Home is where the Kitchen is

[MPicciotto]

GHT,

I think your kitchen looks excellent. It's very much in the vein of how I hope to do the one in my next house. Though I'll be going with blue/turquoise/aqua and white instead of red. The cabinets look great, the pulls a tad modern for my taste. The counter also looks to be a bit modern, boomerang pattern Formica would have been a tad strong for your goals but the denim or linen versions I think would have worked. The checkered floor is perfect though! Question though, what is your backsplash material? Glass?

Matt

 

[wahine]

Nobert, thank you for your opinion. I didn't realize that silver indeed has a yellowish tone - I guess that's what makes the difference to stainless steel cutlery. It's probably a good idea to decide for each item individually how to clean it. I'm still thinking about what to do with those pieces now. Since there aren't enough to really use for eating, I might just use them for some creative project.

Shangas, that Murphy kitchen seems to be a more sophisticated type of a Frankfurt kitchen that was invented in 1926. It was a revolution back then because it made kitchen work so much more economical for the house wife. Some items of the Frankfurt kitchen are still sought classics today; just like many other bauhaus objects.

 

[GHT]

Question though, what is your backsplash material? Glass? Matt

Got it in one. We didn't want tiles, but as the items that you pointed out looked just too "modern kitchen," we pushed the boat out on the splash back and had made to measure coloured glass. Stripped bare, the kitchen hardly has a vintage look at all, but with all the bric-a-bras it kind of gives it: "The Look."

 

[The Reno Kid]

Mrs. Reno Kid and I are looking forward to retirement in a few years. We have some land and we're looking seriously at building a cozy bungalow on it. We've been trying to round up items for our kitchen and have just about what we need. Here are three of our prizes:


1937 GE Refrigerator


Late 1930s GE mixer


1936 Magic Chef 1000

Everything works, although we are having some of the enamel on the stove restored.

 

[MPicciotto]

Be careful with that refrigerator. Refrigerants prior to Dupont developing R-12 "Freon" fell into one of two (or sometimes both) categories. Toxic and Flammable. Chances are your refrigerator contains R-12. The tag should indicate that. Freon was patented and began commercial use at the end of 1931.

Matt

 

[vitanola]

Be careful with that refrigerator. Refrigerants prior to Dupont developing R-12 "Freon" fell into one of two (or sometimes both) categories. Toxic and Flammable. Chances are your refrigerator contains R-12. The tag should indicate that. Freon was patented and began commercial use at the end of 1931.

Matt

That unit USS a Scotch Yoke compressor and is charged with Sulfur Dioxide. Sulfur Dioxide is an excellent refrigerant, though if released to the atmosphere it is toxic. The General Electric sealed system is quite safe, though. I've never known of a refrigerant release unless the home owner decides to defrost the unit with an ice pick. THAT can be somewhat dangerous. I'v been running Monitor Yop refrigerators which use either Sulfur Dioxide or Methyl Formate for decades now, and have even recharged systems successfully, and can assure you that these units are safe. Methyl Formate machines work well enough on "Hot Shot" if it is necessary to recharge them.

 

[Shangas]

It's a beautiful, white enamelled stove. But I MUST ask - What are all those compartments for, on the right?? How much baking do you intend to do?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'd suspect that one of the big compartments is a broiler, and the others are warming compartments, where you'd put a loaf of bread, a box of Crown Pilot crackers, or your grandfather's feet on a cold morning.

 

[vitanola]

I'd suspect that one of the big compartments is a broiler, and the others are warming compartments, where you'd put a loaf of bread, a box of Crown Pilot crackers, or your grandfather's feet on a cold morning.

The top compartment is a warming box, the compartment below is the second oven, the one below that is the broiler, and the one below THAT is a storage drawer. The compartment under the range top is of course the primary oven. Both ovens are fitted with Lorain "Red Knob" thermostatic temperature regulators. Note that the cooking surface features six burners. The Magic Chef "1000"seriese ranges are among the most functional and reliable residential cooking appliances ever made.

 

[The Reno Kid]

The top compartment is a warming box, the compartment below is the second oven, the one below that is the broiler, and the one below THAT is a storage drawer. The compartment under the range top is of course the primary oven. Both ovens are fitted with Lorain "Red Knob" thermostatic temperature regulators. Note that the cooking surface features six burners. The Magic Chef "1000"seriese ranges are among the most functional and reliable residential cooking appliances ever made.

That is all correct. And in addition to being functional and reliable, they are extremely durable. When we bought this one about five years ago, we removed it from the kitchen of a house in San Francisco where it had been giving faithful service since it was new. It needs restoration, but to be still going strong after seventy years in harness is pretty impressive. I doubt that any stove produced recently would do as well.

 

[vitanola]

That is all correct. And in addition to being functional and reliable, they are extremely durable. When we bought this one about five years ago, we removed it from the kitchen of a house in San Francisco where it had been giving faithful service since it was new. It needs restoration, but to be still going strong after seventy years in harness is pretty impressive. I doubt that any stove produced recently would do as well.

I have one of these excellent ranges in Apple Green and White which will unfortunately not fit in to the kitchen of the house that I currently have under renovation. My current house needs a range with a "Left Stack". (raised ovens on the left side) and only has room for a 44" wide range if one wishes to avoid crowding the dining room door. I currently have a Megic Chef "Tiffin" model range of 1929 vintage for that spot, but am still looking of something just a bit older, and with star burners.

 

[The Reno Kid]

Vitanola, you are clearly a man of very refined tastes...

 

[scotrace]

Found on Tumblr, these were labeled 1940s kitchen. I think they'd be late in the decade, if not 50-52 or so.