Refurbished Western Holly Stove

[MJ1987]

Stove's almost ready!

I'm not 100% clear on the year, but I'm thinking 1940s or early '50s. I tried to find more info on the Western Holly company, but no such luck. It's 43" wide and now works flawlessly. Any additional info from anyone in THD would be MUCH appreciated!

[Manalto]

It's a beauty, Matt. (And you can do your laundry in it!) Do you happen to know if it has a Robertshaw thermostat?

Sorry I can't help with pinning down the exact date of manufacture; my guess would be the same as yours.

[Willa]

It's a fine looking stove ! The round windows are unusual.

I have a 1950 (+/-) Moffat stove, that has the built in light, chrome clock and timer, and similar handles.(My thread about it is in the appliance section, with pics)

Whoever was the originator of this basic stove design had many imitators !

Like cars of the era, stoves made around 1950 - 55 seemed to have lots of chrome, rounded corners, lights and light up dials. As the 50's went on, the shapes became more angular and less rounded.

I think Western Holly may have been a brand that was more common on the west coast, as I seem to recall seeing several examples in Jane Powell's books on Bungalow design (bungalow = early 20th c. Craftsman type houses, not 1950's suburban bungalows). Sometimes Ebay and Etsy have original (or copies from the original) of manuals - which might help you to date it more precisely.

Who did the stove refurbishment ?

[Gothichome]

Great stove, now if you can convince your wife to greet you at the door after work dressed in a knee length dress, with crinalins, low heels, pearls, and a martini you’d be in period.
I tried with upper management but she reminded me that to be Victorian she would need a separate house keeper and cook. I didn’t press the matter.

[heartwood]

that stove/oven is a work of art!

[MJ1987]

It's a beauty, Matt. (And you can do your laundry in it!) Do you happen to know if it has a Robertshaw thermostat?

Sorry I can't help with pinning down the exact date of manufacture; my guess would be the same as yours.

James--My dad said the same thing! I'm a sucker for portholes. I LOVE them on Art Moderne houses. They just work so perfectly. It's also kind of cool to think that the round "glass" (plastic) windows on some of today's appliances probably trace their roots back to ones like this.

Yes--thermostat is Robertshaw. It's actually emblazoned on the oven knobs and it's how the former owner advertised the stove on craigslist. This stove was literally one day from being scrapped before I picked it up on Amityville, Long Island, NY.

It's a fine looking stove ! The round windows are unusual.

I have a 1950 (+/-) Moffat stove, that has the built in light, chrome clock and timer, and similar handles.(My thread about it is in the appliance section, with pics)

Whoever was the originator of this basic stove design had many imitators !

Like cars of the era, stoves made around 1950 - 55 seemed to have lots of chrome, rounded corners, lights and light up dials. As the 50's went on, the shapes became more angular and less rounded.

I think Western Holly may have been a brand that was more common on the west coast, as I seem to recall seeing several examples in Jane Powell's books on Bungalow design (bungalow = early 20th c. Craftsman type houses, not 1950's suburban bungalows). Sometimes Ebay and Etsy have original (or copies from the original) of manuals - which might help you to date it more precisely.

Who did the stove refurbishment ?

Willa--Thanks--the portholes and the double ovens sold me. Most stoves from this era have side-by-side broiler/oven combo. Since we really don't broil much, I see that as a bit functionally obsolete for my needs. Funny you mention chrome--I'm thinking since mine doesn't have as much, it may be from an earlier production run--say mid-late 40's rather than 1950s. The safety system and cleaning was done by the StoveLady in Mount Vernon, NY. Crazy expensive, but it's such an important piece of the kitchen and I hope to ultimately be buried with it soo.....

Great stove, now if you can convince your wife to greet you at the door after work dressed in a knee length dress, with crinalins, low heels, pearls, and a martini you’d be in period.
I tried with upper management but she reminded me that to be Victorian she would need a separate house keeper and cook. I didn’t press the matter.

Thanks, Gothic. Hahaha. Thems days is ovaaa! It's more likely to be me out there with the apron. Heels, maybe not Upper management certainly had you beat in that argument.

that stove/oven is a work of art!

Jade--

[phil]

im fairly sure the clock is similar to some of the clock radios I collect.

this is a crosley d-25 often coined a dashboard radio because of the style. about 1952 or 1953

https://www.crosleyradios.com/d25we.html
here is a RCA radio from 1953 with a similar clock.

the bezel and face might be customized for the stove but pretty sure the stove maker didnt' make clocks and it may be made by techron or a similar maker.

here is a RCA from 1953
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-RCA-Vi ... 3198176260

The crosley radio has a plug so you can plug in a lamp or something and it will turn it on at your preset time. so the clock has a switch for that.

the knob shafts sometimes break , you can get repro knobs they go missing. in a pinch you can use a small wire nut ( electrical wire connector thingy) instead.

I've got some tricks for fixing up the clocks if you go there. inside there is a copper can with a motor that has gearing in it so it turns at 1 revolution per second. the weird thing is if you take it out you'll be holding this little copper can with gears on it, a sealed unit. no wiring connections to it. It sits near a coil and the parts inside are turned through induction electrical magnetism. I thought it was fascinating engineering.

on the end of the little copper can thing there are 3 dimples, the trick is that you can drill a tiny hole in two of these dimples then fill and dump and clean and lube it.. they tend to go noisy and run for years with a sort of garbly garbly garbly sound.
I recently bought a ship clock its a TV top decoration from abou the era. chrome sails made by "sessions" there were a few makers of similar design. those clocks appear similar .

heres one that is a mantle clock again not the position of the knob shafts.
http://masterclockrepair.com/images/324 ... Mantle.jpg

I thought dating it from the clock as compared to the radios might show why I think it is around 1952 give or take a few years. post war baby boom. its cool that it looks like a washing machine.

lots was sold about then, ideas and war factories were then making appliances and things for new homes and the economy went like crazy wiht new fangled gizmos.

like with the funny stove names everythign seemed to have names like electra- (something) or push button or (somethng)-omatic. they had a spurt of cool industrial design before things got progressively more boring and square into the 70's

one could amass an interesting collection of things that used the
"-o-matic" or "- amatic" catch phrase.

we have a car wash near here that is still in operation. the equipment gleams with chrome and is super well made. there are big glasss windows so you can watch your car being fed through the machines and the whole place is like stepping into a Jetsons Tv set or something. so cool.

[phil]

this page has some info on Western Holley

https://www.antiquegasstoves.com/pages/yellowwh.html

[Manalto]

--thermostat is Robertshaw.

My stove-repair guy is a big fan of Robertshaw thermostats. I don't know which years or models but his enthusiasm, after 30 years restoring stoves, for their quality and accuracy was worthy of note.

[1918ColonialRevival]

It's definitely post-WWII, probably 1947-52 if I had to guess. Western Holly stoves are in the same category as Wedgewood or O'Keefe and Merritt in terms of being one of the more sought after makes.