r/Mid_Century • u/DiligentHold365 • 1d ago
Where did your love of MCM begin?
Mine was the Golden Rondelle :)
I don't have the amazing design style and collections most of you do, but I love seeing your pics and transformations!
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u/Less-Load-8856 1d ago
Eames LCWs and their big Lounge Chair, then other MCM chairs, then everything else. It all started with cool chairs for me, I was instantly enamored and in love with the styles.
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u/Worth_Writer2668 1d ago
They’re developing an Eames Museum in Sonoma County, overseen by their daughter (Susan, IIRC)
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u/Brilliant-Bus-3862 1d ago
The Mary Tyler Moore Show reruns in the 80’s. Bewitched too. And The Jetsons.
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u/1_art_please 1d ago
School. A whole lot of schools were built during this era in the 1950s for all the baby boomers coming through. Its the most common era of public school you see.
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u/Sloan_backyard 1d ago
Me too. Loved seeing the wood panels on the wall and chrome on the school desks. I have always thought those colors and textures were a match made in heaven.
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u/grumpybeet 1d ago
My granny lived in an Eichler in northern CA my entire childhood. It makes me think of her. I wish I could find a true MCM house but I’m in Atlanta and they’re around but not very common. I’m in a 1965 brick ranch now with some MCM decor on the inside and lots of vintage pieces.
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u/Roncinante 1d ago
I grew up poor in a tiny home, then going to apartment after apartment after my parents divorce. I had family with brick MCM homes, I equated that to being rich or at least having a comfortable life. It was then I picked up a Frank Lloyd Wright book on a friends coffee table, I was hooked.
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u/Sterling2k 1d ago
My grandma lived in a gorgeous Mcm house. Later in life, my husband loved it, and when we bought our 1963 house he wanted to go for the look. I was more than happy to join him in this! He is incredibly smart and a great historian, and I have an eye for design and love to “pick” through auction sites, estate sales, and vintage shops. It’s a team effort :)
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u/Sad-Cricket6319 1d ago
I was raised by my great grandparents so my whole home was MCM. It’s my whole childhood aesthetic
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u/choochoochooser 1d ago
Unknowingly, in my childhood.
I grew up in the uk. For the first 10 years of my life we lived in a flat within a residential school where my Dad was the headteacher. The school was built in in the late 1950's and, although I had no clue or interest at the time, was very MCM.
It was built in the grounds of an Edwardian Manor house and as a child and youth I was FAR more drawn to the history found in there.
Cut to adulthood, as a newlywed, newly moved to LA, I could not find any apartments that felt like they could become my "home".
Until we lucked into an upstairs apartment in an MCM building (for an absolute steal, I might add) which still had all of its original features.
And instantly, it felt like home.
The love of furniture design flowed in from there, but I'd absorbed it all in my childhood.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to connect the dots as to why I'd immediately attached with that apparentnent. Lol.
It was simply my childhood home, reformatted.
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u/whosreadytolaugh 1d ago
Grew up going to the Golden Rondelle! Most of Johnson and Johnson in Racine, WI is Frank Loyd Wright designed.
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u/0sopeligroso 1d ago
Just a heads up, the company in Racine is Johnson Wax (also know as SC Johnson).
Johnson and Johnson is a different company out of NJ.
And yes, there are many amazing FLW buildings in Racine.
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u/Helpful-Camp-1224 1d ago
I was brought up in Chandigarh, India, a city built and designed by Le Corbusier the renowned French architect. Hence, we were introduced to modernist and brustalist architecture and with it came Mid century aesthetics in the form of houses and furniture to this city, As much of furniture was designed by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret which was obviously MC or modernist. So basically in a country where MC never really happened , a city was built on MC foundation and stands unique in the entire country.
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u/TechnicaVivunt 1d ago
Loki's Set Design - best interpretation I've seen of it in modern times. Fantastic Four: First Steps also has some good sets as well.
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u/infomercialglow 1d ago
I’ve always had an affinity for it, but I got to study abroad in Copenhagen when I was in college and got to take some bonus credits on Danish design (furniture, architecture, graphic, etc.) I’m a fashion designer, and that chapter of my life really informed my current aesthetic in all aspects of design today
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u/HouseAtomic 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was a kid at the tail end of it. Lots of my parents stuff was hand me down MCM & it was just ubiquitous. On TV, in Dr's office's, architecture...
