# Assembling a 1960s bachelor pad: What is needed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533 "2004-03-10T19:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colinmarshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/1 "2004-03-10T19:38:07Z")
I know it’s 2004 and everything, but let’s say I want to construct a 1960s-style swingin’ bachelor pad. What would I need? I realize that modernist furniture and bossa nova albums are necessities, but as of now that’s about all I can put into words. I’ve seen examples of places in movies and general pop culture that fit the 60sBP style, but I’m unsure of how one might locate any of the requisite articles of decor. Any thoughts, wise dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/2 "2004-03-10T19:52:52Z")
A sense of whimsy and a few weekends at flea markets should set you up. Don’t forget the bar set, complete with martini shaker. ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Thin\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Ice)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/3 "2004-03-10T20:00:15Z")
You need to get a bunch of six-foot long strands of beads to hang in a doorway, a Lava lamp, and maybe some op-art or rock band posters for the walls. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/4 "2004-03-10T20:03:45Z")
Finding women in their mid-50s to early-60s who can appreciate the decor would be another nice touch. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/5 "2004-03-10T20:05:22Z")
Umm, duh? **Shag(ging)** carbet, baby. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/6 "2004-03-10T20:06:43Z")
Make that **Shag(ging)** carpet, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/7 "2004-03-10T20:14:31Z")
Maybe a traffic light and a reel to reel tape deck… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/8 "2004-03-10T20:19:12Z")
Every appliance in your kitchen must either be in Avocado or Harvest Yellow. This includes the fondue pot. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/9 "2004-03-10T20:22:25Z")
If you can, get hands on a copy of “The Playboy Book,” which came out several years ago (essentially a retrospective of the magazine since the first issue). There’s a photospread and article from the mid-1960s describing what the hip, urbane bachelor of the day had to have in his apartment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/10 "2004-03-10T20:26:05Z")
> [@Thin Ice](#): > > You need to get a bunch of six-foot long strands of beads to hang in a doorway, a Lava lamp, and maybe some op-art or rock band posters for the walls. No … that’s a late 60’s hippie pad. I think the OP is referring to an early 60’s swinger pad. Design Within Reach carries a lot of modern furniture. Of course, if you’re just doing it for the kitsch factor you may not want to spend $2200 for a real Eames Chair. [http://www.dwr.com/](http://www.dwr.com/) You probably want to get a print from the High Priest of Hipness, Shag. [http://www.shag.com/](http://www.shag.com/) On the walls – panelling. For music I recommend Louis Prima. Keely Smith is HOT. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/11 "2004-03-10T20:47:04Z")
Brini Maxwell on the Style Network may be something you’re looking for. I don’t have any links, but you can google for her and visit her site and maybe find a message board. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/12 "2004-03-10T21:26:20Z")
Tiger or leopard skin bedspread? Check. Mirror on the ceiling? Check. Lieu: > [@](#): > > Every appliance in your kitchen must either be in Avocado or Harvest Yellow. This includes the fondue pot. Don’t forget burnt orange. ---
**Author:** ![TheJungOnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TheJungOnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheJungOnes)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/13 "2004-03-10T21:56:13Z")
Everything should be controlled automatically via a switch panel next to the sofa or bed. Watch the movie “Down With Love” for some examples. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/14 "2004-03-10T21:59:19Z")
You’ve got to have a sunken “conversation” pit in the living room. And a recessed control panel that controls the lighting, fireplace, and music (Esquivel, of course!). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/15 "2004-03-10T22:01:20Z")
IIRC, Dash Riprock, the movie star who courted Ellie Mae on _The Beverly Hillbillies_, had a doorbell that played “I’m in the Mood for Love”. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/16 "2004-03-10T22:36:35Z")
Get a copy of Dean Martin’s “Matt Helm” or James Coburn’s “Our Man Flint”. One of these will set you in the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/17 "2004-03-10T23:52:19Z")
