My 50's Frigidaire Imperial Refrigerator and Range set... Pics inside! But can you tell me more?

[funkyimperial]

Hi all-

I posted a while back but it looks like the post was erased...

I'm the PROUD owner of a mid-fifties Frigidaire Imperial "Cold Pantry" refrigerator and a "Thinking Top" Electric range. I love these guys and man, do I get the compliments from everyone!!
How I found them: Several years back, I was at an estate sale outside of San Francisco. Walking through the 2 story craftsman-style home, I wasn't seeing much that interested me. Thinking that it was time to move on to the next, I walked out into the garage on the way back to my car. Glancing over to the side and past several stacked boxes, I saw what looked like 2 appliances covered in sheets. With a hint of the turquoise color peaking out from under the corner of the cover, my curiosity was raised. I walked over and took a closer look.
I pulled back the sheet as much as I could without moving the boxes to reveal a gold trimmed gauge panel that looked like it was straight out of the Jetsons. Wondering what it was I had found, I removed a box that was in the way and Pulled back the sheet even further. Wow. I was stumbled upon a mid-century stove in absolutely perfect condition! It's muted turquoise color with gold accents was a bit dusty but otherwise begged for a shining. It was dripping in chrome!! Quickly deciding I had quite a find here, I threw off the other sheet to discover an absolutely stunning and unique retro matching Frigidaire refrigerator.
Though I already had (like most others) a set of stainless steel kitchen appliances that were functional though boring, I decided I had to have these. So much character and personality! Heart beating, I walked back in and asked the owner if the appliances were for sale.

"Those old things? They're as heavy as a Cadillac- but they run as good as one too." she said.

"How much?!?" I replied.

"Well, my dad bought them new in '56 or so, and after his wife died he never used them... and they work. I don't know. How about $300.00 for the pair?"

"Sold."

And so our love affair began. Hah! Waiting for our home remodel to be completed, I have had them protected in storage but now we are ready to show them off and enjoy them! Only thing is that we decided to have the chrome rings around the burners re-chromed and the re-chromer guy lost them... As well during moving, the movers cracked and lost the broken piece off of the plastic top of the stove.
Does anyone have an idea of where I can get replacement parts for a stove like this? I want it to be absolutely perfect because it should be. I've tried to do as much research on these as possible to find out the manufacture year, history behind the design and design years but sadly I can't find much out there.
Does anyone have any information or any history on these? Any idea of where I can get the replacement parts for the stove? I've also purchased some of the original magazine ads from sellers on Ebay which is always an awesome way to show these off. Here's some pics that I just took if ya'll would like to see. Sorry to be so boastful—I'm just a proud father.

Thanks!

 

[funkyimperial]

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More pics.

 

[funkyimperial]

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More pics.

 

[funkyimperial]

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More pics.

 

[funkyimperial]

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More pics

 

[ronhic]

WOW!

I think I am in love....

 

[goatfarmer]

Nice set!

 

[pulltostart]

Beautiful Set

Congratulations on your find! I would think the trim rings would be easier to find than that piece of trim.

Lawrence

 

[polkanut]

GM engineering and design at the height of its glory, you gotta love it.

 

[magic clean]

Try

giving these guy's a call.

http://www.antiquevintageappliances.com/

 

[58limited]

Those are great! When you find the burner rings, be sure to send the bill to the rechromer.

 

[bajaespuma]

Aferim!

Just beautiful.

 

[funkyimperial]

Thanks VERY much for the compliments and help guys!!

Does anyone know the design/sales history for these? I wonder which car influenced them in their design...

 

[everythingold]

Absolutely fabulous! A match set in Turquois. Wow.

 

[danemodsandy]

Hopefully...

...You'll be able to find a "junker" range on Craigslist or elsewhere that can be used as a donor for that broken plastic part. You know, one that's not really nice, but has the part you need intact. If I were in your shoes, I'd gladly pay $100-150 for a range that could be used for the purpose, since the part is standing between you and the perfection you want, and since it's otherwise unavailable. Even if it was available, I'd bet the part's price would be that much anyway.

And then you'd have the donor range to resell or even give to someone new in the hobby. Frigidaires of this vintage do surface on the List of Craig, so keep your eyes peeled.

