xpanam
Well-known member
You dont see to many of these. Looks to be in good shape.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/app/3203364316.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/app/3203364316.html
CROWN STOVE
- Thread starter xpanam
- Start date
8 burners
Yes, there are 8 dials, but the oven burners are not generally counted toward the total number of burners available on the cook top.
Yes, there are 8 dials, but the oven burners are not generally counted toward the total number of burners available on the cook top.
CROWN was big in Chicago
Indeed, CROWN had a factory in Cicero, adjacent to Chicago. Both of my Grandmothers had CROWN ranges however I have the one remaining 1954 CROWN which is slated for a little refurbishing although it still works.
I have heard that they did a bit of custom work. You allegedly could order what features you wanted.
Two rotisseries and all those burners really look like a custom job. What a great piece.
Indeed, CROWN had a factory in Cicero, adjacent to Chicago. Both of my Grandmothers had CROWN ranges however I have the one remaining 1954 CROWN which is slated for a little refurbishing although it still works.
I have heard that they did a bit of custom work. You allegedly could order what features you wanted.
Two rotisseries and all those burners really look like a custom job. What a great piece.
My best friend and hubby have a Crown in their 50's Bungalow. Oven wasn't used for many years, the lighting secret died with the hausfrau who owned it. They adore it. They only wish the Food-O-Rama hadn't been sold on eBay before they bought their place.
You see them in ad's for the big apartments on Lake Shore Drive all the time, usually redone kitchens from 50's/60's and even 70's. Many people keep them after the renovations. Yet for some reason, my place came with an O'Keefe & Merritt. Course I don't live on Lake Shore Drive....
You see them in ad's for the big apartments on Lake Shore Drive all the time, usually redone kitchens from 50's/60's and even 70's. Many people keep them after the renovations. Yet for some reason, my place came with an O'Keefe & Merritt. Course I don't live on Lake Shore Drive....
whirlcool
Well-known member
Where in Cicero was the Crown factory? Over on the north side by the Hotpoint factory and Amphenol?
Not sure where it actually was...
I've done a little research and found that the last Chicagoland location was in Cicero but not sure exactly where.
The 1954 CROWN stove in the family has the nameplate stating Chicago. Maybe sales were in the Merchandise Mart or something.
If I remember correctly, the Cicero plant collapsed putting Crown out of business but I suspect that was much later.
if someone knows the details of the exact address I am listening.
I've done a little research and found that the last Chicagoland location was in Cicero but not sure exactly where.
The 1954 CROWN stove in the family has the nameplate stating Chicago. Maybe sales were in the Merchandise Mart or something.
If I remember correctly, the Cicero plant collapsed putting Crown out of business but I suspect that was much later.
if someone knows the details of the exact address I am listening.
Debby Downer here
Upon a lot of reflection, I'm beginning to think that the Crown stove is a lucky recipient of the"Vintage Lens". I look back on a lot of products from the past, and because of nostalgia, sentimentality or blurry hindsight, think, oh wasn't that wonderful when, in fact, it was less than ordinary.
The truth is, Crown stoves were, by and large, cheesy replacement appliances for the truly wonderful 40-inch gas stoves that were all over the nation, many of them in New York City, and had reached the end of their lives at a time in history, when even the wealthy weren't about to tear out their kitchens because the old stove broke, and replace everything with Smallbone cabinetry, granite countertops, Sub-Zero refrigerators and Viking stoves. In fact, for the wealthy especially, the kitchen was the place for the help, and wasn't the status-maker it is today. I worked in the late Seventies at an appliance store on upper Madison Avenue called Elgot ( we called it "El-gevult"), and we sold tons of Crown stoves as replacements. In fact most of Elgot's income came from replacing old appliances and air conditioners in notoriously fussy NYC Coop buildings where doing any kind of retro-fitting or construction required more signatures than an execution.
Certainly these stoves were better than the "domestic" varieties that are available today, but the process of dumbing-down the home cooker was already well under way, and even though Crown offered some burner options that weren't widely available back then, what you got for a lot of your money was a very vanilla looking cabinet with 6 gas burners and two tiny ovens with broilers on the bottom that neither cleaned themselves, nor did a particularly great job.
Upon a lot of reflection, I'm beginning to think that the Crown stove is a lucky recipient of the"Vintage Lens". I look back on a lot of products from the past, and because of nostalgia, sentimentality or blurry hindsight, think, oh wasn't that wonderful when, in fact, it was less than ordinary.
The truth is, Crown stoves were, by and large, cheesy replacement appliances for the truly wonderful 40-inch gas stoves that were all over the nation, many of them in New York City, and had reached the end of their lives at a time in history, when even the wealthy weren't about to tear out their kitchens because the old stove broke, and replace everything with Smallbone cabinetry, granite countertops, Sub-Zero refrigerators and Viking stoves. In fact, for the wealthy especially, the kitchen was the place for the help, and wasn't the status-maker it is today. I worked in the late Seventies at an appliance store on upper Madison Avenue called Elgot ( we called it "El-gevult"), and we sold tons of Crown stoves as replacements. In fact most of Elgot's income came from replacing old appliances and air conditioners in notoriously fussy NYC Coop buildings where doing any kind of retro-fitting or construction required more signatures than an execution.
Certainly these stoves were better than the "domestic" varieties that are available today, but the process of dumbing-down the home cooker was already well under way, and even though Crown offered some burner options that weren't widely available back then, what you got for a lot of your money was a very vanilla looking cabinet with 6 gas burners and two tiny ovens with broilers on the bottom that neither cleaned themselves, nor did a particularly great job.
Totally vanilla
Again agreed. I've seen MANY a CROWNs in Chicagoland and without a doubt they are vanilla stoves.
The allure with mine is sentimentality and indeed the unit has always worked well.
I wouldn't disagree with the notion that CROWNs were competent yet unexciting performers. What is rather interesting is the variety of configurations I suppose.
A double-rotisserie with six burners would be welcome in my home anyday but would be underused. However, I suppose if you had twelve kids or cooked for a convent that would be the stove for you.
Again agreed. I've seen MANY a CROWNs in Chicagoland and without a doubt they are vanilla stoves.
The allure with mine is sentimentality and indeed the unit has always worked well.
I wouldn't disagree with the notion that CROWNs were competent yet unexciting performers. What is rather interesting is the variety of configurations I suppose.
A double-rotisserie with six burners would be welcome in my home anyday but would be underused. However, I suppose if you had twelve kids or cooked for a convent that would be the stove for you.
