COLOR ME...KOHLER
At a time when color is a design element in everything from your fridge to your custom kicks, it can be hard to remember when color options were nearly non-existent. Yet, well into the 1900s, kitchens and bathrooms were limited to white fixtures. Kohler Co. changed that for all of us in 1927.
But let’s back up. Color, we know, is light waves bouncing around in the world, being reflected and absorbed, before hanging out with our cones and rods. A physical phenomenon with no intrinsic value, good or bad. Why, then, are we drawn so irresistibly to our favorite colors? Why do some colors “feel” comfortable or exciting, while others leave us completely cold? And why do we all respond differently?
First, our natural ability to see hues, shades and tints of color varies from person to person, a bit like physical coordination. Our responses may also be partly instinctual, a remnant of earlier evolutionary selves. And undoubtedly culture plays a role.
Think about the color white for a moment. What does it evoke for you? Cleanliness? Sterility? Rather ideal qualities for kitchen and bathroom environments if you think about it. Which is why until 1927 sinks, tubs, toilets were exclusively white.
Kohler Prompts a Modern Sea Change
A little scene setting first: The end of World War I rang in a new decade. A decade-long celebration, “The Roaring 20s” called for design befitting a modern world. Suddenly, kitchens and bathrooms could be beautiful as well as functional. Colors first began showing up in textiles like rugs, linens, towels. Until Kohler Co. ventured to ask, “Why not plumbing fixtures?”
In the spring of 1927, the company introduced six colors: Spring Green, Horizon Blue, Lavender, Autumn Brown, Old Ivory and West Point Gray. For the first time, customers were able to purchase a full, colorful collection of bathroom products – cast iron and vitreous fixtures perfectly and consistently matched. Ads in the Saturday Evening Post and the Liberty magazine officially announced Kohler’s entry into a world of color.
Kohler went on to add the industry’s first jet-black plumbing products in 1928. Today it’s easy to overlook the enormity of this achievement. But let’s consider, the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibited a jet-black suite of Kohler products as an expression of modernity in 1929. And by every measure it was, and not only in terms of color and design. The ability to manufacture at such scale with such precision across multiple materials – that was modern.
War Takes a Toll on Color
By the late 1930’s, with the U.S. in a Great Depression and World War II just around the corner, Kohler slowed much of its color production. And as we know, things changed dramatically in the 1940s. World War II forced many companies, including Kohler, to use their resources to provide for the military.
Kohler’s manufacturing focus switched from plumbing products to artillery shells, submarine torpedo tubes, aircraft controls, and other military goods. Production of enameled cast iron bathtubs was discontinued altogether in the summer of 1942. Limited production resumed in early 1944, with fixtures mainly created for hospitals and war housing.
Because brass was a vital war material Kohler made “Win-the-War” fittings of cast iron with a special protective coating. The May 1942 issue of Kohler of Kohler News carried the first reference to a new finish for cast iron: baked black plastic.
The focus on the war heavily influenced the colors of the era. Khaki and olive green, as well as patriotic reds and blues became the standard color palette, in both fashion and the home. The American textile industry actually restricted the number of colors available for fabrics. And with demand for color fading, Kohler discontinued Lavender, Autumn Brown, and Rouge in 1944.
As the war was coming to an end in 1945, Kohler received the coveted Army-Navy E Award for excellence in manufacturing supplies for the military and introduced a new fixture color: Spruce Green. With color and good spirits returning to the home and the country, the company converted back to peacetime production and began marketing “a staple line of fixtures for small homes to meet the needs of the many military personnel returning home.”
Expressing optimism for America’s continuing prosperity, fashion and interior design led the way with a palette full of “pretty pastels” that were far removed from the drabs of the war years. The exuberance of the late 1950s also showed itself in such striking colors as turquoise, chartreuse and flamingo pink.
A Defining Decade
The upheaval of the 1960s prompted a major shift in KOHLER color. It was a decade of rule-breaking styles and colors. It was a time of rebellion as men burned draft cards and the sexual revolution was in full swing. Hot pink, day-glo orange, and acid green broke with conventions for color in dress and home decor.
The 60s were also highly instrumental in shaping Kohler Co as we know it today. It’s the decade of Kohler launched vivid Accent colors for the bathroom sink and a new tagline: The Bold Look of KOHLER. All of it captured the energy of the times and essence of the company.
Research and Rigor
Today a specialized color team is responsible for expanding the KOHLER palette. It begins with more than a year of research, including studying the cyclical patterns of color trends. To forecast the success of a new color, the team juxtaposes recent styles in fashion, art, architecture, interiors, and product design against centuries of color history.
Once a color has been approved and engineered, Kohler manufacturing takes over, producing a master color tile against which every pottery and foundry is calibrated and all products evaluated.
How a color appears will vary with the light source. Just think about how some shades of blue slide into green as the sun moves over the dial. This makes designing and reproducing color that looks exactly the same on enameled cast iron, vitreous china and acrylic – no matter the light source – a daunting task.
There’s no substitute for the human eye in the evaluation process, and Kohler relies on rare individuals who receive a near-perfect score every year on the Munsell Hue Test to deliver consistency. Armed with master tiles, a light booth, and crazy-good eyes, these individuals can visually discern if a color is ever so slightly more green or red, blue, or yellow than it should be. This ensures that each color remains uniform across all products. A feat we have been delighting Kohler customers with since 1927.
Still curious? Visit the KOHLER color timeline here.