That "dolphin handle" fridge is one of my favourite Frigidaire reefer models.

 

[whirlcool]

To me it looks like a 1956-58 model. The "dash board" on it is reminiscent of Chevrolet products of the time. But the clock does look even older, like maybe 1954 or so.

 

[appnut]

the color is sherwood green, brought out in the 1955 model year I do believe.

 

[swestoyz]

Never personally seen a '55 range before; the closest I've ever been to one! You've got quite the find there. Isn't this a Lowery design?

Love that the '56 Fridge is a 'Cold Pantry' with the blower. Very very nice set.

Sherwood Green made it's debut on the late 1954 models. Yes, it was possible to get a WO-65-2 in either green or yellow!

Ben

 

[qsd-dan]

So, where did you bury the movers and the rechromer, lol. I would have lost it if I was in your shoes.

Nevertheless, beautiful appliances!!!

 

[little-edie]

i'm kvelling from the gorgeousness!

wish they was mine.

 

[danemodsandy]

By The Way:

I've always been a little amused by this model, because this particular Frigidaire's styling was intended to make you think you were getting something you weren't. Because of the detail panel at the top of the door, it looks like it's a separate-freezer model, which it isn't. Now that's not a big deal, because that was done by more than one manufacturer at that time. But the Frigidaire didn't have its freezer at the top, where the exterior styling gave the impression it would be - it was at the bottom. This was the last year of the Raymond Loewy styling programme begun in '48, and by this time, I'm pretty sure that GM was doing many of the yearly changes in-house. I know for sure that Loewy didn't do the Sheer Look styling that was all-new for 1957; that was done in-house at GM, with Loewy asked to do only the brochures.

The '56 Frigidaire trim changes look to me as if they were inspired by what Harley Earl was doing over at GM's automobile divisions; freshening up designs with heavy applications of chrome and applied decoration.

 

[appnut]

Sandy, never realized this had the freezer on the bottom. Duh!!

 

[danemodsandy]

Appnut:

You see what a powerful styling cue that chrome applique is at the top of the door? LOL!

I think what GM was trying to do with the glamorous '56 styling was to prepare the public for what was coming with the Sheer Look. If you'll notice, styling was a lot less rounded-looking that year. While there were still rounded edges, they were visually minimised by trim elements.

I also think that GM may have been trying to avoid a repeat of what happened with their car lines in '55. That year, their cars changed so drastically that they P.O.'ed damn near everybody who'd bought a '54. I mean, people were mad; here they were committed to two years of payments, and now something much better-looking was out, something that made their new car look obsolete. All you have to do is to use Google Images to look at '54 Chevys, then look at '55s. The '54 was a stodgy, clunky-looking car, and the '55 was glamorous as all hell by comparison (this was also the case at Chrysler with Plymouths; Ford's styling change in '55 wasn't nearly as dramatic).

So, I think GM may have wanted to avoid a repeat of all the nasty letters they got about the drastic upgrade in their 1955 car styling; the '56 Frigidaire styling looks to me as if it was intended to be a "bridge" between the old rounded styling and the new squared-off Sheer Look that was already finalised in Frigidaire's styling department.

 

[swestoyz]

'Bridge' is a good way of putting it, Sandy. Across the board the '56 models do look different from their '55 counter parts, but no where near as dramatic as the '57's. I'd be interested in the market testing results they did for the '57 - especially the washer and dryers considering they looked nothing that had come before, regardless of the make.

I am amazed at the amount of information you have been able to find in regards to the styling and design from Frigidaire. Information of this nature was not as routinely broadcasted, in comparison to say a repair manual. I would be interested to hear about the different market testing performed and the ideas that were generating in the post Loewy (thanks for the spelling correction!), pre 1961 years. Fascinating stuff!

Ben

 

[danemodsandy]

Ben:

Whatever market testing was done for the '57 Sheer Look laundry appliances would only have proved the point that you shouldn't put too much faith in market testing. If you'll recall, Frigidaire's initial Sheer Look styling for laundry stuff lasted just that one year; GM put a bunch of money into putting big, glamorous-looking consoles back on the machines for '58.

