Vintage Fridge Shopping

[Willa]

I think if you are not having a fridge emergency, then you can be selective and patient about what you are willing to accept. A complete fridge is certainly better than one missing shelves - but a working fridge is better than a fridge with all the parts.

I have seen a mysterious phenomena in that you won't see any of a certain thing for sale on CL, etc. - then suddenly within a few days there will be several different sellers with a specific thing you haven't seen for months. I don't know what causes these clusters ? While I was in the terrible apartment, making do with the ugly bar fridge I was searching for a good vintage fridge. One week there were suddenly three vintage 1930's Frigidaires. The most complete one had the less good painted finish. The better enamel one hadn't been plugged in in five years. What trumped everything was the logistics and expense of moving the thing up the horrible narrow steep staircase to the apartment. That was so much of a headache (plus moving again when I moved) that I just stuck with the ugly bar fridge which I knew to be reliably working at least.

While you are looking, you could phone around to your local appliance repair dudes to suss out if any will even deal with a vintage appliance. There might be a closet collector in the bunch who may have some beauties hidden away. I mean that certainly has NOT been my experience at all, but there are some folks who do love and collect them. Worth a try, even if it is to find someone who might have a stash of old parts ?

[Manalto]

Willa, it's downright eerie. Talk about clusters ... When I got home tonight I found on Craigslist another GE refrigerator just like the one I rejected earlier but in much better cosmetic condition . If I decide I can spare the space I'm going to get both because between them I have a complete fridge, two functioning refrigeration mechanisms, all the shelves and bins PLUS the 1949 manual which is a hoot

[Willa]

That sounds like a good plan - and enviable luck.

[Olson185]

Don't all vintage natural gas appliances require retrofitting to meet safety codes (ie. emergency shut-off & regulator)? Wouldn't such retrofitting also entail using the new refrigerant as the previous one is no longer to code?

I don't know how such matters are administered ? Are used appliances forbidden to be sold without inspection/code documents ? Are there local Craigslist code enforcement officers ? Do gas fitters have to report all used vintage appliances in a household for example ?

I have never encountered this in Canada, only appliance repair dudes who don't know vintage anything and won't look at vintage anything and who treat you like you are crazy for asking about vintage anything.

I think the theory behind upgraded-to-code appliances is wise, but the actual administration of this seems very difficult to enforce.

My comment was under the assumption one would want the appliance to be retrofitted to meet safety codes.
Our 1953 Chambers stove was modified to be safer because
1) the woman who does stove restorations requires it be done as part of her service, The Stove Lady
2) it's the right thing to do,
3) it doesn't show,
4) it doesn't cost much,

[Willa]

My comment was under the assumption one would want the appliance to be retrofitted to meet safety codes.

Even when I lived in Toronto, there was no one who could or would do this. I spent hours phoning around. I know of two vintage appliance repair guys in Canada within 8 hours of Toronto, and both only deal with electric appliances.

This is the first I have heard of the Stove Lady. How much does an upgrade like this cost ?

[Manalto]

My comment was under the assumption one would want the appliance to be retrofitted to meet safety codes.

As long as it really is an improvement and not yet another measure to protect careless (or stupid) people from themselves, like warnings on ice picks to not stick them in your eye. I went stove shopping with someone a couple of years ago and recently learned that she's down to using one burner on her hideously expensive, high-end, pseudo-commercial stove because the clickety-click starter has failed on all but one of the six burners.

The closest stove restoration business to me (~80 miles) sells stoves for more than I've paid for a car. You're lucky to have the Stove Lady, with her reasonable rates.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Willa, it's downright eerie. Talk about clusters ... When I got home tonight I found on Craigslist another GE refrigerator just like the one I rejected earlier but in much better cosmetic condition . If I decide I can spare the space I'm going to get both because between them I have a complete fridge, two functioning refrigeration mechanisms, all the shelves and bins PLUS the 1949 manual which is a hoot

Having a spare to use for parts if need be is a good idea. If you can make a deal on both of them, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The late '40s/early '50s GEs were some of the best units ever built and they have more storage than most of the earlier models from the '30s.

The older Frigidaire you described sounded like it was from about 1933-35. The gasket you saw was probably made of cork.

[Manalto]

Thanks for the date information on the Frigidaire. That seems about right from what I have learned about the evolution of fridge design. The gasket wasn't cork, nor was it a gasket per se; it was the inside trim that the door closed against. It was misleading for me to call it a gasket.

Both of the 1949 GE refrigerators are selling for $50, and the seller of the nicer one said "or best offer." I always see if Craigslist sellers want to negotiate; it's part of the fun. They're both promised to me, so it's just a matter of paying for them and picking them up.

[Willa]

[quote="Manalto"
Both of the 1949 GE refrigerators are selling for $50, and the seller of the nicer one said "or best offer." I always see if Craigslist sellers want to negotiate; it's part of the fun. They're both promised to me, so it's just a matter of paying for them and picking them up.[/quote]

Geez, for that price you could pick up a couple more as you find them to make an ultra fridge from the best parts !

[Manalto]

The seller of GE #1 (Worcester, MA) gave me the fridge for free. He had just sold his house (which seems to be the usual story) and was in a hurry to empty it. Despite the fact that he told me a story about the same fridge appearing on TV (was it "Happy Days"?) - and that, when restored they sell for "thousands" he told me I was doing him a favor by taking it away. So this one was just the cost of gas (~120 miles round trip) and time. The interior of the GE is clean, in excellent condition (except for the disintegrated seal) with no smell. I transported it home on its side and stood it back up immediately upon my return. Can't wait to chill my first beer. (Well, not my first beer, of course.) I'll get the other one early next week. The only thing missing between the two is the glass half-shelf that goes over the "Vegetables" bin at the bottom. Maybe I can find one on eBay or, as you say, pick up a third GE. People think I'm nuts anyway for wanting an old refrigerator. How much worse would it be to have three?

I've always thought of Worcester as one of those New England towns that enjoyed a period of prosperity and whose glory has faded. That may be true to a degree, but you'd never know it driving through the neighborhoods I saw last night. Seeing the leafy streets of big, early 20th century houses, well-maintained on beautifully landscaped lots, I thought of this forum. (For those who know Worcester, I took Salisbury Street past Assumption College.) If there had been more daylight, I would have taken some photos.