1959 Thermador Wall Oven crush: plea for advice

[lisac]

Hi,
Long-time reader, first-time poster (and new member). We are working on a 1951 ranch here in Arkansas, and while our Chambers (Bertha) will be very happy here once she comes back from the Stove Hospital in Tulsa, we've developed a crush on these Thermador wall ovens. (I'm a baker, especially at Christmas, and I think the Chambers' single oven may not do.) There are no photos of the interiors posted. The owner (who has used them for 29 years) says in her listing that they're from 1959 and need thermostats. I've looked through the site for Thermador oven entries, and they seem overall positive (except for door problems).

What do we need to ask about these? Is our crush reasonable or should we go back to looking at pink Frigidaire ovens with French doors? (It's a long drive for us, so I'd like to know if it's a ridiculous idea before we get further into it.) What would you offer for them (and the cook top which we totally don't need)? What would be too much?
Thank you in advance,
Lisa C

 

[maytagbear]

I wish I could be

of more help.....but these are/were solid performers, and the great American writer of home baking, Maida Heatter had these wall ovens, I can give no higher accolade.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[rp2813]

I think locating oven thermostats might be the only situation that could trip you up.  Bosch owns Thermador now and will be of no help. 

 

You may want to request more information about why the seller thinks both thermostats are bad.

 

[lisac]

Thank you both! Having now spent more time looking at the photo, I’m also wondering why the owner thinks it’s two ovens. I believe the lower is a warming drawer as seen in the middle image in this 1959 ad in Life magazine (canyon copper finish). (Which explains the missing dials.) So: 1) ask for photos of the interior, 2) ask for symptoms used to diagnose bad thermostats, 3) get Maida Heatter’s cookbooks.
Lisa C

LIFE

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to...

books.google.com

 

[chachp]

That kitchen.

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I bet the rest of that Kitchen is beautiful.  Love those cabinets.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">P.S. Hello from Little Rock!!</span>

 

[lisac]

Hi back! I’ve been wondering if that’s vitrilite or some other glass backsplash. It seems too big for tile and doesn’t go with what I am guessing is floor put in in 1992. I saved the photo so I can contemplate cabinets like that even if we don’t get the ovens.
Lisa C

 

[steved]

Two ovens.

Back in the 50’s most wall ovens were only available as single units. Many manufacturers built a basic unit with no frills as a companion oven. Your bottom oven has just the thermostat dial. GE and Westinghouse both showed a basic oven as a second unit in their advertising.

 

[rp2813]

Steve, that's exactly what I was thinking. 

 

And that cabinetry reminds me of my aunt and uncle's kitchen in their custom built 1962 home.

 

 

[lisac]

Steve, that makes sense. I’m getting a crash course in Thermador ovens this week. Thank you!
Lisa C

 

[paulg]

Looks familiar / L&H

My workplace as a teen had the 1950’s model kitchen with AJ Lindeman and Hoverson built-ins. If I remember correctly later turned into Thermador. Correct me if I’m wrong. However the L&H built-ins were identical to those Thermador shown.
We had the warming drawers. They were slim / shallow as is typical and worked nicely.
I had the oven repaired by a local shop (this was about 1980). The coil elements were shot. They brought in generic bake / broil Calrod “trays” that they screwed in place of the old coils. Worked fine and a great fix but nobody today seems to know what I am talking about.

 

[lisac]

Paul G, As I continue to learn about Thermadors, I have seen somewhere (perhaps on this site) that the L&H became/was acquired by Thermador. Before I learned that, I saw an L&H oven that looked strikingly like a Thermador oven, but I didn't save it. I also have found around a dozen Thermadors in the wild, and have a sort of tentative timeline where I conclude that the one I posted is earlier than most others, although I've found one with a sort of deco all-chrome handle that I think is earlier yet. (Later, there was a shift to blue handles from the chrome on white, and an addition of a hood and then later door vents. And a change in knobs and perhaps logos. Or so I speculate.)

More generally, the folks that rebuild thermostats (the Old Appliance Club) told me today that they only rebuild very old Thermador thermostats, which they can tell by looking at a photo of the back of the thermostats. (Almost 100% of the time they can't rebuild them.)

Where does one keep a thermostat in one of these? (I still haven't reached out to the owner - trying to work up my nerve, I suppose.)

Lisa C

 

[davey7]

I always associate (well, not always or exclusively) Thermador with Eichler.

 

[norgeway]

Thermador

Was then the very highest priced wall oven and cook tops built this one pictured is earlier than 59, early 50s probably, The thermostats used in many were Wilcolators or Robertshaws.No better wall over has ever been built.

 

[sarahperdue]

Thermador

The Memphis kitchen where I got my first set of Geneva cabinets had the 42" Thermador cooktop and two warming drawers. The wall ovens had been replaced. IIRC, one of the drawers was labeled Thermador and the other was labeled L&H. Otherwise, they were identical.

I also had Thermador wall oven crush for a while before settling on the Frigidaire Custom Imperial with French doors on the upper oven.