Vintage Appliances

[Big Man]

I was able to get an element for my stove this morning and it's back in business now.

Here's an old photo of my stove from back in the day. This is the earliest photo of the stove I could find, and was taken in May, 1956. That's my Mother holding me at the kitchen table at my Grandmother's house. My Dad bought the stove for my Grandmother, telling her it was time for her to replace her old wood cook-stove. My Grandmother, being one hard to give up what she was comfortable with, had the new electric stove sit on the back porch for about a year until she finally relented to replacing her old stand-by wood cook-stove.

I live in the old homeplace now, and the kitchen is just about exactly the same as it was in this old photo. The stove is the same, the water heater is the same, the kitchen table and chairs are the same, even the dishes are the same. The old refrigerator was replaced about 20 or so years ago, but other than that, everything remains as it was.

 

[1mach1]

Wow! That's really cool Big Man. The water heater is the same?? What's it made of, Vibranium or adamantium?

 

[Big Man]

Here's a photo of the old stove and water heater as it looks today.

 

[TPD166]

We had almost the same stove (and water heater maybe?) when I was growing up - but I think our stove had some kind of light on it.

Here's a photo of the old stove and water heater as it looks today.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/Burke1777/IMG_20150811_231454927_zpsmkuprzth.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

 

[Big Man]

We had almost the same stove (and water heater maybe?) when I was growing up - but I think our stove had some kind of light on it.

The light on this stove is just above the controls (and it still works, too).

 

[Fading Fast]

WWII Era Lighter update.

As some of you might remember, I received a Lucky Strike WWII era lighter a few months back but it didn't work. With good guidance from Shangas (thank you), I sent it out for repair and got it back today. The first two pictures are pre-repair and the others are post. You'll notice it was missing parts which the repair place put back. It works fine now, but it does take a little practice to get proficient as I've never had a lighter work this way: you push the back part of the thumb rest - the ridge piece at the top - and the head flips up and lights, then you push the head down to close.

pre-repair


pre-repair


post-repair


post-repair


And the fun post-repair lit one


Additional backstory. I usually work at a desk (I work from home and am on the computer 90% of the time) that was my girlfriend's grandfather's (that he made himself and used for decades). In it, is an old package of Lucky Strikes which was his brand (it was a different time when many people smoked). I love the desk and its history (it is in storage right now as we are in the middle of a renovation and most of our stuff is in storage), but my girlfriend got the lighter for me to go with the cigarette pack (even though I don't smoke - just as a cool thing to have).

Last note, in our new (1928 apartment), I will be using the below desk - a Wagemaker from about 1913 that we are currently having gently restored (trying to keep as much patina as possible), but fear not, grandfather's desk is staying with us as well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You *are* going to keep the linoleum and the sink cabinet, right?

 

[Fading Fast]

You *are* going to keep the linoleum and the sink cabinet, right?

I would keep the sink if it was my house, but that is a picture of the home the desk came from (bought it on Ebay for a very, very reasonable price and even with the restoration work, it will be meaningfully less than if we had bought one already restored or of anywhere near the quality - if they even make anything near that quality today - new). The desk is about as heavy as a Volkswagen. We are just hoping the gentleman restoring it keeps the patina as promised.

I love the sink, the floor, eh - but it is of a period. Funny, we are putting in a wall-mounted faucet in our kitchen (which got many frowns from others as "nobody does that today" they all said). But we like it and it is very period.

And don't you love the "It's Toasted" on the lighter - What the heck does that really tell anyone? Your Boys from Marketing at it again.

 

[Big Man]

WWII Era Lighter update ...

I don't even want to think about how many old lighters just like that I played with (and lost) as a kid. Of course thy weren't that old back then, but I sure do wish I had them now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

George Washington Hill, president of American Tobacco, was the absolute King of the Boys. All mass-produced smoking tobacco was and is "toasted" to reduce moisture content -- but he turned it into a selling point when Lucky Strikes were introduced, and people swallowed the flim-flam without a second thought.

I have a very similar piece of linoleum -- an "Armstrong Quaker Rug" -- under my kitchen table. A very popular pattern from the early thirties on.

