We never had one when I was growing up....the house was too small....

Great topic, leafy!

The coffee table in the family room of the house I grew up in was large octagonal and serviced an L shaped sectional. The center of the table had a hole in it that held the lip of a hammered brass bowl. In winter that bowl held assorted nuts in shells with nutcrackers wedged in the nuts. In summer it was often empty but sometimes held a plant in a separate container. It was a feet up kind of table so the ashtrays were on side tables! The living room coffee table was a large rectangle (I'd kill for both of those tables now) held 2 art books, an ashtray and lighter. And that was also a feet up kind of table (sock feet only!) so the rest was bare. You're so right about changes in decorating expectations. I hate having to shuffle things around on a table to set down a coffee mug or put my feet up so keep mine pretty bare.

My parents' house didn't have one. I don't recall seeing them in any of my friends' houses when I was kid either. Grandma had a small table in front of her love seat (no full size sofa) and since she was into knick-knacks it was definitely always "decorated".

There was a lime green china cigarette box with a black lid on it and that was all. No one smoked so i don't know why it was there.

In the seventies, a medium sized porcelain basket with silk flowers in it

Since the eighties a different silk flower arrangement (but probably the same one since the nineties) and a collection of crystal paperweights that grew throughout the 80s and 90s and then stopped.

Sometimes a couple of big art books on the cross supports of the legs.

In house #1 that had all the 50's and early 60's decor, mom always had a lazy susan on the table. When we moved to the larger house she decorated in colonial style and kept red & white toile covered coasters along with a candy dish & the current decor magazine.

Patting myself on the back here, I bought those coasters for her when I was only 10 years old. I had an eye for decorating even back then!

In the early years there was an ashtray when they still smoked. In later years there was nothing, which made it easier to dust. They were not feet up people, but the cleared coffee table allowed plenty of space for coasters, drinks, and napkin-lined baskets of chips, cheetos, and those odd shaped snacks and crackers of the early 60's.
(Including Chippers and later Bugles, etc.)

... parents coffee table? from the dates I'm seeing, I'm the parent...lol
I have in the LR I have my Ming plant and a chess board.
in the family room, we have two brunch tables, one has a laptop,
the other some books, two kindles and a treasure chest filled
with remotes, pen and paper, remote batteries, and other little
stuff that's always missing.

Flash back! Round grey cocktail table surrounded by curved sectional (black fabric with gold thread through it); matching grey end tables. Cocktail table held smoking accoutrement black with dragon design from Hong Kong. End tables held boomerang turquoise ash trays and these lamps I now have. Very 1950/60.

magazines and feet!

Newspapers, feet and beverage glasses. White rings, too.

I've added coasters to prevent rings, but the rest is the same....including 2 feet right now.

In the living room, there were two large ashtrays and a plant in an antique brass cache-pot. In the den and in the family room, there were books, magazines, and, of course, ashtrays (my mother was a smoker most of her life). Oh and also a plant on the one in the family room. We did put our feet up in the family room when my mother wasn't around. This was in the 50s and 60s, but never changed.

Never feet..Momma would have had a fit. Coasters that were used. An ash try in the den cause Daddy smoked big ole cigars, a box of matches as he never used a lighter. We had the same turquoise ashtrays :) in the living room on that coffee table. Daddy didn't smoke in the LR as that was for company. That was also where the piano was. Always a selection of current magazines..Good Housekeeping, Readers Digest, Ladies Home Journal. I still have the lazy susan and use it on the DR table when we have company , Momma had it on a sideboard in her DR. Oh I forgot a philodendron in a pot on the LR coffee table..it twined and draped around and Momma was forever worrying as it didn't get enough light with the drapes pulled but when the sun was shining in we had to pull them as it was too hot in NOLA to leave them open on the picture window and also it would fade the furniture.

The current Good Housekeeping magazine, Readers Digest, and the evening paper. Mom was a great housekeeper, and all disappeared into a small brass magazine rack which sat next to the couch when company was coming. ;o)

The oval-shaped cherry coffee table in the dining room was always bare. The square green-painted wood, glass-topped coffee table in the family room had a pull out drawer that allowed you to display items inside the table. From second grade on, when they bought the table, I put myself in charge of determining its contents. I always had a theme. Quite often I displayed my art and architecture books, but I also put small silver dishes with marbles, pine cones, home made "projects" of mine, etc. in there. I loved being in charge of that table's contents. They now have the table in their basement and my children put legos and baby dolls in it.

Another vote for never had a coffee table -- house too small!

