For this week's Guess the Decade we'll have to say close but no cigar - actually, maybe it rates half a cigar. The majority of voters missed this decade by just a bit....
(Click here to guess first - then jump below for the answer)
Guess the Decade: Red Room - The Answer
72 readers guessed the 70's but the amazing red room is actually circa 1968. It was published in The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, published by Greystone Press (in 1970 - hence the half cigar!). We found it via Ouno.
Congrats to the very astute 54 voters who got it right on the nose by choosing the 60's. 22 readers said the 80's, followed by 13 who guessed "Now" (I can see why!). The 90's got 8 votes, the 50's got 6 and the 40's brought up the rear with one lone vote.
Some of the commenters who got it right:
Looks like 1966-1972. I'd say '60s, looking at the furnishings and technology in the room. - ladykins
I said 60's - Perhaps "cutting edge" use of shag carpeting on the walls? - LilyC
hmmm... late 60s... or 70s? - twitteringbirdie
I'm gonna say 60's/early 70's. The carpet running along the floor on the wall and the tailed zebra rug at least date this a little. - Christopher B
Late 60's-early 70's. - robinette
I'm going to guess mid-late 60's. That looks just like my grandparents' style... mix of tribal and modern. Except they had a (real) leopard hide rug and a wall-mounted bar/storage cabinet covered in real zebra hide. And lots of Danish modern furniture. When they relocated to Chicago a few years back, I snagged a real Howard Miller Nelson sunburst clock and African drums... - Benjy
The lighting and tv say mid-to-late 60s to me, but the overall, general style stayed, carried or continued on until the mid-to-late 70s (i.e. the Willis' upstairs from the Jeffersons had this palate of colors and materials as well as the art). - dn
this one is a little tough. I'm thinking very late 60s but the little tv on the table appears to be more 70s technology. - beddybee
I'm saying late 60's to early 70's for small TV's like that did exist at that time frame. In the early 60's you can buy a small 12" B&W portable TV that was trully portable and yes, it had tubes for it's main chasis. I know, I had one for about 4 years in the late 70's, early 80's that dated to around 1962 for it only had the VHF tuner. Shag carpeting was a definite big hit in the 70's but I'm still sticking w/ late 60's, early 70's. - ciddyguy
Check out the rest of the comments right here and thanks for playing along!
Comments (11)
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People who hedged their bets by claiming 2 decades are not winners. LOL. Late this, early that.
view LBhirise's profile
well, the early 60s are a bit different than the late 60s.
view twitteringbirdie's profile
Wooohoo I feel so smart now!! hahaha
view Camikamm's profile
This is the first time I've won.
view Joan A.'s profile
This is the first time I've lost.
view Jessa's profile
Did no one see the records?
view themonkrat's profile
I am fortunate to own the complete set of the "Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement" (found in a thrift store) and it's interesting reading! The publication date (1970) but in the photos you see the 60s style evolving into the 1970s.
view Shoodylu's profile
But wait... late this/ early that is perfectly valid.
If you take a close look at trends, in say clothing - you'll notice that what we classify as 80s comes from the late 80s. What we classify as 70s is again from about 78-82.
Drives me nuts when I see shows/movies that are supposed to be period - putting them in all the wrong clothes. The Wedding Singer is a prime example - it's supposed to be the mid 80s but most of Drew Barrymore's costuming is from the early 90s.
The worst offender is the new TV series, Life on Mars - in which a police officer from 2006 somehow turns up in 1973. But it's '73 and one of the main female characters has a hairstyle from Charlies Angels - which is clearly late 70s - and clothes from the Blondie (singer) era which is from 1980 to 1984. I know because my sister had Blondie's hairdo when she graduated in 1981.
So if they are messing up the clothing trends - they also mess up decor - automobiles and so on.
All I am saying is that most trends that we identify from a decade are usually from the cusp of the following decade.
So identifying a trend from the cusp is actually much more accurate than just identifying one decade.
view clickchick's profile
just shows how much of now has been copied from then.
view lulou's profile
I did see the records, but records are kind of coming back now, so I didn't trust them.
view Joan A.'s profile
Clickchick is totally right, though 60s fashion seems to be mostly of that era, the middle of the decade, except the hippy/hair parted down the middle ala Brady Girls, Late Samantha Stevens and Late Ann Marie.
Aren't some of the other interiors featured from Interior Desecrators? I can't remember the book those came from, it was a BHG book in a three ring binder...
view dn's profile