" Tappan in the east, O'keefe and Merrit in the west
I always knew they were the same line just a little different in looks but "O&M" ranges were a bit more "Deluxe" than the Tappans were. Of course,now, they (Tappan) are owned by Electrolux.It wasn't until they (prior to the take over of WCI to Electrolux)aquired Tappan that they made a line of gas ranges with the older brand's (Frigidaire, Westinghouse,and some of their European lines)who had no electric ranges prior to the take over.This was way back around the same time(1980's)that WCI had already taken over Westinghouse, Kelvinator,Gibson,Frigidaire and Vesta. To this day, I have a hard time understanding how WCI was able to aquire so many of the brands they almost ruined without being cited for monopolizing them. As nmuch as many of us here know all about Frigidaire becoming "Frigiscare" and Westinghouse becoming "Lestinghouse",they have either gone real elcheapo or extremely expensive.in my own honest opinion, Frigidaire has truly come a long way since then and have really done a great job in redesigning a nice line of appliances. Recently I notice that they are now introducing a nice line of small countertop appliances to accent their full line. Mostly higher end models but,nonetheless, they have come a long way since their take over and are continuing to impress me.I guess one of the "incurable deseases" I've aquired is deffinately "FRIGIDAIRE-ITUS".the only proucts they have that I am not at all fond of is their cheapass dishwashers.It's no wonder they're so quiet. Any appliance with a 1/8th HP motor is definately going to be quiet.Then too, isn't that why they're the only dishwasher I ever had that needs to have the dishes washed by hand before loading????!!!! I prefer the GE Tall Tubs over any other I've ever had.
As far as current gas ranges are concerned, I prefer GE or Hotpoint. I've had many different brands and models and the GE,by far, has been my favorite time and time again.John L. was nice enough to give me a great 40" GE Americana (1966) back in the mid 80's that I truly miss but am glad John has it now instead of leaving it behind when I moved from there.While I was in Florida, we had a nice middle of the line GE with an automatic,programable oven and ceramic top with one adjustable size burner and warming drawer.It worked fantastic.When I moved to Houston, Texas, I found a great deal at "The Great Indoors" (owned by Sears) and it was GE's model JBP8600C which is one of the Profile models. It has a self cleaning, thermal/convection,huge oven with 3 porcelain on steel racks and a smaller oven below where the drawer is.they had marked it down from $1299 to $399!!!! it was the best range I ever owned.I sold it to some friends from church for $1000. I was able to apply that to buy my air fair here.