 

[dh66]

Not to be encouraging bad behavior, but that is a VERY cool lighter, Fading Fast. Luckies and Camels were my weapons of choice back in the days when I was killing myself faster than I am now. I haven't smoked for over 25 years now, but I can still appreciate all the fun accessories.

Does it have LSMFT on the bottom?

 

[Fading Fast]

Not to be encouraging bad behavior, but that is a VERY cool lighter, Fading Fast. Luckies and Camels were my weapons of choice back in the days when I was killing myself faster than I am now. I haven't smoked for over 25 years now, but I can still appreciate all the fun accessories.

Does it have LSMFT on the bottom?

The bottom below, no LSMFT (I had to look it up - "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco." I assume they put those initials on many of their products?)

 

[dh66]

The bottom below, no LSMFT (I had to look it up - "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco." I assume they put those initials on many of their products?)

Right across the bottom of every pack I ever smoked.

As a point of interest, I learned as I was googling a picture to share that they came out with this slogan in 1945.

And again, that's a very cool lighter. Congrats.

 

[Stanley Doble]

The green Lucky Strike lighter must have been made before WW2, when their packs were green. They changed in 1942.

Raymond Loewy redesigned the package to make it more appealing to women. The company claimed the change was driven by patriotism. Does anyone remember "Luck Strike green has gone to war"?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The "gone to war" slogan marked the only instance of George Washington Hill getting his ten-gallon-hat handed to him. Lucky Strike was at the time the sponsor of the quiz-panel show "Information Please," and the producer of the program, Dan Golenpaul, found the slogan so offensive and stupid that he told Hill to peddle his butts somewhere else. Only case I know of where a program actually fired its own sponsor.

 

[Fading Fast]

The "gone to war" slogan marked the only instance of George Washington Hill getting his ten-gallon-hat handed to him. Lucky Strike was at the time the sponsor of the quiz-panel show "Information Please," and the producer of the program, Dan Golenpaul, found the slogan so offensive and stupid that he told Hill to peddle his butts somewhere else. Only case I know of where a program actually fired its own sponsor.

Fantastic that it happened. If we had more of that, we'd have less craziness today.

 

[Papperskatt]

So I picked up my fridge (see post #100) a while ago and as I had hoped, it was electric and not gas driven. Phew!
It's not running though, but that wasn't exactly a surprise.

Unlike American models like the GE Monitor Top, finding information on Swedish appliances from this time isn't the easiest task. Not that many were sold and even fewer have survived to this day. Anyway, this is what it would have looked like when new:





I probably won't have time to start the restoration until sometime in the spring. Any parts that might be missing I'll try to retro-fit from my current 40s/50s fridge.

I think that I won't go 100% authentic, and instead make it look a bit more like the all white model on the left in the second photo. Kinda like a Monitor Top without the top.

 

[dh66]

So I picked up my fridge (see post #100) a while ago and as I had hoped, it was electric and not gas driven. Phew!
It's not running though, but that wasn't exactly a surprise.

Unlike American models like the GE Monitor Top, finding information on Swedish appliances from this time isn't the easiest task. Not that many were sold and even fewer have survived to this day. Anyway, this is what it would have looked like when new:





I probably won't have time to start the restoration until sometime in the spring. Any parts that might be missing I'll try to retro-fit from my current 40s/50s fridge.

I think that I won't go 100% authentic, and instead make it look a bit more like the all white model on the left in the second photo. Kinda like a Monitor Top without the top.

That is COOL!!

or hopefully it will be. Great find!

 

[Papperskatt]

Thanks!

I'm currently hunting for a 20s/30s electric stove and found this reasonably priced one yesterday.

I'm not sure if I'll buy it or not but I think that I will.

This one that I found online a while ago would fit better in my kitchen, but I've had some trouble locating the owner.

 

[scotrace]

Anyone know what this is?

Appears to be an electric water kettle. This is from the Baz Luhrmann Gatsby. I'd also like to identify the toaster, canisters and whatever that silver thing is to the right.
Is this legitimately 1920s?