Bye Bye Wedgewoods

[sudsmaster]

Well, what with the addition of the chevy van to the collection, something had to go. I've had some old Wedgewood stoves for about five years now, and haven't done anything with them other than store stuff on top of them. As part of the annual junk cleanup, I divested myself of all the Wedgewoods. I kept some of the trinkets - knobs, clocks, salt/pepper shakers, etc, which are easy enough to store and don't take up much space. I kept a couple of more modern (electronic ignition) ranges, one of which will replace an electric range in the patio kitchen as soon as I get a gas line run to that location.

It was hard to part with one of the ranges, thought about it all day at work, but when I got home I realized I won't be missing it much if at all. If at a later date I make a space ready to actually use of the 50's era Wedgewoods, O'Keefes, or Western Hollies, I'll look for another one.

Gonna have to shed some more stuff as well... Goodwill will be seeing a lot of my van in the coming weeks.

I kind of sort of need another dumpster ;-)

 

[rp2813]

Rich, we've been kicking around the idea of a vintage stove and the guy here in town who does restorations advised that the O'Keefe & Merrits aren't as wide as your average stove. A supposed 40" O&M actually measures out to about 38.5" and their 36" model is more like 34.5"

If you have a tight space, that could make your decision on which make to choose when the time comes. Unfortunately, the '49 Westy is exactly 38" and it's shoehorned into its spot so a double oven O&M is just slightly too wide. I'm thinking now to abandon the vintage idea and go for a more commercial style older stove to try and give our 80 year old kitchen a more with-it look until we blow the whole thing up and expand. We've already got the stainless KA Artisan SxS in there so I think a stainless stove would provide some continuity.

I know of a nice big Wedgewood of 1937 vintage in cream with orange trim and in nice shape, with trash burner and gas heater. If you had the room, you could probably get it for free, but it's at least 48" wide, I think. And it's a job for bruisers when it comes to moving it.

 

[polkanut]

I'd rather have a '49 or '50 Tappan anyday.

 

[gansky1]

There is a great "cleansing rush" when you make those decisions, as agonizing they may seem. I've forced myself to de-machine a few times and I'm going to be there again soon.

The other huge benefit is that now you have room for exciting new treasures. Sometimes it's just fun to "hunt for sport" with appliances ;-)

 

[toggleswitch2]

Trash burner?
Details/pics please....

In concept I'm not glee and overflwing with enthusiasm to have the garbage so close to my food.

 

[sudsmaster]

Toggs,

I am familiar with the "trash burner" equipped old gas stoves. Typically we just burned paper in it, and it usually left a smoky result in the kitchen. I suppose way back when, housewives were used to using wood or coal to heat their stoves, and the "trash burner" gave them a chance to use those fuels as well, if they so desired.

Ralph,

The problem is that both kitchens here were designed with no space for a stand-alone range. The main kitchen has a separate cooktop and wall oven. The patio kitchen has enough spaced for a 30" drop-in range. I secured a Modern Maid gas drop-in unit off Craigslist a couple years back and I'm saving that for putting into the patio kitchen once I run a gas line to that location (it currenly has an electric range). The Modern Maid was kept in immaculate condition by its previous owner.

The only place I currently have for a stand alone range would be out in the workshop. But unless I were to convert that building to a dwelling (something I might eventually attempt in my retirement as a source of rental income) there really is no need for a gas range back there. And I already have a stand-alone 80's era electric range there, for baking paint finishes as needed (powdercoat).

It is nice to have some extra space freed up by the departure of the old gas ranges. But there is a lot more clutter to eject... lol...

 

[rp2813]

Trash & Gas

Is what those stoves are commonly called. Steve, dare I say I've provided you quite an opening with the title line, and now this one?

The trash burners usually had a pair of burner plates like the rest of the stove (talking 30's vintage Wedgewoods here in particular, but other makes did likewise) but I don't know how much use they got when the convenience of gas cooking was just a few inches away. The deluxe models had a gas heater on the side also. These types of stoves usually had some kind of grate on the side for the heat to escape, either from the trash burner or the heater.

Lots of back yards used to have incinerators back in the day. I think the trash burner made it more convenient by not having to haul to the back yard whatever stuff you were going to burn.

 

[rapidry1000]

Rich

Wish I had known you were getting rid of the Wedgewoods. My partner has a 1948-49 40" Wedgewood with Chrome top. One of the burner drip bowls had corroded badly and we found a replacement that was in fair shape. I would have been willing to purchase a replacement from you if you had one in good shape.

 

[polkanut]

The elderly neighbors that lived next to my parents had an ancient Caloric gas range that had 4 burners & oven on the right side, and a small woodburning compartment on the left. They would use the woodburning side in winter, it did a great job of keeping the entire 1st floor of their "huge" 2 story home warm. I'm sure it saved on the gas bill too

 

[sudsmaster]

James,

Sorry, had I known you were looking for parts I certainly would have given you whatever might fit. Unfortunately due to a hand injury I wasn't able to plan the jettisoning of the ranges as well as I would have liked. I had a non-negotiable annual dumpster and bulky item pickup on Wednesday and was moving the stoves out to the curb after dark... lol...

Of course, all the burner bowls had some degree of rust, but none were corroded through (which I've seen). And the other thing I've noticed is that Wedgewood frequently changed the stove designs so that bowls from one model would not fit another model.

You might want to try Urban Ore in Berkeley to see if they have any Wedgewood parts. You'd probably have to bring a sample to them to match up if they do.