Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Stoves, Fridges, Radiograms and more
1918ColonialRevival
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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

Willa wrote:
Stoves from that era came in several common color combos including the blues and greens you mentioned and also grey and pale yellow. Given that is porcelain enamel - as all stoves of that era were - the chances of it being successfully repainted are slim, and for a $ 250.00 stove on CL no way was the enamel professionally reglazed.



It definitely hasn't been re-glazed, but those tan/beige areas look kind of amateurishly done unless it's my dirty monitor. :lol: Almost like someone used some generic metal paint in a feeble attempt to "update" it years ago. It looks like there might have been a manufacturer's plate under the door that got painted over, but it could just be a recessed area.

I've run across many old appliances from the '20s through the '40s that got hit with later paint schemes, including a GE monitor top that got the avocado treatment sometime in the '60s. :roll: None of these later repaints were high quality jobs.

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Willa
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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Willa »

What I see is some inconsistent color - like the front leg to the right, and the brand name plate under the oven door. This would happen from parts being used from different lots. I don't know how it could happen with a single color can of paint.

Other than that it looks neatly done and not thin, gloppy or brush-strokey. The painted appliances from the 20's - 50's I have encountered are ones that didn't have a porcelain enamel. They had some sort of thin, almost matte coating that tended to yellow and absorb greasy stains.

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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Willa »

I looked for cookstove ads for a name to describe this particular salmon/putty color but came up empty. I did find other stoves of the same era in the same color family. I think this was a less typical choice, but not rare. More pics:

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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Lily left the valley »

I was looking at the save the pink bathrooms pages just yesterday, and some of the baths on their flickr lean to a very similar salmon. (the more orangey pink than pink grapefruit variant) You can see one that comes up earlier on their page below.

Image
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Willa
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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Willa »

It's interesting that from the early 1920's color was so prevalent in bathrooms and kitchens, particularly with things that were rather permanent, like stoves, bathroom fixtures and tiles v.s. just paint. (RetroRenovation has some great resources including vintage ads for plumbing fixtures and tiles, by the way).

Many people were willing to COMMIT to a fairly unusual color scheme, like an intense mint green stove or lilac bathroom tiles with yellow fixtures. People from my grandparents era tended to buy a thing once and keep using it, and fixing it as necessary, v.s. the "kids" of today who are simultaneously so renovation happy - but also cautious about the "resale value" so choose only the dullest neutrals. Maybe it's a small town thing, but I can't remember anyone's family doing a major renovation except to perhaps build on an addition as kids got too old to share a room, or to close in the porch to use that room for three seasons.

The psychology of brightly colored appliances in the depression era is curious, too. People still had to buy essential things like stoves, so the cheerful colors made the new thing really obvious I guess ?

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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Lily left the valley »

Willa wrote:{snip}The psychology of brightly colored appliances in the depression era is curious, too. People still had to buy essential things like stoves, so the cheerful colors made the new thing really obvious I guess ?
From what I recall from one RetroRenovation entry which stole my heart regarding vibrant baths (this was back when we were looking at the lav tub at 42). Image

The article is about Kohler's first foray into colors. The images featured in that entry are all from a 1928 catalog she had found. Two quotes worth pulling in regards to the time period:
1927 was a momentous year in bathroom history — that’s when Kohler became the first company to introduce complete suites of sinks, tubs and toilets, in six glorious colors.

Continue clickin’ to see the rest of the historic bathroom colors, along with bathroom illustrations that suggest just how beautiful high-end bathrooms could be in the roaring ’20s, before the party shut down –>
So I wonder if because the movement had already begun, it was just carried through even when things came crashing down. Also, there'd be all this stock of it all over, so presumably if someone was building even a middle class home, they'd want what was obviously new and shiny.

[Added late] And, yes, I think to an extent the idea that such carried on was because back then, you'd spend a bit more because it would last. Which is completely different than today's disposable culture, where quality isn't usually at the forefront of average decisions. So if you can reno cheap now, you can reno cheap later without guilt too.
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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Lily left the valley »

Ooo! And as I was just re-reading that entry (the first image I ever put into my idea folder is from that page), I noticed the autumn brown. Not too far off the color family for those stoves, right?