From what I've been able to dig up, there were two problems. One, the Control Tower was very elegant-looking, just the kind of thing that would impress people with sophisticated tastes in design. But it was small and simple-looking, and people who want to impress others with their purchase of a new appliance generally don't trust simplicity. They want big and glitzy.

The other problem was that the Control Towers for each model looked pretty much alike, unless you inspected the dial closely. That meant there wasn't enough differentiation between models on the sales floor. Sears used to do an absolutely terrific job of differentiation on laundry appliance models - there was no confusing a Lady Kenmore with anything else in the line. With Control Tower models, you got the chrome applique at the bottom of the TOL models' fronts, but not a whole lot more. So, on the sales floor, you didn't see the reason to spend the extra money on the nicer models unless you looked for a while, and let the salesperson tell you about all the TOL features. That added up to lost sales opportunity, because most people look before they let a salesperson get his meathooks into them.

Because of the heavy restyling that was done in '58, I am inclined to think that the sales slump in '57 was considered very serious. In the late '50s, tooling for buttons, dials, switches, trim, etc., cost a bleedin' fortune; it was all done by skilled tool-and-die makers, manually. GM had to have some pretty serious incentive to spend that kind of money so soon after laying out money to tool the '57s. Usually, what GM did was "evolutionary" change; they'd keep the panel the same but change the knobs, then the next year they'd change the texture on the panel. An all-at-once change like you saw in '58 was pretty much against their religion, but they did it anyway.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.:

Before anyone starts thinking that I don't appreciate the Control Tower machines, the above is only commentary on what my research indicates might have happened within GM. In my opinion as a design professional, the Control Tower laundry appliances were the most beautifully-styled machines ever, from any manufacturer, in any era. A pair of those babies in Charcoal would be a dream come true.

 

[norgeway]

Great Find I think I have manuals

The range is a 55 the fridge a 56, I think I have instruction manuals for both of them, let me know if you want them and ill hunt them up. Hans Craig

 

[swestoyz]

Sandy:

What I've always found fascinating are the 1958 model year cars. GM spent thousands per individual brand, let alone the entire fleet, for specialized tooling and design that lasted: 1 year. A good example of this is a simple part - the carrier bearing on the '58 cars are specific to that year. Nothing before nor after fit.

Not an expert by any means, but I've found the similarities between the '57 Frigidaire line and the '58 autos to be fairly striking - no in design but more of independence. With the pinnacle of automotive GM creativity peaking on 1959, that feat was thankfully archived on a common chassis that was carried up until the '64 model year. There is something special found in the '58 cars that the buying public will more than likely never see again. Unabashed spending - and not at the expense of the buyers, but that for pure design. We'll never see that again.

While I agree that the '57 is a striking design, I feel that the 1958 through 1960 control panels truly fit into a conservative mold of what the late 50's represent, with the '57 acting more in place of that like the '59 Cadillacs. A product (both car and white good), where the designers signed the checks, and not the bean counters upstairs.

Ben

 

[danemodsandy]

Ben:

You're absolutely right about that one-year 1958 styling for most of GM's cars (Caddy was a facelift of the 1957 styling). And as fondly as we remember the (literally) fantastic 1959's, GM came off that styling theme with pretty fair haste, too, because there was a lot of criticism of those tailfinned beauties at the time; they were considered excessive in both ornamentation and overall size. There were heavy facelifts to simplify all the tailfins and chrome in 1960, then yet another complete new styling trend in '61.

What it means to me is that GM was, in those days, in complete command of itself. Since the company was run by human beings, not every new product or design would be a success, but back then, GM was so soundly run that it had the cash reserves to deal with its mistakes. That's not as true nowadays.

I would love to see a company gamble on really different stuff again, and I would love to see it able to afford such risks. But as some people say down here in the South, them days is gone.

 

[swestoyz]

What it means to me is that GM was, in those days, in comple

They certainly were.

The photo below is a favorite of mine. One you don't see everyday when going through ad's for the '58 models.

Not sure if the backdrop is Detroit, but a Fleetwood found in the middle of an identity crisis, a GM Golden Anniversary, and a National Recession. Fast forward 50 more years. Some has stayed the same, but a lot has changed. CTS at the helm, GM falling to pieces, and the 'Great' Recession. Society in cycles.

Sorry to get this thread off track. Late 50's + GM design = some of the best to come from the Motor City.