My grandparents had one, though. The top was always clear when we visited, but it had intricate wood carvings under the glass top. I can't remember the carvings very well, but I think it showed scenery, maybe even people and animals. I remember liking to look at it. The lower tier usually had magazines. I think it might have had drawers but I never knew what was inside ;-)

I tried to find something similar on Google, no luck. I have never, ever seen anything like it.

Such an unexpected memory back in time! Our home was furnished via Ethan Allen in my parents preferred Colonial style. But, being parents to 9 children, our coffee table might have had a covered candy dish in the middle but usually supported mainly feet, occasional platters of crackers & cheese, and a myriad of tiny bottoms, bottles, sippy cups and toys (LOL). Such sweet memories!
Lynn

A bible and a book of love poems by Browning. My dad had inscribed it to my mom: "To the one who would have inspired them all, had I the grace to express my heart." I think he did.

We didn't have one. We had enough room, but that room was constantly used for building forts and playing w/ dolls. My home growing up (80s) was barely "decorated." Most things in it were functional, plus some family photos. I would guess it was partially due to lack of funds.

Grandma #1 had a coffee table that was a big tree trunk in the living room. In the family room, just a basic coffee table with magazines, newspapers, remotes, etc. Functional.

Grandma #2 had a basic coffee table covered in books. There were probably 40 books or whatever she had read in the last year. They weren't there for decor; I think she just liked thumbing thru them.

My siblings and parents still don't have normal coffee tables. I just realized... we all have ottomans that function as coffee tables.

coffee table[img]http://bgrh.info/6.jpg[/img]

Ours had nothing on it. On the side tables mom had lamps, coasters, and a funky kind of big gold shell dish made of plaster I think. I have the dish and the coasters.

Oh Music! That is so very sweet of your father. I love it!

I love all these responses--I can picture many of them clearly from the descriptions. It is a trip down memory lane.

Nothing but this reminds me that I have my parents coffee table.

Its been in a closet for 20 years. When my first was a baby he hit is head on it so we put it away. I never missed it. Its an unusual design and mahogeny. I don't know what to do with it. When I get time I'll post it and maybe everyone can give me ideas of how to use it.

Thanks for reminding me!

I can't remember our coffee table but one memory I have is of a laying down black shiny ceramic panther on top of the tv- I wish I had that now.

What a fun thread! Here's what my folks had: a large brass ash tray, a brass urn to hold match books, coasters, sometimes an orchid, and lots of great books to curl up and look at on a rainy day (art books of many genres, beautifully and terrifyingly illustrated copy of Milton's Paradise Lost, compilation of New Yorker cartoons...). It was a huge coffee table. Now they've got a smaller place and a smaller table, so it's just cool books and coasters, which is what I have also. Feet optional.

The living room table had a very large silver tray with crystal decanters with various liqueurs and a variety of glasses (cordials, sherry, brandy snifters, etc.) and art/coffee table books.

The den/family room table was divided into four sections with glass on the top and bottom of each section so each was see through and able to hold objects. There were things like Greek worry beads, pretty boxes, black and white zebra striped marble eggs, and a very large ornate key inside. Oftentimes there was a plant in some sort of cachepot on the top.

My parents didn't have one. We did while the kid's grew up. It wasn't so much what was ON it, it was what was written UNDER it! Sad to part with it because of the little drawings... On top were usually big feet, kicking around orange peels, magazines and a remote or two.

Now, I'm with my parents! Less space to clutter!

I finally learned that "less is more."

Suzi

Love this thread! What was on my parents coffee table? Well, we four kids were--once a year when my mother tried posing us for the Christmas card photo. Here we are, circa 1966. I'm quite sure my mother got the coffee table (a mahogany formica top) through S&H Green Stamps. The only thing it routinely held was a large green ceramic ashtray. On Sunday mornings, when my parents slept late, we would turn the table over and pretend it was a boat, or truck or whatever suited the fancy of the moment! I am amazed at how many memories this thread brought up for me!

Super cute photo!

I remember S&H green stamps--once my mom let me choose a toy for myself, but I think most of them were used for things like pots and pans. I always get a kick out of my sisters and SIL, who hardly cook, shelling out for Le Creuset and Williams & Sonoma when the best food in the world came out of those green stamps pans.

musicteacher, what a beautiful sentiment!

I don't remember what was on our coffee table, but it was in the living room with the white couches and we NEVER sat there.

I DO remember that my grandparents had a blue cut glass candy dish on theirs that always had lemon drops!

