GE Double wall oven opinions... calling all range & oven mavens -Sandy, Hans, others?
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danemodsandy
Well-known member
Davey:
Here is one photo I do have in digital form, showing part of the Rodgers house.
Note the KitchenAid KDS-15 Superba VariCycle dishwasher. Note the double drainboard Elkay sink. Note the Sub-Zero refrigerator. Note all the St. Charles C-Line cabinets.
Now - note that this is NOT the actual kitchen. This is the butler's pantry off the dining area.
That should give you an idea how elaborate the house was.
Here is one photo I do have in digital form, showing part of the Rodgers house.
Note the KitchenAid KDS-15 Superba VariCycle dishwasher. Note the double drainboard Elkay sink. Note the Sub-Zero refrigerator. Note all the St. Charles C-Line cabinets.
Now - note that this is NOT the actual kitchen. This is the butler's pantry off the dining area.
That should give you an idea how elaborate the house was.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Davey:
Not as popularized as all that. Dorothy was a world-class art collector, and so the Fairfield house contained some pretty eye-popping stuff. The chimney breast of the living room sported a major Picasso; the one in her bedroom bore a very nice Dufy. Outdoors on a wall by the pool, a cast of one of Giocomo Manzu's door handles for St. Paul's made a terrific wall sculpture. Other works by Victor Passmore, Judy Brown, Zao-Wou-Ki and Graham Sutherland ware also present.
That was just the Fairfield place; the Rodgerses' New York apartment had a Rembrandt, a Renoir, a Toulouse-Lautrec, a Degas, a Jackson Pollock and a whole lot more.
You could not re-assemble the Rodgers art collection today if you were Bill Gates. Maybe the Sultan of Brunei. [this post was last edited: 10/9/2014-07:34]
Not as popularized as all that. Dorothy was a world-class art collector, and so the Fairfield house contained some pretty eye-popping stuff. The chimney breast of the living room sported a major Picasso; the one in her bedroom bore a very nice Dufy. Outdoors on a wall by the pool, a cast of one of Giocomo Manzu's door handles for St. Paul's made a terrific wall sculpture. Other works by Victor Passmore, Judy Brown, Zao-Wou-Ki and Graham Sutherland ware also present.
That was just the Fairfield place; the Rodgerses' New York apartment had a Rembrandt, a Renoir, a Toulouse-Lautrec, a Degas, a Jackson Pollock and a whole lot more.
You could not re-assemble the Rodgers art collection today if you were Bill Gates. Maybe the Sultan of Brunei. [this post was last edited: 10/9/2014-07:34]
That's a pretty snazzy pantry. I noticed the sink faucet is the same as the Elkay faucets that were on the sinks in my high school art room; I always liked those.
firedome
Well-known member
actually...
Bill Gates is richer than the Sultan of Brunei (SOB? LOL) last time I looked!
Still working on the GE oven deal... my MO is let 'em twist in the wind.
Bill Gates is richer than the Sultan of Brunei (SOB? LOL) last time I looked!
Still working on the GE oven deal... my MO is let 'em twist in the wind.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Roger:
I was surprised at your assertion about Gates, so I Googled and found - you're right! In fact, Gates now slightly outranks Carlos Slim Helu as the world's richest man.
Just think what Gates could be worth if he made a stable, bug-free, hacker-resistant product....
I was surprised at your assertion about Gates, so I Googled and found - you're right! In fact, Gates now slightly outranks Carlos Slim Helu as the world's richest man.
Just think what Gates could be worth if he made a stable, bug-free, hacker-resistant product....
firedome
Well-known member
and....
just think what his appliance collection would look like!!
just think what his appliance collection would look like!!
firedome
Well-known member
Well the above JK-29 Coppetone GE double oven...
may yet be coming our way, thanks to the kindness of a member here, and a seller who apparently had no other takers! Good thing that most folks MUST have their stainless and granite.
may yet be coming our way, thanks to the kindness of a member here, and a seller who apparently had no other takers! Good thing that most folks MUST have their stainless and granite.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
I've Often Said....
God bless rich people and the short attention spans they have for their toys!
God bless rich people and the short attention spans they have for their toys!
firedome
Well-known member
thanks Sandy & Jeff...
and while not the rarest or coolest, TOL GE double ovens of this era are, in my estimation, about as good as it gets for the genre as far as functionality, and that's where it's at for me. The Coppertone is just a plus!
and while not the rarest or coolest, TOL GE double ovens of this era are, in my estimation, about as good as it gets for the genre as far as functionality, and that's where it's at for me. The Coppertone is just a plus!
