Vintage 1950's Vent A Hood

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a440

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2008
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Hello everyone.
I have never seen a thread on Vintage or Non Vintage Range Hoods so I though I would start one. With most everyone being such great cooks here I thought I would ask for some input.
I think I have found a vintage Stainless "Vent-A-Hood" that was built in the 1950's. The nice person that has it gave me the dimensions, and it looks as though everything will line up, including the massive vent duct that we have in the house that goes through the roof for venting outdoors.
I have no idea why the vent hood was replaced in this home. The one that is here now is terrible! When we first moved into the house I was cleaning the cabinets and found the original booklet to the first range hood. It was a copper "Vent-A-Hood". I can't get wrap my mind around why they replaced it for what is here now.
What do you have in your home? Vented outdoors? Is the hood vintage? New? Reason that I am asking is that if this one does not fit, I have to get something else. I hate this hood.
Here is a terrible picture of what the gentleman sent me. Going out tomorrow and take a look see. He wants nearly nothing for it.
Oh...I don't want to pay today's prices for a new Vent-A-Hood. Crazy expensive.
Brent

A440++1-16-2010-21-57-7.jpg
 
We have....

....a 1981 75cm Jenn Air radiant coil cooktop with central extraction and slot in BBQ style grill...

Above it is a beaten copper hood that has no extraction and used to have a light....

I hate the JennAir...without sounding vulgar, it sucks because it doesn't!

It is being replaced with a 90cm Westinghouse 4+1 gas cooktop and a slot in Electrolux 3spd fan and twin light unit that will go neatly into the overhead cupboard and actually make the copper hood a rangehood...

Mind, the kitchen itself is in good nick for 29yrs old

ronhic++1-16-2010-22-05-37.jpg
 
Fantastic Kitchen Chris!
Love the copper hood.
Love your ridge line roof! Is it like this throughout your home?
The wood is so fantastic!
Thanks for sharing!
Brent
 
Here's my 1949 Vent-A-Hood. 42" wide with full backsplash that goes all the way to the countertop.

Stumbled across it on ebay. A gal had bought a home with this and a 50's stove in the kitchen, was remodeling and had both up for auction. No one bid, so I offered $400 (I think), plus the truck shipping. Had to repaint the entire thing.

It was the last big "find" on the road to completing our fully functional 50's kitchen and we felt very lucky to have scored it.

At the time, Vent-A-Hood was celebrating their 75th year of the invention and production of residential hoods. I got in touch with them and for a few months was working on getting them to remake this model as part of a retro line of their hoods......and use mine as a model if they didn't still have all the dies. Sadly, they weren't interested.

Kitchen.jpg
 
Todd!
Your kitchen is stunning! I love the stove, hood, all of the above!
I can't get over that Vent-A-Hood was not interested in your fantastic hood.
What are your thoughts on it's practical use?
Did you have to build around it, or did it fit?
Thanks so much for the picture. Fantastic!
What is your range? Looks so nice.
Brent
 
Thanks for the kind words Brent!

The Fridge is a '52 Philco with the full-on blue plastic interior, and gold scrip lettering. Matching radio up top.

The stove is a 42" Wedgewood. I don't know the exact year, but I'd guess pre-53.

We built the kitchen from scratch, so it was all built to fit the Philco and the Wedgewood, as those were the first 2 appliances we found and finished restoring (not the Philco door opens from the right instead of the standard left). So it was imperative that I find a 42" hood and it took me a few years. It was really the ultimate find.

In that alcove at the rear right, behind the Philco, are the '53 Westinghouse Laundry Twins. On the other side of the kitchen is the '59 Kitchenaid KD12 dishwasher, which is our youngest appliance. A 6' long double basin, double drainboard w/ full lenght backsplash white enamel sink is above that, and the countertops are Bianca double boomerang pattern from a real original sheet of Formica that I scored.

There's a green crushed ice formica dinette in the middle.

The Vent-A-Hoods work great because they run a squirlcage blower fan, instead of a prop sucking through a metal gauze screen. State of the art back in the day, and they still build 'em that way.
 
Todd...

...just fabulous.

There were so many homes in Sydney that had the original kitchens in them that have either been remodeled or bulldozed to put a 'McMansion' on the blocks it is disgraceful.

Kudos to you for deciding to 'live in the 50's'.....it looks just FAB...
 
Brent.....

..only downstairs has the cathedral cedar ceilings - they are exactly as they were when the house was built as is the downstairs fireplace and feature walls...mind, the feature wall is a structural wall holding up part of the second floor...

By Australian standards, for a 4 bedroom house, this is a BIG house at 3200 sq ft...or 290sq metres, and most of it is exactly as it was built...

Here is the lounge (20'x14.5'), which I have posted before (not our furniture) and you can see the dining area leading to the kitchen directly under the triple pendant light in the middle of the frame and to the right, behind the closed blind is a sunroom. Hard right, is the open fire...

