Smaller and specialty stoves

[fan-of-fans]

I was always in to the smaller stoves and kitchenettes as a kid. We used to stay at motels on the beach and many of them had Dwyer kitchenettes. Others had regular cabinets and apartment size stoves. I recall seeing Vesta, Kenmore, and others I can't recall now.

Now most of these places have been remodeled and the Dwyer kitchenettes have all been replaced by wood cabinets and granite. Typically I see 24" ranges instead of 18" but some have full 30" ranges.

There was an elderly couple that ran a motel there for years. They did little remodeling and the last time we stayed in 06, our unit still had the upper metal Dwyer cabinets and probably an 80s apt stove, I forget the brand, and a 00s Kenmore fridge. Once we stayed there in another unit with a 90s kitchen, almond and oak cabinets and almond Kenmore apt stove and single door fridge. Unfortunately they passed away and the family sold the motel. It needed a LOT of work, so it was remodeled, and all the rooms have now is a tiny round sink and a Keurig!

One other motel we stayed at was redone about 2000, it had a tiny kitchenette of formica cabinets, an Acme fridge under the cooktop. Cooktop that had solid elements and was branded "Princess". It even had a small vent hood over the cooktop. Next to that was a sink with a GE microwave over it.

It's funny, I never see 18" or 24" stoves or 40" in stores now. And online they are much more than a fancier 30". The most specialty I've seen recently at Sears was a cheap feeling Galaxy 30" stove. They don't have them on display anymore.

 

[pulltostart]

GE Mark 21

As I think I've stated before, the kitchen in my "future" house in Mobile is very small.  The house was built in 1959 with a U-shaped kitchen that consisted of the refrigerator on the left leg of the "U", a double-bowl sink on the bottom of the "U" (with window looking into the backyard), and a Mark-27 with remote control on the right leg of the "U".  VERY little in the way of base cabinets; even less when a former owner re-configured the right leg to accommodate a 24" built-in dishwasher and a 30" free-standing range.  Those two appliances filled the leg from end-to-end.

 

Not being a person who cooks much and therefore not requiring a lot of sophistocated appliances (and preferring more storage space than this house has), I looked for compact cooking options.  I found this one recently, spent about a week detailing it, and think it will fit the house perfectly as well as fit my needs perfectly.

 

Earlier versions of this Mark 21 (aka "Spacemaker") included a silver backsplash (removable) and a silver panel below the oven.  This particular model was a later year offering and included a white painted finish on these two components.  I prefer the earlier look and painted them silver.  I think they turned out very well.  Can't wait to take this one to Mobile and try her out.

 

lawrence

 

[combo52]

GE Mark 21

These were the best built and baking compact ranges ever, I think that it is such a shame that there is NO DECENT range available in this country that is less than 24" wide.I really liked the GE Mark 21s with the push-button burner controls as well, they were made till around 1972.

 

[rp2813]

Lawrence, that's a beautiful little stove!  It looks like the oven saw very little use.  Be sure to post some pictures once you have it installed in the new place.

 

Ralph

 

[fan-of-fans]

GE

Looks nice. Didn't GE make a three burner range with pushbutton controls? I don't recall the size, seems like it could have been a drop-in.

 

[pulltostart]

John - I would have loved to have found one of the earlier models with the pushbutton controls, not so much for the controls but because they also included a grounded convenience outlet.  Would also love to find one of the 5-piece trim kits that can be used to make this one appear "built-in".

 

During my looking I ran across an interesting Hotpoint model.  It was a 3-burner drop-in model, stainless top, 24" wide, from the early 1960's.

 

lawrence

 

[mixguy]

24" GE Range

An apt. I rented for 3 years had one of these GE 24" ranges. It had one of the most even heating ovens I ever used! Mine had two racks and could bake up to 4 layer cake pans at one time. It would preheat quickly and not vent a much heat into the room. Made baking during the summer less expensive than the 30" gas stove I used previously and it was an insulated self cleaning model.

 

[norgeway]

I thought seriously..

About setting 2 of these side by side...8 units and 2 ovens!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Hans, GE used to mention in the early 50s magazine ads for the 24" Spacemaker range that two of them side-by-side were excellent for large families or group living situations because doing so gave you two full size ovens and 8 surface units in just 48" of space, just 8" more than a 40" range.

Lawrence, what happened to the red range?

 

[pulltostart]

Tom

The red GE still exists and is currently sitting in the Mobile kitchen.  After untold hours of scrubbing, polishing, cleaning, etc., it still needs more.  As others here have found when they acquired a used range, the red one was totally encapsulated in grease.  The red finish is stained in several places with grease.  I've cleaned what will remove and stopped.  The range is operable (all 4 burners work, bake and broil work, fluorescent worklight works, oven light works, minute timer works), but 2 burners should be replaced and the entire clock assembly should be replaced.  The glass lens is cracked and there is grease within the crack (I've cleaned the glass on both sided).  I have decided that the range needs more than I can give it.  It really needs a total restoration, and that's something that I'm not really capable of doing.  I know of a clock assembly for sale, but the wiring on the backside is such a greasy mess, there's no way I would attempt to replace the clock.  The entire range needs to be disassembled, cleaned, re-finished and re-wired.

 

In addition to all of the physical shortcomings, it is too large for the kitchen!  I will use it for a period of time, until I can afford to replace all of the base cabinets and the countertop, and then I will offer it for sale.  At that time I will move the Mark 21 into the kitchen.

 

lawrence

 

[behzad]

small range

What a clean and nice oven it has,nice GE space maker!

 

[xraytech]

Those GEs were great ranges.
My grandparents has an earlier Mark 21 with push button controls in one off their units, grandma replaced it with a $99 used SunRay a few years back instead of repairing it

 

[pulltostart]

According to the Serial number, this range was manufactured in March 1986.  I believe 1990 was the last year this range was offered, being replaced in 1991 with a new model.  The pushbutton control models were built through 1975, replaced in 1976 with the push-to-turn control models and no longer having a convenience outlet.

 

lawrence