From what I understand of Moffat in the 50's is you purchased the range made-to-order . You would get a choice of all 4 burners to one side or spread out over the four corners with or without a 5th burner. In addition, for the oven space to the left you could choose a storage area, warmer or a full second oven. This is why there are so many variations of the same range over that period. In addition to the full size 40" ranges, they also offered a 22" model and by the mid 1950's, a 30" as well.
I would bet that Moffat was leader in market share for electric ranges in Canada in the 1950's - you still see sooooo many of these ranges out there as Pete points out. At any given time you can almost always find one of their 40" ranges for sale on any classified site in Canada.
Although Avco had purchased Moffat in the 1950's, the original Moffat designed range continued on as far as I'm aware. I've never seen anything else equivalent to these, including Crosley. The oven thermostat was very unique and I presume made by Moffat directly.
I have seen Crosley-Moffat refrigerators and both Bendix (earlier) and Norge Dispensomat washers labelled Moffat from the 1950's. There were also dishwashers but no idea what these were based on.
I agree that one of the selling points of these earlier 40's ranges was the extra counter space. In older, pre 1940's homes that have original kitchens, you often see the range sitting by itself against a wall away from the counter space. I think its because originally there would have been a wood or coal stove in those kitchens and so it would have definitely been a selling point to have some extra counter space when the conversion to an electric range happened.
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