My new-to-me range.

mikael3 · Dec 9, 2014

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Ever since I started considering a vintage range for my kitchen, I’ve been trying to narrow the list to the one “ideal” model for me. Because I learned to cook on a Frigidaire RD-20-63, I’ve been focusing my energy on Frigidaires, comparing every little detail from every single year, on almost every single model. But as I’ve slowly learned from the incredible people here on AW, the most important lesson in buying vintage ranges is that you should never, ever have just one!!!

So, over the past few months, I’ve bought a couple of 40″ RO (1950) models ($80 each!!). So far, they’ve been stuck in the basement, because I need to re-wire the kitchen, etc, etc. 

I’ve also been looking around for a 30″, since that would fit my kitchen right away with limited work. I really want something in yellow, preferably the Stratford yellow of the mid ’50s. But now I know—I’ll be waiting a long time for anything like that to show up.

Meanwhile, I’ve been eager to get some sort of Frigidaire hooked up in the kitchen, instead of what I’ve been stuck with for the last three years. 

So last month I went and bought the RT-38 in Sherwood green that I posted here a few weeks ago. Here’s a picture of the new girl, unfortunately stuck in our Very Nineties Kitchen. Our house is over 100 years old, but the previous owners put in this sad, tired mess, and we’re stuck with it for a little while longer, because I just can’t remodel right now. 

I can’t believe how happy I am with this little thing. It makes me smile every time I walk in the kitchen!!!!

mikael3 · Dec 9, 2014

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This is supposedly a one-owner model, and it is certainly in excellent condition. As advertised, one of the burners is completely blown, and I need to learn how to install a replacement. The other burners are amazing—they heat really hot and really fast. After all my concern about slow-moving heat on these old things, I have been very surprised—actually amazed!! 

I’m also surprised that I don’t miss having a second large burner. The little ones are really powerful, and so far they’ve been doing all the work for me. I’ve only used the big burner for boiling a giant pot of water.

The oven came with a hanging thermometer, which made me think the prior owner had some problems with the heat. But in fact, the thermostat on this thing is perfectly sound, and the oven holds the temperature almost exactly where I set it.

Of course, my amazement at the Frigidaire’s performance may say more about the crap I was previously using than it does about the Frigididaire!! But at least I can say I’m really happy with my “new” toy.

mikael3 · Dec 9, 2014

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Here’s the blown-out burner. In case you’ve ever wondered if these things really do explode, here’s the proof.

rp2813 · Dec 9, 2014

A very nice range in beautiful shape.

That blown burner reminds me of the bake element in my mom's '49 Westinghouse oven. It was a replacement radiant tube type, and I saw it flame out of a small hole toward the rear. It didn't "blow" out -- the flame was small like a candle and just left that small hole -- but of course the whole element was a lost cause.

g3bill · Dec 9, 2014

Looks real nice

Thats something like what came with my moms house in '64. She changed the cabinet to accept a 30" ss thermador drop in the same year I think. I'm not sure but think the seam on the burner coil when old can let water in then Poof? I do know, the lady at the used appliance store said if you want the burners to last longer not to use full high setting if not needed. I try to get my mom to set it on 9 but shes impatient. Its hard finding a matched burner so every time I go by the stove I'll turn it down

In the pic I was repairing wires and switches.

wiskybill · Dec 10, 2014

Congrats John!

I like the green, too. That would have looked good in my kitchen.

I recently found a RCI-39-61 in yellow that will move into the
kitchen eventually after the holidays. They're out there, just not
easy to find.

kevin313 · Dec 10, 2014

John - that is a wonderful range, especially in green! I have the same model in white, and I can tell you that the oven is great for baking and I found myself really loving the front controls. Hope you enjoy it!

bluejay · Dec 10, 2014

Bill, your sunny yellow stove is awesome! I have an RD-39-63 in the same color and it's the best stove I've ever owned! I like yours as I am enamored with the French door ovens and of course, it's the 'Sheer Look' line!

danemodsandy · Dec 10, 2014

Nineties Kitchen:

If you're looking for some ideas on what might be done to "tone down" the Nineties look in your kitchen, Joe dosxxpapa did a great job with achieving a retro look in his. His did have more original elements left than I think yours does, but he did such a great job, his thread is worth a look; I've linked it below

After the photos in the thread were taken, Joe restored and installed a KitchenAid KD-10 dishwasher to take the place of the "retro-fied" modern one seen in the thread. Searching on his user name will bring up info on that.

With some paint and some different countertops, it might be that you could have a midcentury look without the expense of a total remodel, is all I'm saying.

My Vintage Kitchen & Laundry Room

Hey everyone this is Joe. Here are some pictures of my vintage kitchen to go along with my vintage laundry room.

www.automaticwasher.org

mikael3 · Dec 10, 2014

Unfortunately, my problems go way beyond the cabinets and such. The house has wiring issues, even though the wiring was put in new around 1998--too much was done incorrectly. Then there’s a giant piece of one wall missing, meant to “open up the space”--it’s just hideous, and it deprives the kitchen of the one wall where a useable counter could go. Then there’s the overall tiny size of the space. The original kitchen (15′ × 15′) is now a bedroom, and I don’t really want to change that. All the rewiring, reflooring, and replumbing would cost about the same as extending the new kitchen out the back. So I’m in a holding pattern until a full remodel becomes possible.