Ours was a round 48 inch oak dining table with center pedestal that my mother had cut down to coffee table height. In the center was a cut glass bowl (about 18 in diameter) that floated either gardenias or camelia blossoms. On either side magazines were lined up: Ladies Home Journal, McCalls, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Sunset,the Lillian Vernon catelog and some travel magazines. For company, the magazines were replaced by matching ceramic dishes holding olives, celery, deviled eggs and pickles. Not too imaginative. Next to my father's chair there was a large basket holding his magazines: Argosy, US New & World report, U.S. Naval magazine, and Life. Newspapers were not allowed in the living room--only at the kitchen table due to newsprint.

It's had this on it for 20 years, anyway:
{{!gwi}}

WMA--are we related? I don't think anything was kept on ours...because I used to flip it over and turn it into a boat too!!! (usually while my mom was tethered to the phone and couldn't leave the kitchen. I used to turn the thermostat all the way up too right before boarding the boat--poor mom would be sweating because the heat register was right below the phone).

There was usually a gigantic Christmas candle at the holidays on it--pinched perfectly to make those wax waterfalls branch out.

Books, cats and in the late afternoons ... beer.

My parents had a coffee table in the living room only. It never had anything on it. Maybe a large ashtray if company was coming over (this was the 60's). In the early 80's this same coffee table was moved into the family room when they bought all new furniture for the living room. My elderly mom, not much of a housekeeper anymore, just has piles of her junk on it now.

Beekeeperswife, we may indeed be related--my mother was also tethered to the wall phone in the kitchen--I forgot about that! We knew we were in trouble if she was forced to put the phone down to to referee! And once she got off the phone we were usually sent outside to play all day so that she could clean the house in peace. How things gave changed!

I have my feet propped up on my parents' original coffee table right now. It is a very solid oak table and fits my den just perfectly. I rescued it from their basement about 45 years ago. They had moved on to a bigger house and have a huge marble coffee table.

Funny how many childhood memories I have related to that table. It was in the living room, the same room as the tv and where we all gathered. The kids would sit on the floor and color or play on top of that table. There were no decorative items. In our old Christmas card photos, the three of us were sitting on this table, in order of our age. The dog sat alongside.

The table had a leather covered insert that was destroyed long ago. I refinished the table and replaced the insert with a piece of glass. It has a drawer and a lift-up compartment that are still decorated with our childhood scribbling. Our artwork that has survived for 60 years! Kind of like cave drawings.

We were never allowed in the living room...so I have no idea what was on the coffee table, if anything. All I know is that it was round, had a black base, and a carrera marble top (which later went on top of an antique sewing machine base which I used in my kitchen).

The permanent items on my parents' coffee table (mahogany with a leather top) were a silver cigarette box, a silver lighter and a large brown ceramic ashtray.

At various times, there would also be books, newspapers, Matchbox cars, tinkertoys, Lincoln logs, Barbie clothes, and craft projects.

Only Mom and Dad were allowed to bring food or drink into the living room, so they would have coffee cups with coasters.

My grandmother had a depression glass candy jar, and we were allowed one piece of candy after a meal. I have the candy jar now, and let my nephews and nieces have a piece of candy when they visit.

Silk flower arrangement in hues of light blue and mauve. I'm sure it's still there. My mother died in 1994 and nothing has changed in the house since then. My dad is a very active 78 yo and is hardly home, barely enough to clean, never mind redecorate!

Coffee table had feet and the TV guide. End tables had lamps and an ashtray. That made cleaning the living room my favorite room to pick on chore day easy clean surfaces. I guess that is why I don't have much on mine today.

The coffee table was mahogany with a leather top and 2 drawers with lion's head pulls. It sat in front of the plastic-covered couch. I used to chew the corners...I still remember how they tasted.

On top was kept a set of ceramic turtle ash trays..one large and 3 small. The only survivor of the set is a small one which started off my turtle collection and now sits among others on one of my end tables. In later years a crystal candy basket was added, which I now have as well. My parents have both been gone many years as has the coffee table, but memories are still strong.

Bee and WM, our basement stairway was directly opposite our kitchen door. My mama couldn't abide the looks of a wall phone so she placed it right inside the door to the basement. It made a wonderfully private place to chat when you closed the basement door. None of us could stay on the phone for long as we were on a party line with the neighborhood gossip and she reigned supreme. My brothers and I also used our coffee table as a boat and often made a tent with a sheet when the kitchen floor was being washed and Mom had all her kitchen chairs lined up in the living room. What a sweet trip down memory lane!