John, many ranges, once they went to sealed rod elements for the deepwell cooker, had an element that would sit at the bottom of the well, but could also be raised up and locked in place to serve as a fourth surface unit.
Deep wells were originally put on ranges to make electric cooking more economical, especially for larger quantities of food that had to cook for a longer time since the well originally offered some insulation around the pan and some of the lids for the pans had insulation in them also. They began to look old fashioned (the style, not the drink) and were phased out. Frigidaire was probably the last manufacturer to offer them up to 1959 or 60. I guess when people had the opportunity to choose between a deep well and a 4th surface unit, they picked the 4th surface unit enough that the deep wells were no longer favored. I would imagine that for short women, it was maybe hard to see down inside of the pan in the back corner of the cooktop. With GE and Hotpoint ranges, the deep well unit was another 6 inch unit, but with Frigidiare and Westinghouse ranges the lift up deep well unit was another 8 inch unit. GE was one of the first brands to eliminate the deep well.
Deep wells were originally put on ranges to make electric cooking more economical, especially for larger quantities of food that had to cook for a longer time since the well originally offered some insulation around the pan and some of the lids for the pans had insulation in them also. They began to look old fashioned (the style, not the drink) and were phased out. Frigidaire was probably the last manufacturer to offer them up to 1959 or 60. I guess when people had the opportunity to choose between a deep well and a 4th surface unit, they picked the 4th surface unit enough that the deep wells were no longer favored. I would imagine that for short women, it was maybe hard to see down inside of the pan in the back corner of the cooktop. With GE and Hotpoint ranges, the deep well unit was another 6 inch unit, but with Frigidiare and Westinghouse ranges the lift up deep well unit was another 8 inch unit. GE was one of the first brands to eliminate the deep well.