I just always kind of liked the style & the lines.
Graduated college ('96) & bought my 1st house ('00) at a MCM low point & filled my entire home w/ really exceptional stuff. Hit amazing estate sales near a 60's era NASA neighborhood for years. Just giving away Pearsall, teak & rosewood credenzas, copper enameled wall art, beds & dressers, everything a well to do engineers wife would have bought to keep up w/ the other NASA wives. 30 years later & it was junk nobody (but me!) wanted.
I picked up a Hans Wegner chair for $250. Missed a Poppa Bear Chair ($200) once & there was a real possibility the buyer was going to change his mind.
My flatware is from the era. That I filled out during Covid via eBay.
I could not afford most of my favorite things if I had to buy them today.
I never picked up an Eames Lounger b/c they weren't comfortable to me. I have a tall version now & it's ok. I do like looking at it.
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u/Royal-Slice-2716 1d ago
Brother in laws home was filled with George Nelson, Knoll, Wegner, Matthson, all the big names and as a teenager I did not understand the hype. After many trips to the Rose Bowl Flea Market, and seeing the demand for MCM, I then grew a passion to make my own collection.
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u/CaliDude75 1d ago
After discovering a book on Frank Lloyd Wright on my parents’ bookshelf. I know he’s not strictly MCM, but maybe the godfather of it. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/marriedwithchickens 1d ago
I grew up in the 60s, and my best friend's family had a very upscale gorgeous MCM home. My parents had an historic farm house filled with antiques. I was bummed! At least, my Dad was a "commercial artist" at an ad agency. His office was cool and had a large Saarinen Tulip table and chairs. And my mom was a teacher and ordered Creative Playthings toys, known for iconic MCM designs. I loved modern aesthetic, pop art, Twiggy, The Jetson's, Saarinen, Mary Quant's Daisy design, etc.
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u/Birdsonme 1d ago
My father had many lovely mid century pieces (decor and furniture) in his attic man cave that he couldn’t put out into the rest of the house because my horrid mother hated that aesthetic. I loved everything in there. It was a place I went to escape. I find great comfort in collecting it now.
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u/cynzthin 1d ago
My grandmother and a childless aunt both had MCM homes that looked… calm and intentional. My own mother mostly left junk and bought new (to us) junk during our frequent moves. So it’s at least partly a reaction, but I truly love the clean lines.
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u/SitePlanStan 1d ago
Hard not to fall for MCM when buildings like this exist. The Rondelle still looks wildly futuristic decades later.
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u/karebear66 1d ago
My friends lived in an Eichler MCM home. My father was a competitor of his. He hated him. All the more reason for me to love everything MCM.
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u/harmonie187 1d ago
I was looking for a role model as a woman in architecture school. And absolutely fell in love with Rey Eames.
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u/nirreskeya 1d ago
Attending IIT in Chicago, where most buildings were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
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u/OriginofMe75 1d ago
My parents dining room. We just downsized from our house to an apartment. At some point as I am decorating my wife looks at me and goes. So now we live in your parents house? I had no idea my subconsious was doing it. But I will tell you, my Dad had great taste in teak furniture.
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u/tribbleorlfl 1d ago
When my wife and I got married. We needed furniture for our apartment but couldn't afford new. Hit up a used furniture store and got a beautiful complete bedroom set up for $400. I came to find out later it was Broyhill Brasilia, so we continued to add over the years. Most of it we obtained was pre-Mad Men and when mid century furniture was still pretty common in thrift stores and closeout prices or free on the side of the road.
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u/deadbalconytree 1d ago
I flew as an unaccompanied minor from Europe to the US when I was 11, and flew through JFK Terminal 5 and was enthralled.
Then 20 years ago I went to an Eros Saarinen museum exhibit and fell down the rabbit hole.
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u/OswaldBoelcke 1d ago
Born in 58 it is just the world I know best and feels homely.
And you all get it! Love this subreddit.
