Kohler Sinks : Fashion Meets Function
In 1873, John Michael Kohler purchased the Sheboygan Union Iron and Steel Foundry, and built from it the Kohler Company, whose business it was to make cast iron farm tools and funeral crosses and urns; after a decade in the farm tool business, Mr. Kohler had an inspiration.
Seeing his cast iron horse watering trough in a new light, he heated it to 1700F, coating it with enamel powder which promptly melted. He then promoted it in the Kohler company catalog, suggesting that, with the addition of four legs, it would perform admirably as a bathtub.
A customer agreed; the tub was sold to, one presumes, a farmer, for a cow and fourteen chickens, although the Kohler Company website is not clear on the buyer’s occupation. Future cast iron agricultural implements would have to come from someplace else; Kohler Company had become a plumbing fixtures manufacturer, and plumbing fixtures leader it remains to this day.
Kohler sinks immediately followed, appearing soon after the bathtub in 1883. The first models were flat-rimmed kitchen sinks ranging from 12” x 13” to 20” x 48” in size.
To this day Kohler is one of the few companies continuing to make cast iron bathtubs. But its remarkable reputation seems to have been founded on its enormous variety of bathroom and kitchen sinks, valued worldwide for their extraordinary quality.
Like John Michael Kohler himself, the early Kohler employees were immigrants to the United States, and expert in the ways of European craftsmanship. From the very first, Kohler sinks were created with absolute precision and painstaking detail. The cast iron still used in Kohler sinks today is fire-polished to a deep gloss, and stainless steel Kohler sinks are put through numerous polishings and buffings, which result in their resistance to scratches and unique finish.
The first Kohler sinks, bathroom pedestal lavatories, were manufactured in the early 1900’s. Intentionally designed to be at a comfortable height, some of the models were equipped with enamel backsplashes. The pedestal sinks are, of course, as popular as ever, but are now just one of many models of Kohler sinks.
Vessel Kohler sinks, connected above the counter’s surface, resemble old-fashioned China wash basins, and some of them, to save counter space, can even be wall mounted. Self-rimming Kohler sinks, no matter what the style, have rolled edges to fit directly over the countertop sink aperture. Under counter sinks, as their name indicates, attach beneath the counter top. And wall-mounted models, like some of the Vessel sinks, both save counter space and let the user decide where to position the brackets with which they are attached to the wall.
Kohler kitchen sinks are made from various materials--cast iron and stainless steel, of course, but also vitreous China, and fireclay--and come in both single and double-basin models. Kohler also manufactures “entertainment” sinks, for use in home bars.
And last, but not least, is the utility Kohler sink, which will serve in the laundry, home workshop, for the home gardener, as a flower arranging sink.
From the humble beginnings of a bathtub fashioned from a horse trough, to the staggering selection of materials, styles, colors, and uses which Kohler sinks offer today, the Kohler constants of innovation, quality, and craftsmanship have remained. Now a “fixture” in its own right, Kohler Company does business on six continents--not too shabby for having been financed with a cow and fourteen chickens--and Kohler sinks remain the fashion and function standard setters for homeowners the world over.