I actually stumbled onto this site as part of my remodeling plans/dreams/hallucinations. I’d been eyeing some really expensive stuff, trying to figure out how to save up for it all. I had already decided that vintage might be an option, but I was looking exclusively at fully restored pieces--and that wasn’t helping my budget. Then I found AW, and my world was forever changed!! I may still go with a fully restored gem one day, but for now, I’m glad I can have some really good stuff without scrimping and waiting.

I do love that Dos XX kitchen, Sandy. It has a crazy Frigidaire that looks like nothing I've ever seen.

danemodsandy · Dec 10, 2014

John:

That Frigidaire range of Joe's is also like nothing I've ever seen. It appears to be mid-to-late 1950s, and it appears to have an optional clock-timer unit. Going back to at least the 1930s, Frigidaire had a tradition of making clock-timer units (called a "Cook-Master Time-Control") that were optional and could be installed after a range was sold. It seems possible that this range of Joe's has a late version of the Cook-Master.

But, like you, I've never seen anything quite like it before. Perhaps our resident Frigidaire expert, Mark kenmore71, could shed some light on the situation. I'm posting a repeat of Joe's original photo of his range to aid in identification purposes, below. Whatever the origins of the clock-timer unit, it does appear to be "live," because a jewel-type indicator light is lit on its right side; it's not something added for cosmetic purposes.

I hear you about remodels that are so inept that there's nothing to do but start over. I'm sorry you got saddled with one. [this post was last edited: 12/10/2014-13:57]

firedome · Dec 10, 2014

Nice little green Frigidaire...

and I'd guess that nice white one of Joe's to be in more like the 1950-52-ish range, but am not familair with the model. Loewy did some design work for them around then and it looks like something he may have had a hand in.

danemodsandy · Dec 10, 2014

Roger:

I'm thinking Joe's range is later than '52, because of some of the other photos in Joe's thread. The ones that show the oven and storage drawer handles reveal the handles to have more of a "Scandinavian Modern" shape, which was later, plus the storage drawer is patterned, which I don't think was seen earlier in the decade.

A shot of Joe's showing the front with its handles and drawer front is below.

mikael3 · Dec 10, 2014

The mystery range also has two 8″ burners, which I think puts it after 1956. The early Thrifty Thirties like mine had only one 8″ burner, as far as I know.

Plus the dials are on the back panel. And I’m fascinated by that Frigidaire logo in script along the front.

danemodsandy · Dec 10, 2014

It's Possible....

....That Joe added some of the chrome design elements seen on the range front; he did that with his modern DW before switching to the KD-10 he has now. You can see the former DW in the shot posted upthread; I think that's a Loewy-era Frigidaire door emblem on its front.

I dunno.

norgeway · Dec 11, 2014

Range Pictured IS a

56,..BOL, the clock is an add on, as is the Frigidaire script on the front and the chrome trim on the oven ...the knobs were originally a pinkish beige, the Church I grew up in had one in the kitchen for backup, 5 heat switches, a real workhorse of a range.

norgeway · Dec 11, 2014

Also...

Thru 55 the 30 inch had the surface unit switches on the front of the range like the Sherwood green one, my Mothers first stove was a 1950 30 inch,it had a low backsplash with the clock raised in the middle with a small light on each side.

danemodsandy · Dec 11, 2014

Joe's Range Identified:

Courtesy of Hans's info about the probable date of Joe's range, I went to Automatic Ephemera and downloaded the 1956 Frigidaire owner's manual for the four 30-inch models made that year.

Hans was correct - this is a 1956 model, No. RD-30-56, the BOL. While Hans says above that the one he was familiar with had a different color for the knobs, the owner's manual photo shows this same knob. Since the manual's photos are black-and-white, I can't say what their color was supposed to be, but it appears to be a light one.

There is no info in the manual about a Cook-Master Time-Control accessory being available for this range. The three models above the RD-30-56 all have a Cook-Master built into the control panel. That leaves the Cook-Master on Joe's range still unexplained.

So, now we know - it's a '56. Nice range. Note that even this modestly-priced model has the coveted two large/two small burner configuration. GE wouldn't get around to that for another three or four years, not even on the TOL Spacemaker 30s.

firedome · Dec 12, 2014

Nice range in any event!

Ya the script and chrome had me going earlier, it has that Loewey look, plus it being an unfamiliar model. The overall effect with these appliances in the kitchen is great!

IIRC the early ~ 1950 fridge with the gold circle trim on the door behind the door handle, which itself had a chrome cirle at it's tip end, was also a Loewey design, as were that era's Studebakers (with some help from Virgil Exner)... busy guy!

My new-to-me range.

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