Our New Vintage Stove

[Warbaby]

We really wanted a vintage stove for the house we're in the midst of building but didn't hold much hope - such things aren't often seen here on the Island and we couldn't afford the prices the vintage stove dealers were asking. But we lucked out when one turned up on Craig's List. And the best part is it was free! The owners had tried without success to sell it and and now just wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. When I told them we'd be designing our kitchen around it, it was ours.

It's a 1947 Clare Jewel (sounds like the name of a silent film star...) and it's in great condition and very clean. Its only problem is the oven thermostats are a bit wonky, but they can be rebuilt or replaced.

Here it is in the previous owner's home before we moved it:

 

[Shangas]

What are those two drawers at the bottom?

 

[J.W.]

Space for storing backing trays and pans?

 

[AtlantaSpike]

Awesome. A friend just picked up this waaay cool red one - http://www.samlilly.com/Auction-Item/South-Bend-Range-with-Flat-Top-1 so now I have two folks to be jealous of.

 

[dhermann1]

That is totally cool. The stove looks very happy right where it is, that's a nice lookng vintage kitchen. Hope you post pics of it in its new location.
Last year I went kind of crazy over antique stoves. My GF and I found a neat 1937 vintage Kalamazoo gas/wood stove at an antique shop in Dutchess County NY. Didn't buy it, as it needed too much work. But there is a WORLD of antique appliances out there. Antique stoves need proper refurbishment, especially anything involving gas lines and oven insulation. But owners of such brands as Chambers stoves (like Rachael Ray) swear by them. And Forgotten Man has posted extensively about his 30's vintage GE monitor top fridge.
I'm not surprised at the price you paid. Some restorers can get thousands for fully refurbished appliances, but they can also go for next to nothing, if they're unrestored but still fully functional (which a lot of them are.)
Enjoy your stove!

 

[Warbaby]

What are those two drawers at the bottom?

They're warming drawers (which is something I wish I had on a snowy day like today... ;>)

 

[1930artdeco]

Nice Stove Warbaby! You will love it, they warm up a room like nobodys business!

Mike

 

[tonyb]

Very nice, Warbaby. That finish must be good stuff to have held up so well for so long. Consider that I bought a brand-spankin' new gas stove at Sears summer before last and it doesn't look as "new" as your 65-year-old one.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Wow! Very nice! It looks like brand new.

 

[Warbaby]

Wow! Very nice! It looks like brand new.

The previous owners loved it and took really good care of it. The inside of the oven and warming drawers are grey speckled enamel and are clean as a whistle. The only cosmetic flaws are a couple of little chips in the enamel near one of the back burners. Oh - and the clock, timer, and back light still work. I particularly like those chrome vent covers that look like Buick grilles.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I can't find anything negative to say about it. That postwar styling was just fantastic!

I've been looking at stoves like this for my place. The landlord isn't overly thrilled about the idea, however.

 

[jamespowers]

We really wanted a vintage stove for the house we're in the midst of building but didn't hold much hope - such things aren't often seen here on the Island and we couldn't afford the prices the vintage stove dealers were asking. But we lucked out when one turned up on Craig's List. And the best part is it was free! The owners had tried without success to sell it and and now just wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. When I told them we'd be designing our kitchen around it, it was ours.

It's a 1947 Clare Jewel (sounds like the name of a silent film star...) and it's in great condition and very clean. Its only problem is the oven thermostats are a bit wonky, but they can be rebuilt or replaced.

Here it is in the previous owner's home before we moved it:

If the thermostats are wonky then you should just replace them. Likely the tube going to the probe in the oven has a hole in it someplace or the tube is cracked. I had one in my wedgewood that the probe broke off the end of the tube. Needless to say it didn't work well. You can check the thermocouple under the oven that you can see when you remove the warming drawers. Sometimes you find that they get holes in the part that is always in the pilot light---I guess you call it the flame sensor. That is easy to replace---yes, I did it for my wedgewood already too.

 

[The Reno Kid]

A few years ago, I snagged one of these for peanuts:

1936 Magic Chef 1000

Ours is sort of a cream color but otherwise identical to the photo. It is in working condition but we're going to have some cosmetic work done on it (enamel chips, mostly). Fortunately, there is a restorer only a couple of hours away. We're planning to retire in about five years and we want to build our kitchen around this stove.

 

[Vera Godfrey]

Gorgeous stove, Warbaby!

 

[ButteMT61]

Congrat's! Simply awesomely beautiful and clean. Good find!!!

 

[I Adore Film Noir]

That is one gorgeous stove, have you see Big Chill retro refrigerators?

 

[Warbaby]

Thanks for the all the compliments on our stove! Here's a photo of it's location in our new house. Unfortunately, there's no kitchen wrapped around it yet.

We moved it directly into the new construction because it's really heavy and (a) if we put it in storage, we'd just have to move it again, and (b) we had a crane on site that made unloading and moving it a breeze. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the crane will still be around when it comes time to move in...