I began this thread because on another thread SUDSMASTER spoke of his 50's model a/c with fake woodgrain on it. well I'm hoping there may be some oldtimers here that can talk about some a/c's that are older than SUDSMASTEWR'S unit which I'm sure is a really cool unit in itself (literaly).Well back around 1997 when I was in a HVAC course a fellow student brought in an old window unit a/c. Man I don't know how old it was but it had real wood on it. Like a peice of fine furniture. If I were pressed to identify the type of wood it had on it I wood guess it to have beeen cherry. I tryed everything in the book to trade, swap, or buy this unit from this guy but to no avail. The damn thing worked like a charm. i think he said that he recovered it from an attic at an old house he was doing odd jobs at on the side to pay for his schooling. ayways, I have never seen another work of art like that one since. anyone here have aything like this? I would like to see pics. I'm sure I couls see some on google but would rather see you guys stufff rather some generic crap on google plus I'm sure you guys may have some story to tell about your unit. By the way, I think the most reliable a/c ever built was the GE "Carry-Cool."
vintage Air Conditioners c/o SUDSMASTER~
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Somebody here has a woooden one they posted a pic of it last year iirc. Rich? in Ca?
I posted a pic of the old GE fake wood a while ago. I'll see if I can find the shots and repost them.
exploder3211
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Sudsmaster..
Is it still march in SF??? LoL
Is it still march in SF??? LoL
In the April, 1952, issue of Electrical Merchandising, on page 136, under "New Products," there are air conditioners by Remington Air Conditioning Div. of Remington Corp., Auburn, NY Models 10 "The Director" and 12 "The Overton" 1 and 1.5 horsepower console models with optional heating were available with either mahogany or blonde wood cabinets. Console models sat on the floor like a convector. All models were available for a.c or d.c. so they could be used in apartment buildings in New York that took d.c. power from the subway to operate the elevator motors and the rest of the building's electrical needs.
Wood front window units were discussed in a thread here a few months back.
I remember as a child seeing a church with several beautiful Mathis brand units cooling their sanctuary. My father's best friend was in the a/c business, and his company was installing central air in the church and so those window units were headed to the dump. It bothered me even then, because I just knew that those window units were way, way more interesting than another invisible central system! I looked carefully at them and they definately had real wood fronts, nicely made too although I don't recall the wood species. I'd guess they were from the early to mid '50s from the look of the control panels. When I posted this story in the previous thread here at least one other poster also recalled wood fronts on Mathis units.
I don't know anything else about Mathis, but the church was in the Dallas area so there must have been a dealer there.
I remember as a child seeing a church with several beautiful Mathis brand units cooling their sanctuary. My father's best friend was in the a/c business, and his company was installing central air in the church and so those window units were headed to the dump. It bothered me even then, because I just knew that those window units were way, way more interesting than another invisible central system! I looked carefully at them and they definately had real wood fronts, nicely made too although I don't recall the wood species. I'd guess they were from the early to mid '50s from the look of the control panels. When I posted this story in the previous thread here at least one other poster also recalled wood fronts on Mathis units.
I don't know anything else about Mathis, but the church was in the Dallas area so there must have been a dealer there.
Exploder,
LOL, no, but I wish it were still March. We've had a couple of weeks of unseasonably cool weather here, which has delayed germination of various garden veggies. But it seems to be warming up again.
PS-I picked up a couple of Daewoo 5300 BTU window air conditioners the other day. Price is $109 each, but PG&E will rebate $50 per unit, so they wind up costing only $59 each. I've spent as much on fans! I prefer these units because they appear to be one of the few window AC units that can be adapted for sliding windows (with some additional parts made by yours truly).
LOL, no, but I wish it were still March. We've had a couple of weeks of unseasonably cool weather here, which has delayed germination of various garden veggies. But it seems to be warming up again.
PS-I picked up a couple of Daewoo 5300 BTU window air conditioners the other day. Price is $109 each, but PG&E will rebate $50 per unit, so they wind up costing only $59 each. I've spent as much on fans! I prefer these units because they appear to be one of the few window AC units that can be adapted for sliding windows (with some additional parts made by yours truly).
Here's a shot of the fake wood GE AC. This is how it looks to someone standing inside the patio:
I got on a ladder for this shot:
"Instructions" - and no, the old knobs are nowhere to be found.
Full view from ladder height. The yellow foam was part of my frantic defense against a yellow jacket invasion that came not through the AC, but rather a gap in the patio ceiling. I won, with the help of Raid.
I remember one of those GEs from back when we lived in GA. It was a very quiet running air conditioner.
red_october
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Nice piece!
What kind of plug does it have?
What kind of plug does it have?
It's hard-wired into a 15 amp light switch.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Philco:
A few years ago, one of our local antique malls here in Atlanta (the late, lamented Cache Antiques), had a Philco air-conditioner for sale in one dealer's booth. It was a mahogany cabinet, and the styling was highly reminiscent of Philco's TV-cabinet styling in the very early 1950s (the "PHILCO" decal was identical to the one on the 1951 Philco TV that was "the kids' set" in our house when I was growing up). As I recall, the air-conditioner did not work. I've often wondered who bought it and what they did with it.
A few years ago, one of our local antique malls here in Atlanta (the late, lamented Cache Antiques), had a Philco air-conditioner for sale in one dealer's booth. It was a mahogany cabinet, and the styling was highly reminiscent of Philco's TV-cabinet styling in the very early 1950s (the "PHILCO" decal was identical to the one on the 1951 Philco TV that was "the kids' set" in our house when I was growing up). As I recall, the air-conditioner did not work. I've often wondered who bought it and what they did with it.
Whenever I see the Philco name I think of Phil Silvers, with those googly eyes and those black horn-rimmed glasses.
