Wall-to-wall

I remember the beautiful hardwood floors and area rugs of my early childhood in the late 1940s and early 1950s...and how eager my grandmother and my mother were to throw out the rugs and cover the hardwood with carpet when it became all the rage in the mid-1950s.

It's interesting how home fashions cycle in and out. Now we retro restorers are pulling up carpet hoping to find hardwood underneath and going back to area rugs. I was fortunate to find the original oak flooring in my home, and it was in excellent condition.

Here are some of the ads that were so enticing to my grandmother and my mother, making them believe that "wall-to-wall carpet" was synonymous with "luxury, elegance and style."

Ad for Firth carpet which includes Paul McCobb Directional furniture
Living magazine, November 1954
ebay.com - americanartarchives

Lee carpet
vintageadbrowser.com

Needletuft carpet
vintageadbrowser.com

Gulistan carpet
vintageadbrowser.com