Vintage drainer

The sort of thing that the naval auntie might well have possessed, a lady who was probably born in the early 1920s. A substantially built drainer, from the beginning of the plastic era, complete with built-in draining tray, for use before the arrival of stainless steel sink units, let alone fitted kitchens.

Google Images is not having it however, incidentally disagreeing with me for once:

'While this dish rack has an excellent retro look, it is actually a modern kitchen accessory designed with a classic aesthetic'.

Not yet convinced. Etsy talks of people called Rubbermaid. But it also sells things very like this described as reproduction vintage. Further investigation needed.

Further investigation 1. Gemini tells me that plasticised steel wire has been around since the mid 1950s. As has the plasticised perforated steel base of the cutlery unit, at the back of the drainer as snapped above. I had forgotten that the point of the small holes of the perforated zinc that came before was to let air out while stopping flies from getting in. Plasticised perforated steel went out during the 1970s.

While BH tells me that grime and grease accumulate on drainers such as this one quite quickly. So the grime and grease on this one make it some years old, but not necessarily fifty years old.

I learn that a company called 'Rubbermaid' were famous in this connection, with part of Gemini's story about them being snapped above. See also references 1 and 2.

Further investigation 2. A further inspection of the drainer fails to turn up a maker's name or a brand name. But it does turn up the unusual wire sewing holding the cutlery section together, visible in the snap above, as are terminal perforations of the base plate.

Turning to Etsy, I soon turn up the drainer snapped above, for sale by VieuxModerne. Which apart from the colour and the missing tray is very much the drainer in question.

Zoom reveals both unusual wire sewing and perforations. While VieuxModerne might be an only-at-Etsy seller who looks to specialise in domestic collectibles from the middle of the 20th century. The real thing, rather than reproductions by the look of them.

And you get a fair bit of zoom from a webp file.

So, so far, Gemini is looking good: 1950s to 1970s. Possibly Rubbermaid or some lookalike.

And resuming my earlier conversation with him, he tells me a nice story about the thin wire business - which he calls wire wrapping or wire binding. A relic of the quality engineering at that time, before automation and plastics took over.

At which point I think I will draw this post to a close. I think GI and Gemini between them have done pretty well on this one. And once again, an iterative process: you still have to put in a bit of time and effort too.

References

Reference 1: https://www.rubbermaid.com/.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbermaid.

Reference 3: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VieuxModerne.