The coppertone AND the double windows with the earlier wider chrome trim around the windows... a really great look. Here's my set that I recently found and rescued, in sunny yellow, but unfortunately without the windows. Keep us posted on your new ovens, you will really enjoy them!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Holy CRAP!
Jeff - those are from 1965 or 1966. The JK 29 didn't get windows until '67. Do you have any idea how rare yours is? Congratulations!
I'd stop worrying about those windows, LOL! You have something very, very few people will ever see, let alone own. In all my years of interest in GE ranges and ovens, I have only seen one other like yours.
Jeff - those are from 1965 or 1966. The JK 29 didn't get windows until '67. Do you have any idea how rare yours is? Congratulations!
I'd stop worrying about those windows, LOL! You have something very, very few people will ever see, let alone own. In all my years of interest in GE ranges and ovens, I have only seen one other like yours.
Yikes Sandy, I didn't realize that they were that rare! I like it because they are a good oven(s), both self cleaning, and still have just enough real chrome and bling in color and are a great looking oven! Like was said in another thread, when you are looking for something, they are always elusively hard to find... when not looking, they will seem a dime a dozen on craigslist! I also like the coppertone with the windows, the chrome window frames and the windows really look nice in the oven doors. As with so many appliances still into the 60s, there was so much style as well as durability and quality in these ovens!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Jeff:
I think these are rare survivals, because the control system on the early years of this style was more prone to problems than the little solid-state control board used on later versions. John combo52 has mentioned this characteristic in the past. Also, I mentioned upthread that your version was installed in the Rodgers House in Fairfield, CT. In her book about the house (The House in My Head, Atheneum, New York, 1967) Dorothy Rodgers has something to say about her JK 29:
"The first time I tried the self-cleaning oven, it didn't; but my second try produced sensational results. (As time passed, we discovered serious cooking problems, and though the manufacturers were as eager as we to solve them, it took a long time.)"
Dorothy's book was a huge best-seller, excerpted (with lots of photos) in House Beautiful, with a clear photo of the JK 29 (in brushed chrome) she was talking about. I've long wondered if that bit of bad press was part of the reason GE redesigned the control system.
Obviously, some of these ovens worked perfectly well - yours is proof positive of that. But getting dinged by a best-selling author whose husband just happened to have co-written The Sound of Music might have been the impetus GE needed to make the control system as bullet-proof as it became later.
I think these are rare survivals, because the control system on the early years of this style was more prone to problems than the little solid-state control board used on later versions. John combo52 has mentioned this characteristic in the past. Also, I mentioned upthread that your version was installed in the Rodgers House in Fairfield, CT. In her book about the house (The House in My Head, Atheneum, New York, 1967) Dorothy Rodgers has something to say about her JK 29:
"The first time I tried the self-cleaning oven, it didn't; but my second try produced sensational results. (As time passed, we discovered serious cooking problems, and though the manufacturers were as eager as we to solve them, it took a long time.)"
Dorothy's book was a huge best-seller, excerpted (with lots of photos) in House Beautiful, with a clear photo of the JK 29 (in brushed chrome) she was talking about. I've long wondered if that bit of bad press was part of the reason GE redesigned the control system.
Obviously, some of these ovens worked perfectly well - yours is proof positive of that. But getting dinged by a best-selling author whose husband just happened to have co-written The Sound of Music might have been the impetus GE needed to make the control system as bullet-proof as it became later.
Wow, very interesting! But alas, I can't speak to the performance of this particular oven... right now, I have the late 70s/early 80s version (almond) still installed, and was looking to replace it with the earlier version with the analog clock, earlier dial knobs and oven handle, and far more fun color! The rest of the original kitchen was/is mid 1960s coppertone, which is what I had initially noticed of course on Roger's new set. But this sunny yellow was both local and reasonably priced, and is one of my favorite of the appliance colors. It is so bright and cheerful that it would just have to start your day off right each time you came into the kitchen!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Jeff:
If your JK 29 has any "teething troubles," I would contact John combo52. He has a lot of parts (new and used), and he knows stuff about these units that not even GE remembers any more.
I am in absolute AWE that you found one of these! If you ever get rid of it, please put me on your list to contact.
If your JK 29 has any "teething troubles," I would contact John combo52. He has a lot of parts (new and used), and he knows stuff about these units that not even GE remembers any more.
I am in absolute AWE that you found one of these! If you ever get rid of it, please put me on your list to contact.
