I’ve been meaning forever to write a series analyzing popular uses of color by decade, starting with the 90s and working backward to the Victorian or Federal eras, but the prospect always seemed so daunting. Then suddenly last week the key to opening that door appeared before me: what better place to start than the perfectly accessible and iconic home of the Brady Bunch?
Sherwood Schwartz passed away last week—he, the creator of Gilligan’s Island and the Brady Bunch, and the internet was lit up with discussions of the era. I even found a “blueprint” of Mike and Carol’s split-level home in L.A.
And there it is in the first pictures, what I’d call the opening salvo in any discussion of the 70’s palette: Harvest Gold, Avocado and Pumpkin. I’m an expatriate of 70s suburbia, and I came into cognizance when every hausfrau craved this color combo, especially in kitchens and especially the enamel stove. I wonder, did this palette exist so thoroughly in urban centers like Manhattan or Paris as well?
If I had to guess, this earthy triumvirate appeared as a muted antidote to the cupcake colors of the 60s, and perhaps in context these new colors read as “sophisticated.” And before you start typing your comments, I know The Brady Bunch debuted in 1969, but that set changed over time and this palette is indelibly associated with the early 1970s, and there it shall remain.
To our 1970s palette, we should definitely add a brown, though it’s not the wenge or espresso bean color in vogue the last few years, it should be drier and earthier. Part of me thinks also that once the disco balls dropped later in the decade, there should be a purple or a lilac added, but let’s save that for the 80s. As I flip through old books on interiors, I see a lot of Emerald Green. And lastly, I wonder if we need a little cool Mary Tyler Moore Blue, or should we slot than in with Star Trek Blue and the 60s? You tell me.
Possible color matches: Benjamin Moore Marblehead Gold HC-11, Olive Tree 392, Pumpkin Spice 126, Whitall Brown HC-69, Brazilian Rainforest 651, Wedgewood Gray HC-146.
Images: Mark Chamberlain, from Interiors For Today, Whitney/Studio Vista; except Images 1 and 8: DVDtalk.com; Image 2, Apartment Therapy
Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
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Great post. I always notice the colors in a TV show.
Fun post...i love looking back at these shows at the time those colors were just expected. What will people look back and say about todays interiors 50 years from know??????
I love this topic!
Great post! My mom actually painted her office Benjamin Moore's Pumpkin Spice. It looks sensational when paired with dusty deep blues, ambers and other jewel tones.
I'm pretty sure I wore that MTM sweater!
My friend who lived 2 doors down in 1973 had a home with a purple and white living room, so I definitely vote for purple (deeeeeeep purple) on your list!
I'm going to argue the difference between Star Trek and MTM blues - or I guess just argue that there is one. I think the picture used above shows that dusty grey-blue that I associate with that time period (the Jaws poster, lots of the interiors in Live and Let Die), as opposed to the brighter blue of McCoy's uniform.
Can you see the dork badge? It's next to my communicator.
It's so weird seeing photos of Mary Tyler Moore and Princess Diana because now I know how much my mom idolized those too. That first photo of Moore is my mom to a T.
Don't forget the "coppertone" appliances!
Star Trek shirts were blue, sets were more like MTM newsroom, or Wedgewood Gray
My mom (an artist and interior decorator) and I have often discussed that trends and styles seem to follow the half-decade to half-decade, not by the numbered decade. So, '55-'65 (Jackie O), '65-75' (hippies), '75-'85 (disco, Farrah/Diana hair), '85-95' (neon and big hair), '95-'05 (? Spice Girls/ Britney?), etc. have more in common with each other than the actual decade. My examples are women's fashion related, but maybe it would help sort out the Star Trek/ disco ball outliers?
In 1977, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up...a psychologist. Why? Because I already knew what my office would look like. Brown desk, orange shag rug, gold upholstered vinyl tulip chairs, heavy wheat-colored textured curtains. Now I know this was probably based on direct rebellion to my cupcake-colored pink and aqua bedroom. Who knew? PS: I am not a psychologist, but I do have my own office. Dream come true! (only with beautiful butter colored walls!)
It'd be great to see that episode of MTM where Lou hires a woman to redecorate his apartment. He tells her he loves it, but really, he hates it. There's a poster on the wall, just a great big number 8 on it, and he says, how many posters did she go through before finding this one? Seven?
Not everyone had a color TV in the early 1960s. Man from Uncle was first filmed in B/W, if I remember right. As color sets became more common, TV took advantage of the technology, and enthusiastically added color to shows. (Color sets were the HD or 3D of the 1960s.)
@catiaelizabeth-
Your mom is so right. I always say I'm a product of the 60s because it's awkward to say 65-75. And I don't want to say "70s" and be pictured as Disco Farrah.
So, what are we in now...Throw-Back MCM?
Reworked Retro? Thrift to Thrive? IKEA Hell?
@mxjohnson: Is it sad that I remember that episode so well that I know that Lou hired Rhoda to decorate his apartment? Possibly.
I find myself loving the decor (and wardrobe) on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
It was Charles DeMuth's Figure 5 in Gold.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wisdomportal.com/Christmas/Demuth-Figure5InGold.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wisdomportal.com/Christmas/Figure5InGold.html&usg=__g9bLdghNz1uGSADMGBkGRr1-tnc=&h=364&w=300&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=4_xYbKikm-OJ1M:&tbnh=138&tbnw=114&ei=GnUoTquAFIrGgAfdgthc&prev=/search%3Fq%3D5%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1117%26bih%3D581%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=139&vpy=67&dur=59&hovh=247&hovw=204&tx=112&ty=94&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
It was Charles DeMuth's The Figure 5 in Gold.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wisdomportal.com/Christmas/Demuth-Figure5InGold.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wisdomportal.com/Christmas/Figure5InGold.html&usg=__g9bLdghNz1uGSADMGBkGRr1-tnc=&h=364&w=300&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=4_xYbKikm-OJ1M:&tbnh=138&tbnw=114&ei=GnUoTquAFIrGgAfdgthc&prev=/search%3Fq%3D5%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1117%26bih%3D581%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=139&vpy=67&dur=59&hovh=247&hovw=204&tx=112&ty=94&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
Color by Decade is a great post. Continue with it through the different decades. MTM looks so cute and stylish.
I loved MTM, too, and STC (Star Trek Classic) remains one of my favorite things. Part of their charm absolutely is their colors, which now evoke nostalgia.
@catiaelizabeth- So right on. I think that applies to music & fashion as well. Loved music from 65-75...hated 75-85. Also, big hair and fashion from the late 80s stuck around in the early 90s.
Wow---thanks for the link, Mark!
Great post. I think those oversized knobs on the kitchen cabinets are hysterical.
My grandparents had a kitchen in "harvest gold", with cane-printed wallpaper.
Would love to see more colors of the decades. I really enjoyed the 1940s profile last week-ish.
Shag rugs! Where are the shag rugs?
Most of the trailers and motorhomes of the 70's had brown and orange floral or plaid upholstery and curtains and a frightening number of them still have the orginal decor. We had leftover appliances of the era, some avocado green, some harvest gold. Not the greatest colours but even worse when mixed!
It is SO REFRESHING to read objective descriptions of interior decorating tastes of the past decades and not simply "an ugly brown and orange thing screaming 70's, horror!".
They help understand better and create one's taste... in the end, is it a crime to love a decorating hallmark just because it's not on vogue? Reading fashion and interior magazines, it all too often seems to.
Still, colors never come back exactly as they were and I still gasp when I see an original room from the 50's, pale blue walls and ceramic ornaments (flying gulls, anyone?) included.