Everything But The Sink

From the inception of the factory-built trailer coach in the 1930s, until the late 1950s, a standard floor plan was the norm. In nearly every rig of the time, a living room was situated in the front end, with an adjacent kitchen in the center of the coach. 

These kitchens were narrow, galley-type facilities. Often a sink and cook stove would be on one side, with a refrigerator placed along the opposite wall. This basic plan was used, with a few variations, for several years.  

In our first diagram, we see an example of a galley-type "Center Kitchen." This unit is from a 1956 BRANSTRATOR "45" 8-wide rig. In this layout, the sink, refrigerator and cook stove are all located along one side, with a small dinette area across the way. 

In the 1940s, and into the mid-1950s, house trailer kitchens often had a refrigerator built into the wall, with storage space above and below. This arrangement was possible with an 8 cubic foot (or smaller) appliance. 

Pastel-shade appliances were introduced in the early 1950s. The standard white finish was available at no extra charge. For an additional fee, units in canary yellow, turquoise or petal pink could be had. By the late '50s, colored -and coordinated- bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances had become a major mobile home selling point.

As larger -10 cubic foot- refrigerators began to be offered as standard equipment, many manufacturers began to install units in an enclosure, such as the one depicted here. The refrigerator sat on the floor, with the space on top often promoted as a "tv shelf." 

The first "front kitchen" mobile homes were built for the 1956 model year. By 1958, several variations were available. Above, we see the front-end sink design; this used in models in the 1964 Marlette COMMANDER series. 

Perhaps the most innovative house trailer galley ever devised was the "Crescent Kitchen." This design was used for the ultra modern 1959 and 1960 Spartan CAROUSEL rigs. The CAROUSEL "Crescent Kitchen" came equipped with a large (enclosed) refrigerator, double-bowl sink, eye-level oven and counter-top range unit.  

The CAROUSEL, like all Spartan-built homes, was a high-end, premium-priced unit. Here we see a physical layout of the 10' by 50' CAROUSEL "Crescent Kitchen" and adjacent bathroom. 

Click on image for a larger view

Kropf, another high-end manufacturer, devised a "Circular Kitchen" for some of their rigs. The kitchen depicted above came with the 1962 Kropf CAPISTRANO. Note the gigantic bath tub, which must have seemed mighty impressive in its day.

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Another variation of the mid-century mobile home was the "Diagonal Kitchen," a.k.a. "Angle Kitchen." The galley shown above came as standard equipment with the 1961 Frontier HI LINE # 1202.

Here at PORTABLE LEVITTOWN, we don't just tell about it...we try to show it. Case in point, a physical layout of the "Diagonal Kitchen" of the aforementioned Frontier HI LINE 10' by 50'.

Click on image for a larger view

By the mid-1960s, the once-popular pastel appliances had become passe'. A new shade known as coppertone was in stores by 1960. It would continue on, as the older canary yellow, turquoise and petal pink colors were slowly phased out.

Within a few years, new appliance colors had been established as the standard. Basic white and coppertone were still available. A new avocado green shade was introduced in 1967, with harvest gold debuting in 1968. A poppy red shade was also introduced. It never became popular and was soon phased out. The three appliance shades depicted above would remain in vogue until the mid-1980s.