Image

And here's a snip I found on their colors by decade page:
Well into the Depression, bright colors were replaced with muted, more modulated shades. As the decade came to a close, however, decorating magazines began to feature rooms in deep saturated tones that recalled the dark, rich colors of the late Victorian era. Most popular were dark green and maroon.
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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Willa »

Somehow lilac and mauve never made it to appliances, though ? I wonder why ?

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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by TexasRed »

Some of you may remember when I purchased this Wedgewood dual fuel stove...it was years ago now. Well it is finally going to the old stove hospital for a full restoration. They are picking it up this weekend!
Wedgewood Stove circa 1928
Wedgewood Stove circa 1928
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The company tells me it is circa 1927-28 model and a bit rare. He may have just been trying to sell me on the full restoration that is $$$?! When I purchased it, using as a decorative piece at a different house was the plan. Now it has a perfect home, so I'm okay with the investment. Too bad it takes up to 12 months for the work to be completed :-|

Recently bought an antique kitchen farmhouse sink with legs on CL.
Farmhouse sink
Farmhouse sink
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The legs and outside will need to be painted or re-porcelained. There is a bit of enamel chipped off the drainboard, but otherwise in good condition. The stained bowl cleaned up nicely.

Trying to locate a vintage fridge to complete the 1920'ish look we are trying put back into this kitchen.

Absolutely love this unusual early icebox (1906). I've never encountered a round one before.
Rare White Frost refrigerator
Rare White Frost refrigerator
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I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I could find it at a reasonable price.

Also looking for a large Monitor Top to use as a daily appliance :D
Last edited by TexasRed on Wed Mar 15, 2017 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
James Jefferson Erwin house, 1905

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Re: Old Appliances (was "When chatting with strangers...")

Post by Lily left the valley »

Willa wrote:Somehow lilac and mauve never made it to appliances, though ? I wonder why ?

I have no idea. I remember reading somewhere that finding them is even harder to do than true jade. I think only that one deep jewel tone red (can't think of the darn name right now) is rarer than lav/mauve.

I almost said I think that colors took a while to take over the kitchen due to the sanitation movement, but then I remembered the '29 kitchen where I got my color palette idea from, and that stove is definitely colored (the light spring green). Similar in style to the ones you posted, actually.

Depending on what the pace was for appliances to follow the bath's leads, perhaps they worked off of the data from the baths. Since lav either wasn't as popular overall, and thus less manufactured, or just wasn't that one extra color some companies were willing to try...then perhaps it was one that was so low on the list it just got struck out?
TexasRed wrote:{snips}Some of you may remember when I purchased this Wedgewood dual fuel stove...it was years ago now. Well it is finally going to the old stove hospital for a full restoration. They are picking it up this weekend! Too bad it takes up to 12 months for the work to be completed :-|

Recently bought an antique kitchen farmhouse sink with legs on CL. The legs and outside will needs to be painted or re-poecelained. There is a bit of enamel chipped off the drainboard, but otherwise in good condition. The stained bowl cleaned up nicely.

Absolutely love this unusual early icebox (1906). I've never encountered a round one before.

That is a really long wait, so I hope it is worth it for you!

How did you tackle the sink stains? We've got some in ours, and I haven't had time to look into methods yet. My first thought to attempt before realizing I should just go research was trying a baking soda/vinegar soak since they're really only on the bottom of the bowl.

I adore that icebox! Are those shelves a lazy susan style? That would be wild!

We are still without an icebox for Beebe. I am on the hunt, but finding nothing that sings to me yet. We'd already planned to make do with something modern yet compact for the short term budget wise, but even that has been a struggle so far because of the closing cost surprise.

We did finally get all the parts of the stove over here yesterday. This was the first time I really got a good look at it since we bought it and promptly stored it in the garage for months. Holy moly does it need a good cleaning. I've never cleaned a cast iron stove before. Pans? Yep. But never an entire stove!
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--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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