What did families of the fourties have on their walls?

[Sefton]

One exception in regards to the advertising art; Calendars. It was common to see people hang calendars with various artworks or photographs that would have the name or logo of some company at the bottom. Think Coca-Cola or Goodyear,etc. I've a picture somewhere of a farming family taken in 1936 that shows a Coca-Cola calendar on their wall.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

Perhaps a brass circular hanging with a picture of a medievel Spanish Sailing ship , very popular in "Mock Tudor" houses in Britain in the 30's to go with the fumed oak barley twist legs on the dinning "Suite"

And something painted on black velvet for the "Boudoir" perhaps? galloping stallions?

 

[SuperKawaiiMama]

Dr Greg: Yes, I have the requisite ducks (or swallows in my case) in the kitchen. I'll have to google the rest for inspiration.
Tuppence: I must find them and have a look through. I always tend to start out with one idea and then end up with something completely different that I fall in love with.
Rachel: I've seen some great tutorials for DIY versions of these.
Sefton: I LOVE that idea! the only painted mirrors I have seen are usually advertising beer.

 

[carouselvic]

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ique&um=1&hl=en&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-26,GGLD:en

 

[scotrace]

I don't remember the exact figure, but something like 70% of American homes had a Maxfield Parrish print in them. And one often sees photos with a framed photo of FDR on the wall. Those are probably the must-have basics.

 

[Feraud]

If you want something a bit tropical there's painted mirrors. My grandparents had two large rectangular mirrors that had big tropical birds painted on them. I believe they may have been white Cockatoos. I fairly sure that these were 1940's pieces. I saw one a few years back in an antique store for big $$$, although things like that are quite overpriced in the S.F. bay area.

Something similar to this-

 

[Feraud]

O.k. here are some available prints for sale through a mail order catalog.
The average homeowner is more likely to put something along these lines on their walls.

Landscapes, etc. you get the idea.

 

[Sefton]

Something similar to this-

Yes, that's it exactly! The mirror part was only along the edge of the frame.

 

[David Conwill]

Here are some of the artists that were popular in the 40s.

Jackson Pollock,Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Robert Motherwell, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Piet Mondrian, Arshile Gorky, Adolf Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, and Andrew Wyeth.

I don't know art, but I know what I like, and Andrew Wyeth is the only one in this group I care for.

But I'm an uncultured swine, I love the aforementioned period advertising art, though I cringe when I think of the old magazines being butchered for it.

Edit: I also like the commercially available art shown on this page. My parents have some of that in their home and I guess now I know the era it's from. I always did like it.

-Dave

 

[Big Man]

There are a number of pictures on the walls of my old house that have been in the same place for (I am told) prior to 1932 and that I can personally remember since about 1958. These pictures were framed by my grandfather (who died in 1932) from magazine prints. They are pictures of flowers and various outdoor scenes. There are two pictures in the "front room" that were purchased at Ivey's in Asheville, NC about 1924 (still have the tags on the back) that are prints (one a sailing ship and one a woman herding sheep).

Also, there are several photographs that have been framed and have been in the same location for at least the past 70 to 75 years.

I'll try to make and post some photos of them if anyone is interested.

 

[MaryDeluxe]

The tropical prints of the birds are by Turner. They are known for doing the flamingo mirror art pieces and other tropical birds. But they are pricey and highly collectible!

Actually I was going to suggest that Turner prints might be something you want to look into for wall art. I would also suggest looking for art prints from De Jonge. They both have done some very pretty flower art prints. Most of the pictures you will run across will be smaller in size and usually come as a set of prints.

Here is a picture from my friend Jody or sweet_inspiration over on flickr. She has amazing taste and I think might be what you are looking to accomplish! This is a picture of her guest room and living room. See more of her cool style here.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweet_inspiration/253713806/ Oh I forgot she also has a blog....http://themistressofthehouse.blogspot.com/

And here is a picture of a set of De Jonge prints in my living room!

 

[Foofoogal]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Just awesome MaryDeluxe. What a bed and breakfast that would be.
They also had Indian Prints and a lot of religious art as well as cottage prints.

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Thought some of you would enjoy her decor! Her house is AMAZING and she's got great style....she inspires me!

 

[Warbaby]

Don't forget the ubiquitous Maxfield Parrish prints that were popular in the 20s and 30s and were still hanging around in the 40s and 50s. On the west coast, both original and mass-produced prints done in a flat, airbrushed technique were very popular in the late 40s and 50s.

 

[BeBopBaby]

I love the Turner tropical bird/flamingo prints that were already mentioned. I have a mirror similiar to this one hanging above the fireplace in my bedroom:

I think I paid $50.00 for this about 12 years ago. I thought that was pretty steep at the time, but I really liked it and had a much more disposible income then!

And I also have two matching 1940s prints of beach/sailboat scenes above my bed. I love the pastel, muted colors that these prints often are.

 

[BeBopBaby]

Mary - You wouldn't happen to know what color your friend painted the walls in this picture, would you?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/85/253713972_bd01d1d54a.jpg?v=0

This is the exact color I've been looking for to paint my living room in, but all the colors I've found are too muddy or peachy. I want a nice warm parchment color to warm up all the dark woodwork in my house.

 

[JupitersDarling]

I just found a nice pic of a middle-class family in their living room at this blog post (Scroll to the bottom):

http://into-thefray.com/blog/?p=1672

 

[tuppence]

If you want something a bit tropical there's painted mirrors. My grandparents had two large rectangular mirrors that had big tropical birds painted on them. I believe they may have been white Cockatoos. I fairly sure that these were 1940's pieces. I saw one a few years back in an antique store for big $$$, although things like that are quite overpriced in the S.F. bay area.

I love the mirror Sefton, and very appropriate for an Australian themed house, but... cockatoos don't actually enjoy a great reputation in Melbourne due to their early morning wake up calls as they fly over in flocks. The noise they make is worse than a mosquito hovering round on a hot night.

 

[vitanola]

Upscale traditional 1940's interiors would often have been furnished with "Federal" style furniture, that melange of simplified Duncan Pfyfe, Chippendale and Hepplewhite so beloved of ladies born in the '80's. Window treatments would consist of straight draperies and valence in a deep, quiet color framing the windows, and walls would commonly have a paper with a small figure. A particularly self-confident homemaker might choose a bold striped wallpaper, whilst a high-end room in this style would often use a Thomas Strahan paper reproducing an 18th century fabric, with some genuine antique furniture thrown in for good measure.

In all of these interiors framed Currier and Ives prints, either pages form the Metropolitan Life Insurance calendar, or originals, would have been common. The "La Mode Illustree" hand colored fashion plates from Godey's Ladies Book were also popular in these traditional interiors, wither framed as art, or decoupaged on to wast baskets and lamp shades.

 

[Archie Goodwin]

Not sure about typical

I imagine there would have been as much variation in the 40s as there is today. Both sets of my grandparents decorated the walls of their homes in the 40s, paternal set in the early 40s, maternal set in the late 40s.

The Catholic side of the family had The Last Supper, a picture of Mary, and the rest of the wall decor was family pictures. The Baptist side went primarily with reproductions of Dutch masters (I don't know why, they were of English descent).