Call it retro. Call it kitsch. Call it a harkening back to simpler times. Whatever you call it, 1950s style refrigerators are hitting the kitchen scene in all their ice cream–colored glory. The difference between these reproductions and their antique counterparts is that now you don't have to settle for limited space and the hassle of defrosting.
“The only thing we left off was the chisel,” says Orion Creamer of Big Chill, makers of the Big Chill Fridge. When he and his uncle started the business in 2001, they knew it would appeal to a different crowd. “The trend has been to hide your refrigerator with cabinetry and we have taken the opposite approach,” he says. The retro fridge isn't meant to be discreet. Colors like Cherry Red and Jadite Green make it the main attraction.
“The retro rage, anything fifties or sixties, keeps gaining momentum,” says Brian Hendrick, vice president of sales and marketing at Elmira Stove Works. Elmira's Northstar refrigerators are Energy Star–rated and have 18 cubic feet of storage space — a lot more than the originals they're modeled after. Buttercup yellow and Flamingo pink are two of the nine colors offered, and Elmira will also do custom colors and hot rod flames.
For more product information, visit ebuild.com, Hanley Wood's interactive product catalog.
