Estate Sale Finds 11/3/12

[58limited]

I went to an estate sale 5 houses down from me. The house is a great Mid-Century style with an entry foyer that has two copper lined planters sunk into the slab. There is a medallion set in the concrete of the front porch that says "Medallion Home Live Better Electrically" The original GE cook top and wall oven are still there and there is a built in broiler unit - never seen one before: it is like a small version of the salamanders used in commercial kitchens. It has the original dishwasher too - forgot the brand. There are two stainless NuTone vent hoods - one over the cook top and one over the broiler. I found the original bottom freezer GE fridge in the garage - I guess it doesn't work, not plugged in and very dirty.  It has lazy Susan shelves and veggie drawers. The very nice lady who lived there recently passed away at the age of 102. I talked with her a few times in the past.

 

Here is what I got from Left: decorative metal server with glass bowl, Universal waffle iron with griddle and waffle inserts, old working 1930s or 1940s can opener - I've never run across one this old, and a working Hamilton Beech Model G mixer.

 

Not pictured is a cast aluminum patio set that I still have to go back for. My truck is down and I need a helper to lift the table. The set needs a good cleaning and refinishing, and possibly a gentle sand blasting.

 

 

[this post was last edited: 11/3/2012-13:54]

 

[58limited]

The can opener has no trade name on it. The bottom says Mfg by Union Die Casting Company Whittier, California. The model # is 58-11. I had to open it to lube the gears in order to make it work. There is a date inked onto the motor but the year is completely smeared, all I can read is May 10, XXXX. The cord has obviously been replaced.

 

[58limited]

I have finally found an electric can opener that matches my Kitchen. Now, I just need to decide if I want to repaint it or just leave the old patina as is, after cleaning it of course.

 

[58limited]

Last picture: pink AT&T R500 phone (works), misc. old glass bottles, two metal spice tins, and a Sparklets Soda Siphon - still had a little pressure in it.

 

[maytagbear]

Nice haul,

David!

As for the can opener, I'd just wipe it down with a lightly sudsy cloth, and rinse, and leave it at that. To me, old things should look like old things.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[appnut]

David very nice finds.  But now David, ... you know with your admitting you  forgot the brand name of the dishwasher, you KNOW I'm definitgely going to mention it.  You know I was gonna ask ya.  I bet it's either KitchenAid or GE.    Ya sure ya don't need to go back and look at something else?  lol

[this post was last edited: 11/3/2012-17:55]

 

[appliguy]

old working 1930s or 1940s can opener

Actually, David, try old working late 1950's early 1960's can opener. I say that because the electric can opener first appeared in this country in 1956/57....PAT COFFEY

 

[westie2]

58limited/David the first picture could have been taken from my grandmothers or now my mothers house.  The round bowl server was my grandmothers and not my mothers who is 92.  Can opener she had was similar but no knife sharpener long gone though.  The waffle maker and the HB mixer are the same as hers and went to sisters.  You had a great motherlode of midcentury appliances.  Can't wait for pictures of the patio set.

 

 

 

[58limited]

"<a name="start_43254.636169">David very nice finds.  But now David, ... you know with your admitting you  forgot the brand name of the dishwasher, you KNOW I'm definitgely going to mention it.  You know I was gonna ask ya.  I bet it's either KitchenAid or GE.    Ya sure ya don't need to go back and look aty something else?  lol"</a>

 

Well, the kitchen is GE and I wanted to say the dishwasher was a KitchenAid but then got to thinking it might be GE like the rest of the kitchen, that is why I said I couldn't remember. I did go back to get the patio furniture and I looked - it is a KitchenAid.

 

"Actually, David, try old working late 1950's early 1960's can opener. I say that because the electric can opener first appeared in this country in 1956/57....PAT COFFEY"<a name="start_43254.636173"> </a>

<a name="start_43254.636173"> </a>

<a name="start_43254.636173"> </a>

<a name="start_43254.636173">I wasn't sure when they first appeared. The styling looks older than all of the others I've seen - they look late 50s/early 60s Atomic MidCentury, this one looks 1930s/40s utilitarian with Deco highlites which is why it fits with my late 40s/early 50s kitchen better than the others I've seen.</a>

 

 

<a name="start_43254.636173">Edit: I found this on Wikipedia. Mine was first produced in 1956: "...the same year (1956), Walter Hess Bodle invented a freestanding device, combining an electric can opener and knife sharpener.</a>[32] He and his family members built their prototype in his garage, with daughter Elizabeth sculpting the body design. It was manufactured under the "Udico" brand of the Union Die Casting Co. in  Los Angeles, California and was offered in Flamingo Pink, Avocado Green, and Aqua Blue, popular colors of the era. These openers were introduced to the market for Christmas sales and found immediate success"

 

<h3>The article mentions that electric can openers were first patented and sold in the early 1930s but were unpopular.</h3>
 

<a name="start_43254.636173"> </a>

 

 

[this post was last edited: 11/3/2012-18:43]

 

[58limited]

Now, here is the cast aluminum patio set. The table has four chairs - one has three broken legs. There is also a two seater bench laying behind the table - two legs are loose but not broken.

 

[appnut]

Very Nice

Patio set.  Pretty much the really nice "style" of the time.  And David thank you for thinking about me and the dishwasher when you went to retrieve these.  I knew it had to be either a KA or the same brand as the rest of the appliances, but I was willing to be it was going to be a KA.  Sounds like a very nice home and discerning customers opted for KAs when building theircustom homes basck then.  You're still a saint after all these years.  (Hard to believe it's been 26+ years)