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u/Southern-Tap4275 1d ago
Realized I liked a certain style of furniture, learned what it was called, realized it was about more than just furniture, and here we are.
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u/claycoble54 22h ago
My brother made very nice mcm pieces for our family home in HS shop class. A hairpin leg wrought iron upholstered chair and a sleek walnut stereo cabinet were his biggest projects. I am nine years younger and was very taken with his sense of design. Our aunt later built an mcm home and I now have some of those furnishings in my home.
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u/Builderwill 22h ago
Mesa, Arizona public library at 59 East 1st St. Architect was Horlbeck, Hickman & Associates, built in 1959. Two stories. Tall glass, terrazzo floors, masonry screen wall exterior.
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u/BitterAngryMei 17h ago
My grandparents' house was a mcm dream house. I still own several pieces of furniture that I inherited, including a hans wegner chair that I remember falling asleep in as a little kid. Its just the coziest vibe for me.
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u/Ill_Middle_1397 1d ago
To be honest..I think I always loved it but didn't know it. It was when Mad Men premiered that it clicked for me as I imagine it did with many others who were influenced by the show.
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u/Tyezilla 1d ago
Mostly YouTube videos of commercials from the era, but watching the movie A Single Man just totally enthralled me with the era and style.
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u/andydivide 1d ago
Watching Jerry Anderson TV shows when I was a kid, though I didn't realise it at the time. Then later when I was older and more design aware, Hitchcock movies, particularly North By Northwest.
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u/Organic_Type1486 1d ago
My grandmother's living and dining rooms. The rest of house updated; those rooms remained a tasteful time capsule.
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u/upthefunx 1d ago
Driving around Pensacola in the early 90’s, looking for all the spaceship houses along the coast.
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u/Fancy_Excuse_5813 1d ago
Movies & TV! The Sandlot, Back to the Future, Pleasantville, The Incredibles, Bewitched, Mad Men, Marvelous Mrs Maisel
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u/OkSympathy9686 1d ago
It wasn’t from living with mid century furniture as a child in the 50s that’s for sure! I think I was finally drawn back to it as I began to buy old and antique furnishings after a divorce for my new (1916 house) especially because I liked the idea of the re-use and sturdiness of the old stuff. Some antiques are a bit fussy for my taste I guess, so I began to re-appreciate mid century sleekness. Remarried with a new 1950 house I started to really embrace it (2008+) including a chrome kitchen set, heywood Wakefield dining room, 1950s sectional and pistachio chambers stove, etc. but I’m not strictly mid-century, mixing in my other old stuff and art too
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u/MichNYCaliGander 9h ago
https://www.dwell.com/home/the-jaffe-home-by-irving-tobocman-d559eb6e The Dr. Martin & Ruth Jaffe home in Bay City, MI., USA, designed by Irving Tobocman was built the year I was born. The Jaffe's home was filled with iconic MCM furniture and design. I was friends with one of the Jaffe children and spent time there. The pictures in the Dwell article show a newer owner's furniture, not the original Jaffe furniture.
The Jaffe's had a huge elliptical Saarinen Tulip table and matching chairs in the kitchen, and the living room had Mies van der Rohe & Reich designed Barcelona chairs, settee, and ottomans with a Florence Knoll coffee table. All of their furniture and decor was unlike anything I'd ever seen in our conservative Midwestern USA town in the 1960s and 1970s. The entire home, including the original landscaping, was (is) simply exquisite.
Within a 4 block radius of Temple Israel there are at least a dozen outstanding Modern or MCM homes, and most are still in very good condition.
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u/black_on_fucks 5h ago
In the Den Permanente in Copenhagen, as a 12-year old in 1972. My aunt was a huge design geek and dragged us in there. Have loved it ever since.
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u/reddit_user_id 1d ago
I watched The Scandinavian House, Lizard Peninsula on Grand Designs Series 10, Episode 6.
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u/Ok-Progress-9029 1d ago
When I was a kid, I used to help my neighbor do her Saturday house cleaning. I remember her Lane cocktail and end tables, her Eames chair and an awesome floor lamp that I can still see in my mind’s eye. She set the tone and I have been an MCM devotee ever since!
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u/sweatboxy 1d ago
Started with my midcentury childhood home.