wild fire and is offered until circa 1984. Also about this time Whirlpool offers a very rare version of GE's Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue on their washers and dryers (that is my guess as I have seen a Woodtone Brown dryer and a Cadet Blue washer) Maytag appliances are offered in Cordoba Copper Spanish avacodo and Castillian Yellow. Castillian Yellow is reploaced circa 1970 with California gold (aka Harvest Gold). Circa 1970 Frigidaire introduces the color poppy on its appliances 1971-1976 No major changes are made in colors during this period 1977 GE gets rid of all its shaded colors and introduces a new line of colors called the New Naturals. These colors are named, Onyx, Coffee, Harvest Wheat, Fresh Avocado, and a brand new color called Almond these colors are more vivid then their predeccessors and they are advertised in a huge campaign in all the "home magazines" of the day. Early to late 1980's Copper Brown and Avacado 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 Whirlpool experiments with a light brown/beige color they call toast. Kenmore offers toast as well as a light gray color called platinum starting around 1987. Both of these colors prove not to be too popular and they are dropped after a few years. Well that brings us up to the 1990's where I choose to stop lest I vomit on my keyboard from being subjected to awful 90s appliances Drop me a line and let me know what you think. PAT COFFEY

Post# 102502 , Reply# 2 1/8/2006 at 15:35 (6,674 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes *Awesome!* Fantastic description, Pat! Thank you!

Post# 102503 , Reply# 3 1/8/2006 at 15:39 (6,674 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)
Checkrate/Likes Pat said: ".....Avocado." You said it all! Major homage to GE for introducing my favorite color.

Post# 102533 , Reply# 4 1/8/2006 at 18:39 (6,674 days old) by jasonlangel ()
Checkrate/Likes hehe

Post# 102538 , Reply# 5 1/8/2006 at 19:13 (6,674 days old) by magic clean ()
Checkrate/Likes Cool timeline Pat. GE in the early 80's offered Silver & Sand. Quite similar to Whirlpool-Kenmore Platinum & Toast respectively. Just a bit lighter in tone. The Whirlpool blue of the late 60's was called Sapphire, quite like the blue that is showing up in laundry again.

Post# 102539 , Reply# 6 1/8/2006 at 19:20 (6,674 days old) by harvestgold (Deland, Florida )
Checkrate/Likes *Colored appliances* Pat; WOW awesome!!!! i had No idea so many colors were offered through so many years Thanks for the fantastic excellent info John

Post# 102557 , Reply# 7 1/8/2006 at 20:46 (6,674 days old) by cybrvanr ()
Checkrate/Likes cool! you did't mention much about the black color that became popular in the early 90's. I remember seeing rows of black washers and dryers at Sears in the early 90's.

Post# 102567 , Reply# 8 1/8/2006 at 21:57 (6,674 days old) by tlee618 ()
Checkrate/Likes That was very interesting Pat, seems as though Frigidaire was somewhat of a leader in bringing out colors. Sure wish we could get back to some of those old beauties. Terry