Seattle Twist

Welcome back to Part Two of The Home Bar: Resurrection of a Mid-20th Century Domestic Icon. As stated in the previous post, the home bar’s heyday was primarily in the 1950s & ’60s and, to a lesser degree, the ’70s. By the time the 1980s reared its head, many of the old cultural standards of the previous decades began to disappear rapidly, and with them went the home bar, both in greatly decreased production and as a piece of furniture. The discos and nightclubs of the 1970s became greater in number in the 1980s, and young adults and married couples of the time went out more often in their spare time, rather than hosting at home the sophisticated cocktail parties their parents and grandparents threw a decade or more earlier. And the cocktail itself began to decline in popularity — the populace more enamoured with beer and wine.

Home-made bars often remained in any particular house in which they were constructed, but went largely unused. Whereas manufactured home bars were more or less sold off or taken to the dump. In either case, and wherever it did exist, the home bar began collecting dust; and usually only via a trip to a second-hand or vintage shop, or watching a movie or TV show filmed in previous decades, would one see the stylish shape and ingenuity of this domestic icon of yesteryear.

But as any young adult — or adult young at heart – with a sense of style knows, the best time to be into something ‘Retro’ is when it isn’t popular, for it is at this time that the ‘Retro’ articles in question aren’t sought after, are considered old junk, and are, consequently, easier to find and less expensive to pay for. If the 1980s was good for anything, it was good for collectors of mid-20th Century items of all kinds, the home bar being no exception. In fact, it was the best time for acquiring such.

Ruby Montana’s nautical, bow-shaped home bar. This is an example of one of the many stylish designs of the vintage manufactured home bar. (Photo taken mid-1990s)

Contemporary home bars were still manufactured in limited quantities and design in the 1980s, but their styles and shapes were largely prosaic and their cost — considering their lack of popularity or uncouthness — unjustified. But uniquely-fashioned home bars could be found just as uniquely in second-hand and vintage shops; and they were more stylish, far less expensive, and rarely would one come across a duplicate design. Plus they were something special: a domestic icon of past years; a time capsule in vintage style and social significance. But, as previously mentioned, there were also the home-made home bars that remained intact,  never having left their original location — home bars that became a novelty and social institution for those buyers and renters who moved in after the house was sold.

Myself and two friends in the basement home bar in a Capitol Hill rental house, built by the original owner as a wedding gift to his daughter, who inherited the house. The bar’s lounge also contained a projection booth, screen, and in and outdoor speakers.  (Photo taken mid-1990s)

By the time the 1990s came about, mid-20th Century Retro became more popular, as did vintage and second-hand stores. Items were still reasonably affordable, and the competition not strongly competitive. Social scenes of both young and old developed around the appreciation for these past articles and fashion, collectors became more prevalent, and having a home bar — especially a vintage one – was an object of great attraction. But it wasn’t the same ol’ been-there, done-that Retro appreciation of the youthful 1950s Rock ‘N’ Roll and 1960s Mod fashion and culture. This growing appreciation was for the more adult-oriented culture of the 1950s and ’60s, and it centred round home bars, dressing up in vintage suits and dresses, sipping cocktails, and listening to cocktail music. It was an appreciation — nostalgic or otherwise — for one’s swingin’ parents and/or grandparents, their social lifestyles during un-politically correct times. This appreciation, though initially only in local pockets, would unexpectedly blossom and bloom in popularity, coming into the public eye in the mid-1990s. And though not quite as it had been, the home bar had returned. And with it, the return of Cocktail Culture.

Until next weekend…Cheers!

-T.G.