Dudley Moore had a Bachelor Pad in Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn’s movie “Foul Play”. Lots of good ideas there. I remember that he a had 8 mm movie projector showing porn movies. You definitely need a Bean Bag Chair and Lava Lamp and an 8 track stereo ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/18 "2004-03-11T01:05:02Z")
Early 60s or late 60s? Early 60s - cabinet-style hi-fi Late 60s - suitcase portable stereo Early 60s - Sinatra Late 60s - Hendrix Early 60s - martini shaker and glasses Late 60s - bong Early 60s - recessed lighting with dimmer switch Late 60s - strobe light and lava lamp Early 60s - Playboy and “Sex and the Single Girl” Late 60s - Playboy and “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/19 "2004-03-11T01:15:23Z")
In an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show”, Howard turned his place into a swingin’ early 60s bachelor pad. He had pretty much everything people are talking about here. Watch Nick at Night for the next few months, you’ll see it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533/20 "2004-03-11T01:31:44Z")
Low, Danish furniture on angled or straight legs and flat (not bunion) feet. Look for modular pieces and combo units, like the very long side/serving table thingy (there’s a proper term, but I can’t recall it) with built-in high-fidelity stereo system and/or TV console. A shag rug for the conversation area – pit or no pit. You’re lucky on this one: shags are back in style and readily available (try IKEA). A mosaic tile-top coffee or side table. Tobacco accessories: humidor with Cuban cigars; unfiltered cigarettes; a long, ladies’ cigarette holder (think Audrey Hepburn in **Breakfast At Tiffany’s** ); a man’s pipe; ceramic, abstract-modern-splatter-patterned, boomerang-, amoeba-, or paisley-shaped ashtrays, with unfiltered cigarette butts in them; and one or more vintage lighters (these are collectors’ items, and well categorized by year). A vintage Pez. To be left, perhaps with the head poking out insouciantly, from a sport jacket pocket. A small chrome-plated clock or two (often Sputnik-influenced) for your table or wall. Your lighting options really explode by the time of the Gemini and Apollo programs, but circa 1960 the real deal is generally a tad more restrained. Optional: a bottle of wine turned into a candle holder, with lots of multicolored wax drips coating it, retained for sentimental reasons and relegated to a small, Formica-and-chrome-edged table in the kitchen. This is true Beatnik Hip ('50’s-'60’s) as opposed to late-'60’s hippy, if I’m not mistaken. Your c. 1960 mod ladykiller might well have dabbled in Beat Hipness as a preppy (post-?) college lad, after all! Plaid wool-blend sport jacket with patches on the elbows. Very preppy. A leather flight jacket. Very '50’s-'60’s test pilot chic, and a helluva lot more practical and attractive than a space suit. I don’t think that a pair of Ray-Bans would be wrong, either. Brylcream, for your hair. (I think this is appropriate for 1960, but I’m not certain.) Either Marimekko fabrics, or fabrics with boomerangs, Sputnik-like thingys, or a certain kind of abstract modern splotch pattern. Ikea always sells Marimekko-like fabrics of their own design: Swedish-for-Finnish. At least one piece (or poster) of true mid-C. American Modern art; you get bonus points if it’s Abstract Expressionist. Try Hans Hofmann. Nice alternative: a Charles Sheeler(-like) B&W photo. Pop Art came a bit later. A hat stand with a black bowler on it, and a long black umbrella with a cane handle (alternate: vintage plastic). Recall James Bond: he didn’t lose the bowler until 1965’s **Thunderball** , IIRC. A mixology book (vintage Playboy or other more modern books). I have one devoted entirely to martinis. You need this. And remember, James Bond be damned, a true martini is mixed with gin, not vodka. A vintage Playboy or two, left casually strewn on the coffee table. These can occasionally be found at garage sales, in addition to vintage shops, certain used book stores, etc. With luck, you find other mags from the era (esp. Popular Mechanics, Life, The New Yorker). Cufflinks, and French-cuff shirts to wear them with. Also, an ascot (but be careful not to wear this outside said batchelor pad!). And pocket squares for your dinner jackets. And, if you’re really intent on “drinking the Kool-Aid” with your Swinging 1960 Batchelor Pad project, a vintage phone – black, old-fashioned base (I think: when exactly did the “Princess” phone become available?), and pain-in-the-ass rotary dial. Readily available at garage sales and thrift shops everywhere. A nasty Jell-0 gelatin salad or ham loaf (see James Lilleks’ Internet Gallery of Regrettable Food for recipies, yum!). Also, Kool-Aid to wash it down with. No, not really… just have some on hand in case you should ever have to host children. The only drinks at The Pad are martinis… Whew! This was fun! 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assembling-a-1960s-bachelor-pad-what-is-needed/233533.md?page=2)