To the left of the brick wall over the piano is the front door and stairs whilst the stained door you can see leads to a rumpus/family room of approx. 6.3x3.4m ( 21'x11.5')

The bricks you see in the supporting wall are floor to ceiling (about 12') and are on both sides....this wall runs over 25' and is the same as the wall where the fireplace is

ronhic++1-17-2010-01-34-35.jpg
 
Todd, That is an awesome kitchen.

I don't have a Vent-A-Hood, just a vent fan which can be seen on my web page.

A few years ago I bid (and lost the auction) on an O'Keefe & Merritt Aristocrat on ebay that came with a matching original Vent-A-Hood - wish I had saved a pic. That hood must have been at least 60" wide. The stove and hood came out of Fred Astaire's house.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~limited58/kitchen.htm
 
In my kitchen--- --- ---

Is a Kenmore deluxe hood given to me by our very own Jerry Gay,he installed it sometime late 70s early 80s,it too has a squirrel cage blower,I am going to change it though,it is a 30 inch,and my Pink Frigidaire is a 40, I have a 50 something Nutone with pushbuttons,and a 42 inch Lyon metal products hood that came with a set of old metal cabinets, it has a HUGE dual blower with a 2 inch thick filter.,whichever one fits best is what ill use,I also have a NIB Nutone ceiling fan,which in some ways I like better than a hood.
 
Hey Brent, Thermador also makes a great vintage vent hood with a squirrel-cage blower. Powerful and quiet. Check for one on E-Bay. They show up all the time from re-modeling projects. So many people are clueless as to the advantages of the old products.
 
I just replaced an 8 year old microhood with a new Vent-A-Hood in white, to go with the white-on-white Thermador slide-in stove I got from a friend for $200...paid double that for the Vent-A-Hood. It works beautifully (vented) but 2 things niggle at me...1. the "works" aren't stainless steel, they're powdercoated (I bought it at The Great Indoors out in Troy...their sample was stainless, with stainless "works". I liked the idea of bunging everything into the dishwasher. Haven't investigated whether I can do the powdercoat in the dishwasher). 2. The halogen lights are not recessed and I've burned myself a couple times fumbling for the switch.
 
Thanks for all of your help and great pictures guys!

Chris the wood in your home is fantastic! Your home looks so solid!

David your home is fantastic! You really worked hard on it. I love your kitchen! Looks so inviting!

Hans I remember the well built Kenmore hoods. My mother had a friend that had one from the 50's. It was yellow. Quite large and very quiet and strong. I also agree with you about the Nutone fans serving as a vent. They are very powerful and I have actually thought of just getting one for now until a hood showed up.

Steve thanks for the reminder about Thermador! I have been looking for a a hood replacement for awhile. I have run across two issues. 1. The person thinks that it is just old crap so they drop, bang, scratch or with most I am sure just throw out all together. 2. They know it is vintage and they think it is worth a fortune. The guy that has this one has a home refinishing company. He saved it because he thought it was too well built to scrap. We will see. I hope it will work out for the space. I am sure that I will get it even if it does not just to save it.

Have a great Sunday
Brent
 
Chris

nice upmarket home you've got there! Canberra is a dizzying round place but very beautiful. Which circle do you live in?
When I drove in from Sydney I thought I was sooo lost but the map said I was downtown! And I was, never seen a city where the buildings have grass around them!!
I stayed at a nice motel just off the city center which was next to a very large and active football club. So they had an arrangement that I got all my meals at the club. That was fun because I got to rub elbows with the locals. But driving around there was VERY confusing!

Todd love that period kitchen! The hood is tops!
 
Todd:

What a wonderful Truman-era kitchen! I especially like your countertops, with their metal edging; that was such a sturdy and long-lived arrangement that I cannot understand how self-edged Formica counters (so prone to chipping) became so popular.

Re: Vent-A-Hoods: A lot of people don't have a clue that these are usually repairable; so many products today are not fixable that I think people have just fallen into a "when it's dead, it's dead" mentality for everything. Some Nutone and Vent-A-Hood stuff uses the same motors they used sixty years ago (or at least, motors of the same size and configuration). My own mother threw out a stainless 30" Vent-A-Hood from 1962 for this reason - she was very dismayed to hear that it could have been saved rather easily, but then she didn't call me to ask, either.
 
Man Chris, the wood in your home, along with the brick...just amazing to look at!

David, your kitchen is killing me! Fantastic! BTW, I've got a beautiful chrome front Amana Radarange 4sale that would look fantastic in there.

That's a great turkey roaster! I haven't seen that version. I have one too, with the timer clock cabinet, but I think a later model than yours. Great dinette too. I've been looking for a pink one for years.....I think that's the only version that would get me to replace the green one we have.

How 'bout some photos of the inside of your fridges? We were going to go with a GE, one of the ones with the D shaped shelves that rotate out like a lazy-susan. But my wife and I stumbed across the Philco in a local 2nd hand store and it was love at first sight.
 
