Carts and Bar Carts
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Metal
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Metal, Brass
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Wood
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Metal
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Metal, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Brass
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Brass
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Metal, Brass
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Brass
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Brass
Antique and Vintage Carts and Bar Carts
Forever a sleek and elegant furnishing that evokes luxury and sophistication, a vintage bar cart will prove both functional and fabulous in your living room.
Bar carts as we know them were originally conceived as tea trolleys — a modest-sized table on wheels, sometimes featuring both an upper and lower shelf — to help facilitate tea service during the Victorian era in England. Modern bar carts weren’t really a common fixture in American interiors until after the end of Prohibition in the 1930s, when they were rolled onto the sets of Hollywood films. There, they suggested wealth and status in the dining rooms of affluent characters.
As tough as the 1930s had been on the average working American, the postwar era yielded economic stability and growth in homeownership. Increasingly, bar carts designed by the likes of Edward Wormley and other furniture makers became an integral part of sunken living rooms across the United States in the 1950s.
Bar carts were a must-have addition to the sensuous and sleek low-profile furnishings that we now call mid-century modern, each outfitted with the finest spirits and savory snacks that people had to offer. And partially owing to critical darlings like Mad Men, vintage cocktail carts have since seen a resurgence and have even become a selling point in restaurants.
Bar carts not only boast tremendous utilitarian value but also introduce a fun, nostalgic dynamic to the layout of your space, be it in the bar area or elsewhere. In addition to showcasing your favorite bottles of rye and local small-batch gin — or juices and mocktail ingredients — there is an undeniable allure to stacking statement glassware, vintage martini cocktail shakers and Art Deco decanter sets atop your fully stocked mid-century modern bar cart. And one size or style doesn’t fit all — an evolution of cocktail cart design throughout history has yielded all manner of metal bar carts, rattan carts and more.
We invite you to add a few more dashes of class to cocktail hour — peruse the vast collection of antique and vintage carts and bar carts on 1stDibs today.