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

Stoves, Fridges, Radiograms and more
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eclecticcottage
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When chatting with strangers...

Post by eclecticcottage »

I am here because in general I don't find people that are interested in older homes. And when I do, generally, I find it's better not to talk to them about things, because despite what people's opinions may be about things I've done on The Bunaglow Project, the discussions I've had would make hair stand on end regarding short cuts and "appropriate modifications" that are not in any way appropriate (a luan ceiling with a reproduction medallion comes to mind as a recent one). And WHY does it seem everyone calls bungalows capes and ranches bungalows?? Arg. :crazy:

I taught my real estate agent what the thing on the door was, on one house I looked at (the old door bell). She has an interest in these things, if only because she's in the biz as it were.

Old cars, however, are a lot easier to find folks with like minds about. Car shows and cruise nights abound. And there are purists there as well.

Old appliances cause much the same conversations as old windows. My 1950's fridge uses the same or less electric than the 2000's era one it replaced but it's a rare person that believes it! On the upside it was cheap ($100) because of that perception.

phil
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by phil »

i guess you;d need to compare the power draw between a modern fridge and your 1950's fridge to really see what the difference was. that would be an interesting experiment.

They had a news article about a coke machine up in a northern town where they examined it's power use and it was gobbling a horrendous amount of power. I forget the amount but it was a serious expense. The locals said no one used it. It took a whole for the owner to realize how much he was spending to keep the thing on. The power up there needs to be generated so it's way more expensive. I guess Coke happily provides the machines and the owners feed them, but in some cases the expense is masked by other items on the same meter.

eclecticcottage
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by eclecticcottage »

phil wrote:i guess you;d need to compare the power draw between a modern fridge and your 1950's fridge to really see what the difference was. that would be an interesting experiment.


I did, actually, when we bought it. Originally I just checked the electric meter, but we picked up a tester (I can't remember what it's called, you plug it in then plug whatever you want to measure into it to see how much power it uses in a given period). Because mine is pre-defrost (I manually defrost it a couple times a year), it doesn't run as much. Plus it's quieter :)

phil
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by phil »

I have one of these little westinghouse refrigerator radios, and a few of these D-25 radios.
I think the westinghouse ones were given as a promotional item if you bought the fridge. Often appliance dealers also sold radios in those days. one of these would be a neat addition if you have an old fridge still .
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc4 ... /008-2.jpg

here is the D-25. it was often used as a bedside radio as it has an alarm clock , but it also has rubber suction cup feet which are so that when it sits on top of the fridge, it doesn't slide off and isolates vibration. this one also has a plug so you can plug the coffee pot or a lamp or something in and it turns on the plug with the clock.
most of the examples I see have missing rubber feet. It's from around 1952 and often coined a dashboard radio because it resembles a old car dashboard. Crosley made a few others along the same style but i think the D-25 was the most common and most loved of the series. both of these radios came in a variety of colors. I think they are kind of fun to collect. some of the westinghouse ones had all rubber wire, now rotten and needing replacing usually and it is a tight fit in it's case so harder to restore. i did restore one with the steel blue metallic paint. the paint was a challenge to reproduce. metallic paints are a bit hard to work with. I used auto paint and did a basecoat clearcoat job.

http://www.theoldradiofixerupperguy.com ... 20D25.html

eclecticcottage
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by eclecticcottage »

Oooooo...so pretty!!!

I do still have my fridge. It's a Norge Customatic:

Image

here it is with the one it replaced

Image

I got it for $100 from the daughter of the original owners, who retired it in the 70's or 80's and put it, along with the matching stove, in the basement (they had bought the ranch it was in brand new-along with the appliances) and used it for holidays. I already had my Bengal at the time, but the Norge that matched it was too big anyway-she was going to give me a great deal on that stove with it.

My Floyd Wells Bengal that I got for $60. An amazing deal, even thought it's very basic for the era, it's a 30" which is darn near impossible to find:

Image

if you look on top of the cabinet on the left, I have an old radio. Needs work though, it doesn't get in any stations. Might be tubes or a transistor, haven't taken the time to mess with it. One of these days...

Image

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JacquieJet
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by JacquieJet »

Eclectic, I LOVE your fridge and stove!! Ahhhhh!! Gorgeous.
I have such a love of old appliances. So much charm!!

My pride and joy is my original "mayfair pink" 1963 Frigidaire Flair... We drove to Detroit just to get it! It was part of an estate sale, still plugged in in the original owner's kitchen (complete with seaweed green carpet... yep, in the kitchen!).
It weighs about 300 lbs!
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1917-ish
Happy 100th birthday, house!!

phil
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by phil »

it doesn't even look like a stove ;-) how cool ! will it play 45's ? ;-)

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JacquieJet
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by JacquieJet »

phil wrote:it doesn't even look like a stove ;-) how cool ! will it play 45's ? ;-)


Haha, sadly I have to use my regular record player for that ;)
But, the four stovetop burners are in that drawer with the chrome handle... just hidden away when not in use. The steel top slides back into the stove and the drawer pulls out :)
1917-ish
Happy 100th birthday, house!!

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mjt
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by mjt »

JacquieJet wrote:My pride and joy is my original "mayfair pink" 1963 Frigidaire Flair...


That. Is. Way. Cool.

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Lily left the valley
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Re: When chatting with strangers...

Post by Lily left the valley »

It is cool, even spouse lingered a bit longer than usual when I explained it.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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