About the vintage appliance usage

We relocated and restored our 1903 Victorian home back in '93, so our vintage appliances have been in use since then.....or within about 5 years of then, as it took a while to find everything.

Every appliance was still working when we found it. Only the washer, with it's timer wired wrong, and torn door boot, wasn't immediately useable. Pretty amazing for the life-span that many modern things have. I think my inlaws are on their 2nd fridge, 2nd or 3rd dishwasher, and 3rd washer/dryer set, in the time we've been using all of our "old junk." Plus, their new stuff has already had to be repaired umpteen times.

I think part of the death of the older stuff is due to cost of repairs. People just reach the point where they think it's not smart to dump $$ into old _________ (fill in: cars/trucks/appliance) when they can buy new, get a warranty, look like what they see on TV and in magazines, and keep up with the Jones. Personally, I'd rather a couple hundred fixing my 1953 Washer, than spend 2-3 times that on a new one. It's certainly not for everyone though.....and folks like us reap the benefits!

Thanks for the kind words on the kitchen guys. Much appreciated!
 
1956 St. Anthony hood . . .

My parents just bought a house here in SoCal, and will be moving from Texas in a few months. The house was built in '56, and has a huge hood from St. Anthony (who I've never heard of before) over a gas six burner Jenn-Air cooktop. The hood is a coppery brown color, but not what I'd call Coppertone, and has that scalloped lower edge so typical of the '50s. It is unusual in that the actual ventilator unit is offset so as to be centered over the cooktop. The cooktop itself is not centered in the cabinets.

The cooktop has obviously been replaced, as has one of the electric ovens. Both ovens are from Chambers. The cooktop and hood work well, but we've not tried the ovens yet. The original oven (the lower one) has a fascinating brushed copper finish. I think both ovens will be replaced with one new one and a built in microwave in the near future.

Apologies for the cellphone photos!

hydralique++1-17-2010-23-44-33.jpg
 
The ovens . . .

The top oven is self cleaning, I'd suspect from the late '60s or early '70s. The bottom one is certainly original, both are Chambers as noted above. The previous owner was quite elderly and he seemed to have given up cleaning after his wife died several years ago, hence the dirty front on the lower oven. We're now in the process of cleaning the house and planning some updates while it is empty. I find the location of the controls on the lower oven very peculiar , certainly not a convenient layout!

hydralique++1-17-2010-23-52-41.jpg
 
Here's a good one.....

...Guess what I pulled out of an old home today? A 36" Vent-A-Hood in silver grey. Dual blowers...ooh.....aaaah.

Really enjoyed looking at the photos of your fridges and the small appliances!! That fridge restoration sure brought back the memories. That's exactly what I did to our, along with reversing the latch mechanism and relocating the handle to the other side, along with the hinges.

I see those Kenmore rotisseries at the swap meet fairly often. They must have been very popular back in the day. If I had the counter space, I'd probably have one too.
 
hydralique, that appears to the the 6 burner version of my most hated cooktop, had it for 3 month and pulled it out. Got to get around to listing it on CL someday...

Perhaps your folks won't mind it so much with the 6 burner configuration, the 4 was impossible for me to use, but then it might just be me...

BTW, that is one massive hood!
 
You guys keep the pictures coming!!!!

I went, I saw, I bought! I am so excited Y'all. It fit like a glove. Like it was always meant to be!

The wonderful gentleman that had it for sale has a soft spot for vintage appliances. He let me look through his stuff, but besides the hood nothing really look vintage to me.

Anyway. Brought the hood home. Cleaned it up a little and fit it into it's place. Fit like a glove! It did not need much cleaning. No scratches. It is a model F-150. I will write to find out what age it is. It is very strong as far as air space suctions goes. Not very loud. Mostly what you hear is wind. The motor was clean as a whistle, and had two ports for oil. Of course oiled. I was amazed how everything could be taken out and washed in the dishwasher!

I was too tired to cook, but I was burning things and running outside to smell. Crazy right? Yep you know the type!

Here are a few pictures. The cook top range is the next to go. I am looking for a vintage gas range. The yellow "stuff" is also next. Trying to figure out what to replace it with.

Forgive the pictures. They look horrible and dirty. I swear that I am clean. Until I started burning stuff......

Thanks for all of your input and your amazing pictures. Keep them coming. I love the vintage kitchen stuff!

Have a great week.

Off to cook grilled cheese something or another. Something that will burn and smoke!

Brent

A440++1-18-2010-00-34-25.jpg
 
gentlemen

It never fails to amaze me the very topic I'm considering pops up here, almost every time! I've been on the search for a range hood to complement my Westy 40" range; I'd never heard of vent-a-hood! Thanks for giving me a defined goal.

Keith
 
Keith,
Do the craigslist thing.
They do pop up. Hopefully they will not know what they have.
Brent
 

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