Maytag gas ranges of the 80s

[fan-of-fans]

I remember a lady I knew once told me about her Maytag gas range. This was in the early 2000s. She said it was a 1986 model and had been installed when the house was built. She said when she'd try to light the burners, it would go "click click click click poof" and make a big flame. So instead she would light it with a long handled lighter instead. Sounded to me like weak or dirty ignition sparkers.

I always wondered what a 1986 Maytag gas range would look like, as I had never seen any older than the late 90s or so. But then again a gas range at all isn't that common around here.

Would this have been a Hardwick based range, as I know Maytag bought them in the early 1980s?

 

[vacerator]

Possibly

has an LPG orfice, or someone tinkered with the air shutters on the burner tubes. They are adjustable.
I think an 80's Maytag gas range was a Magic Chef knock off. Tappan was beginning to wind down, and made mostly ranges for GE with the mechanical digital clock and timers. Montgomery Ward, etc. was also selling Admiral ranges of the same design.

 

[goatfarmer]

We had one that was a Hardwick design. The one we have now is a M/C.

 

[paulg]

I could be totally wrong about this.

But I remember being behind their service trucks in traffic. This is years ago. The stream of brands is stuck in my head like a song. Regardless,
I believe the trucks read:
Maytag
Magic Chef
Admiral
Norge
Glenwood
Sunray

I'm not betting on my being right these years later. And Hardwick could have been added along the way.
However, the brands are stuck in my head much like AOC.
I worked for a company in the 1980s that did AOC warranty shortly after Admiral left the business. In the 1980s their warranty guide of covered brands went like this:
AOC
AMARK
Capehart
Spectricon
Dumont
Envision

I am wasting synapses in my brain remembering this stuff. I could so use these synapses for other things like remembering where I put my dish towel five minutes ago. Sigh.

 

[maytagbear]

The 1985 Maytag gas range

we bought to replace our 1956 gas Maytag range was a rebadged Hardwick, and it was excellent! The only thing it lacked was self-cleaning.

Lawrnce/Maytagbear

 

[vacerator]

Yes, of course, and

Hardwick was also Magic Chef.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Maytag STUPIDLY bought Hardwick to have a line of ranges, just like they bought Norge to have large capacity washers and Admiral refrigerators where the doors could not be made to line up to have a line of refrigeration products; disasters in all cases which led to the sale to WP. All three product lines were old as were the assembly lines. Whole factories needed retooling and Maytag thought they bought bargains. The owners probably could not control their laughter any better than one can control one's bladder after renting two six packs of beer as Maytag left the table.

 

[norgeway]

Hardwick,

Magic Chef and Dixie as well as Brown were all Tennessee stoves, Hardwick was the biggest factory, Dixie bought out the old Magic Chef company in 58 and within a few years changed the name to Magic Chef, they may have been the same by the 80s but back then they were 2 separate companies, I always loved a Hardwick range.Brown is still in the same old run down looking factory it always was in.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I don't believe Sunray and Glenwood were part of Magic Chef. The Sunray/Glenwood plant was in Delaware OH. Caloric had bought them in the early 80s and they made the Heritage Series of Calorics there as far as I know. Though since Amana owned Caloric and Whirlpool bought MT and Amana I guess they were technically the same as MT. LOL I have seen Sunray ranges branded as Whirlpool and Welbilt.

Magic Chef makes me think of mobile homes or campers since a lot of them had their gas ranges back then. And the fancier mobile homes would have electric MC ranges.

There used to be so many range only manufacturers back in the day. Now just about all you see these days is FD, GE, WP, KM or maybe a Viking or Wolf.

I think the only range only manufacturer is Brown, Suburban used to make domestic cooktops, but only seems to be in the RV range business now.

Back then it wasn't uncommon to have a GE fridge for example, but a MC range, but now everyone wants their appliance brands to match. LOL

 

[askolover]

matching sets

I don't care what brands I have as long as they are all black, they will match.  KUDI23 in black, Sharp microwave in black, Frigidaire 5 burner gas range in black, WP built Maytag SxS fridge in black, and a Kitchenaid trash compactor in black.  They all look fine together.

 

[jamiel]

Peerless-Premier is still in Belleville, IL and is a range-only manufacturer, believe they make all the domestic 20 inch stoves for everyone.

 

[luxflairguy]

My Amana branded 20 inch range is a product of Whirlpool and label says made in Mexico.   Is this a Peerless made range?

 

[norgeway]

Brown makes

Ranges only too, 20, 30 and 36 inch, very high priced junk!

 

[fan-of-fans]

The Amana 20" I've seen in the appliance store and it looks way more deluxe than a Premier/Peerless. I saw a gas Premier 20" gas at Lowes once and it looked cheap. American made but cheap for what they wanted for it. I forget the price but you could have bought a 30" GE or Whirlpool self cleaner for less probably. The Premier was a very BOL model, no oven window or clock/timer.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Yes, a shame Maytag would stoop down to that outsourcing scheme...

The dishwashers had even gone from the handsome design to go with its Center-Dial washers and dryers to the passable design of the next generation of it's still excellent laundry equipment (offering that ideal large capacity in still genuine old time Maytag quality) to join the ranks of the later Norge-tag design there...

-- Dave