11: Study Notes
How postwar suburbia got its color.
Pastels and Spring go hand in hand. For 3ish months of the year they’re inescapable, and as a high-saturated, high-contrast person, I politely loaaaaaaathe the aesthetic. But the palette has such strong branding, so I figured it must be worth discussing.
And what better way to talk about pastels than in post-war American home, because there is nothing quite like the mechanism that is the American suburb.
We’re likely all familiar with the various booms post-World War II, most famously the children, but also GDP, family income, cars, highways, etc., etc. It was very much an everything, everywhere, all at once decade for middle-class White Americans.
But one of the biggest booms of the time was housing. By 1950, builders had broken ground on 1.7 million new homes in a single year (the 2025 mind cannot comprehend!!!!). The homes that were built were almost entirely in the suburbs with white-picket fences and perhaps a dog and a cheery milkman. For the first time, many young families were moving further away from the city with racks of cash lining their pockets.
Let’s start in the kitchen
At the time, a refrigerator was not an exciting object. It was no longer a novel way to store food, but a reminder of how sterile and boring kitchens could be. General Electrics, Frigidaire and the like, knew this was a problem.
How do you solve a dull fridge problem? COLOR MAXXING AND GIVING WOMEN THE ILLUSION OF POWER.
Big Fridge and their targeted marketing stacked ads of pastel-colored kitchenware directly in front of women, the ~ domestic-decision makers, over the decade. Soon the ill-fated white fridge became a mint fridge, baby pink fridge, sunshine yellow fridge or turquoise fridge.
Read: ”The Dawn of the Colorful Kitchen” by The MIT Reader
But why stop at appliances??
Formica countertops also came in the same pastel palette. By the early 1950s, nearly one in three new homes had laminate countertops, most of them in some variation of soft pink or aqua. Pair that with even more customization like Armstrong floor tiles, and you could have yourself a merry little Easter egg basket every time you walk into the kitchen!
Pastels as a marketing tactic has one man to blame.
In 1951, Ernest Dichter, a researcher in advertising, developed a report concluding that post-war women didn't want to be bogged down with the utility of yesteryear, instead, they wanted self expression! According to Ditcher, color was the simplest answer because it gave women a way to claim the kitchen as a creative space.
Shifting gears
By the mid 1950s, what was in the kitchen was now in the streets as American carmakers caught on fast to the pastel trend. The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air was offered in Tropical Turquoise, Surf Green, Matador Red, and Colonial Cream (hate hate hate that last color), while Ford offered shades called Springmist Green and Starmist Blue.
Back to targeted marketing, Cadillac and Buick explicitly marketed their pastel palettes toward women buyers. The color of your car was visible to the entire neighborhood, so the make, model and color of the car was a social decision. And social decisions, as marketers started to realize, were funneled through women.
Call you later!
How are you going to share the news of your Pink Palace? Through a pink telephone of course! Bell’s Model 500, introduced in 1950, originally launched only in black. By 1954 it was offered in ivory, green, yellow, red, and blue. By 1957 the big boy pastels entered the room: aqua blue, light beige, pink.
Nothing lasts forever
The pastel fever didn’t last. By the late ‘60s everything in the home was replaced with earthy tones, like mustard and avocado green carpeting. In the ‘80s, it went back to white, and now we’re in our stainless steel era.
But with the way trends work, we’re well overdue for a revival. Much to my dismaaaaay.
My browser tabs
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victimlocation: Chicago!LA’s K-line is getting an extension…that won’t break ground until 2041 and will likely not be done until 2047. Mhmm yes yes
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Happy 20th to Hannah Montana! The special has already eclipsed 6 million views after debuting on March 24th. While we’re here, best HM songs: “Gonna Get This,” “Rock Star,” and of course “The Climb,” because nothing will beat the run at the 2:38 mark. Thank you for the mems, Miley!