Remember when advertisements promoting luxury items used to feature women and men in evening wear? Rarely do you see these kinds of ads anymore, but I guess it's no surprise considering that people now wear flip-flops to church and jeans to formal restaurants.
Two of the more elegant, not to mention discreet, ads that I've run across lately are those for Lenox china c. 1960. The ads, both seen here, featured prominent designers William Pahlmann and Yale Burge in their respective dining rooms. Each is dressed in a dinner jacket, one is smoking while the other is holding his reading glasses, and both have set lovely tables. What is even more striking, though, is that other than some small-print text, there is not a single Lenox logo anywhere. A quick glance and you might never even guess that it was an ad. Perhaps these were a precursor to the sneaky advertorials of today?
Along with the ads, I'm including photos of the Lenox patterns that each man chose. And in order to bulk up the post, I also added a few photos of Pahlmann's apartment and Yale Burge's studio. I would love to locate photos of Burge's apartment, so if you know where I should look, do let me know.
Image at top: William Pahlmann photographed in his Manhattan dining room.
Pahlmann's ad featured Lenox Tuxedo china, seen above. According to the ad's text, "William Pahlmann, world-famous interior designer, pauses for a moment in his handsome Park Avenue apartment to light tapers for a pre-theatre dinner for six." The ad went on to say that Mr. Pahlmann likes "drama in the dining room...sparkling guests, delicate candlelight, and the elegant glow of the china."
Although I could not find photos of the room featured in the ad, I did find these shots which show a guest room and an entryway in Pahlmann's home. Pahlmann often used the guest room for dinner parties.
Yale R. Burge, "internationally known designer, plans an after-theater dinner in his apartment off Sutton Place, Manhattan. The 18th c. French motif predominates in a warm and charming room. Fabric-lined walls are rich red." Interesting that Burge's ad featured an after-theater dinner while Pahlmann's ad was a pre-theatre occasion. (And notice that both spellings of theater were used in the ads.)
Lenox Tableau China was used for the Burge table setting.
Although I could not find a photo of Burge's Sutton Place apartment, I did find this photo of the Burge-Donghia showroom with a similar wall treatment.
Photos of Pahlmann's apartment and the Burge-Donghia showroom from Judith Gura's New York Interior Design, 1935-1985, Vol. 1: Inventors of Tradition
Monday, August 06, 2012
Drama in the Dining Room
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Does it specifically say that the photo was taken in Mr Pahlmann's own dining room? My guess is that it is a room he designed for a client. The shot with two folding chairs and a pair of stadium chairs on the opium bed tells me that dinners at home are not his usual entertaining.
ReplyDeleteYes, it specifically says "his Park Avenue apartment".
DeleteThanks! So much for my theory.
DeleteWell, it was a good theory. I've seen photos of Pahlmann's apartment before, but I don't recall having seen photos of the dining room.
DeleteThank you for your article on "Black Tie" and the its formal pleasures.
ReplyDeleteI am fortunate to belong to a Club which has regular Black Tie Dinners. It is a delight to dine with friends in such circumstances: the conversation goes up a notch, gentlemen come prepared for it when properly dressed, and the pleasure of even the most simple menu is heightened. I would be grateful for more photographs and articles on such ocassions and their accompaniments. Your blog is a great tonic to the ordinary, the dull and the banal. Thank you!
David, I think that your club and its' Black Tie Dinners sound very nice. One certainly does behave differently when dressed formally!
DeleteThe opium bed with the folding chairs........not your usual dining room for the early 1960's.
ReplyDeleteThe foyer is gorgeous. Thanks. Mary
I like the foyer too!
DeleteAre those folding chairs in the third photo???????
ReplyDeleteI believe they are, and they have green velvet cushions to match the room.
DeleteI found the chairs sort of funny, but I think that we lose context as we travel through the decades. I'm sure that those chairs were the very height of convenience and engineering in their own time period. Sort of like the set of Mother of Pearl and silver steak knives from the 1960s that my husband and I laught about whenever we use them because their original box promenintly advertises that they also contain "Genuine Plastic".
DeleteDear Husband and I do occasionally get to do the "black tie" thing, but never for private dinner parties, alas.
The chairs do look rather utilitarian, don't they!
DeleteWhat a loss of elegance! I remember dressing for the Theater. I also remember dressing to take a flight!
ReplyDeleteNow.....cut-offs, T's----you name it!
Sad!
Everything tasted better also!!!
Patty
So true! There is simply too much flesh hanging out on flights these days.
DeleteI've got to dig up some of those old architectural magazines. I love that surreal "elegance bordering on nightmare" look.
ReplyDeleteParnassus, that is a very apt description!
DeleteTODAY ALL OF THIS ARE STILL IN HIS HOUSE, IN MEXICO. , IT WILL BE NICE TO OPEN THE HOUSE AS A MUSEUM, OF COURSE WITH THE ENVOLVMENT OF THE AMERICAN CONSULATE. ALL OF HIS PRESONALS BELOINGING ARE THERE THE SAME WAY HE LEFT THEM, AND MORE HAVE BEN TAKEN OUT FROM A STORAGE PLACE. I WOULD LOVE IS SOME ONE WOULD CARE TO SEE THE HOUSE. I HAVE FREE ACCESS TO THE PLACE. I M SURE IT WILL BE LIKE A TIME TRAVEL EXPERIENCE. FROM HIEN COLECTION OD ROSANJUN AND EMILIO GRECO, THORN, ETC ETC.
ReplyDelete