Vintage Fridge Thread

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Phil, you find a lot of interesting things! I wish I could afford to travel anywhere to get them!

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"...a lot of interesting things!"...

PhilR - there were so many interesting shapes, designs and options, it seems, in past appliances.
Like the 60's - each year, we'd wonder what the new(released in September usually)cars would look like.
That kind of change doesn't fit the financial models today.

But wait, there's more....

When 3D printing gets really good and reasonable...we'll just keep all the old vintage stuff going and
maybe make a few of our own designs....10-15 years from now? Father time, mother reality..maybe longer.
lol.
 
58limited - ohwow, wouldn't it be nice to have those paired together? I'm glad to post these, but can't help
feel some of the "pain" when they're too far away to fetch. Your restored '55 is nice! I've read about your house, too, David. You've done a lot to improve that house - nice place, nice location, too!
 
Looking at your two gas Servels reminded me of when I was a young boy we had one of these I think it was a 1948 that my father bought new and it stopped working in the mid sixties. My father figured out what was wrong with it. The flue that the hot gases went up to heat the refrigerant warped shut and the heat would not go up. So he came up with the idea to weld a extension rod to a drill bit and chuck it in a hand electric drill and the plan was to drill a hole thru the obstuction. So he laid the fridge on it's side and knelt down to start drilling from the bottom a few seconds later a jet of refrigerant started shooting out and then caught on fire from the sparks from the drill's brushes and armature. He was lucky his face was not in line with the flue because the flame shot straight out about 3 feet like a rocket but he did singe off his right eyebrow and got a huge 2 inch long pus blister on his right hand. I was about ten years old and ran and got our CO 2 extinguisher and put out the flame but the refrigerant continued to hiss out for a while after the flame. Needless to say that Servel was in the rubbish the next day. About ten years after that we had another even older Sevel we used for pop and beer did the same thing with the flue and I just came by when he was screwing around with it and he was sticking a 3/8 inch round steel rod down the flue and I said to him do you really think you should be doing that. He stopped dead in his tracks and said your right and said OUT meaning the refrigerator in the rubbish. I thought of that episode many times in my life and it probably saved me from doing a lot of dangerous not well thought out things. It's funny to look back now because no one was seriously hurt. Bill,
 
The old Kelvinator that Jerry (Moparwash) shows looks a lot like one we had in our basement for a while. Seems like I saw something on it to indicate it was a '49 model. My dad had bought it used in the late 60's, and it ran for a couple years and quit. It was replaced by a '47 Frigidaire, that was still working the last time it was plugged in.
 
My refrigerators

Hi All, thought I might start a new thread but upon finding this one I guess it could go here. Here is my monitor top GE -- it would take a lot for me to part with this great fridge -- I've had it over 30 years. But, I noticed some rust on the bottom the other day, it had been there awhile but when I went down to clean it horrors I realized it was coming from rusting from the inside out.

SO it seems that while defrosting this over the years there developed some leak that let water into the bottom and this water had been down there for years. I had to basically tear it apart, which I have done before, but it is going to take a while for me to fix it.

Meanwhile I had seen a fridge on a site featuring estate sales so I figured I better go check it out...

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1954 GE

I was looking at this and it was 50 bucks, so I figured I better get it. I had no idea how heavy this thing was, and I've moved these Westinghouse washers, plus my Liberator stove, myself. The Monitor top is heavy too. Any this was in the basement and it took about a half hour to get it out. I trapped a bunch of people in the basement as it was stuck at the top of the stairs. The estate sale people were very kind and we all finally got it out. But I was much embarrassed.

I was a little rusty looking but this inside, looks like it has never been used. There is a little discoloration on the gasket but it cleaned up nicely. I don't know if it has been off for years, but they suggested it was off for three months. There was a diet coke from 2002 inside, but with water in the freezer, so who knows. It is in really good shape though.

northwesty-2014120320182301442_1.jpg
 
Inside

Anyway, this fridge is sure a more practical addition, and more in line with the vintage of the stove. I have known about these and really was so fortunate to have only gone one day without a fridge and have such a find fall into my lap.

It had a bit of a temp gauge issue but I think I fixed it - it seems to be in perfect working condition.

I slather these vintage appliances in Soft-Scrub with bleach, I put some plastic over it to let it sit for a few hours, or even overnight, and it takes out the discoloration in the finish very well. Still, this one might need repainting but I won't do that till the summer. Again, the inside, after cleaning, was great.

Thanks for looking and happy holidays.

northwesty-2014120320252500116_1.jpg
 
Brian:

That range and fridge together are terrific! I have always had a soft spot for GE 40-inchers of that vintage.

And you have the Kenmore laundry pair. Lucky guy!

I really like your kitchen. I well remember when a kitchen like that was considered damn nice; you didn't dream of wanting anything grander. I especially like the cabinets, which are wipe-clean in that white finish. Why people want to deal with carved cabinet fronts that trap grease and dust is beyond me.

You really do have a nice early-'50s thing going on there. Great to see.
 
Brian - your new GE looks perfect with the stove and your kitchen is a time-warp. I can't believe you had that monitor for 30 years? When did you get it, when you were 12? :-) I'd need a course in survival training to have such a smallish fridge. You did well, if that was your only fridge for all these years. I'm glad you found the GE and…good to know your back is still with you. I say, also, because I worked for moving companies during summers between college. Just imagine moving in the 30's, 40's and 50's; the stoves, refrigerators, and washer and dryers were missile weights, unlike the appliances today that are easy lifted trebuchet ammo.(and where most of them should be used, after they die their short lives, in some cases).

Congrats.

Phil
 
 

 

Brian, what wonderful appliances. Love your kitchen. Reminds me of my aunts kitchen when I was 5 or so.

Do you use Softscrub to lighten the outside of the refrigerator? My 64' GE is a bit yellow with age.

 

Congratulations!
 
Beautiful! The kitchen, both fridges, and your range! And you will find ways to fill all that extra space inside the fridge!
 
data plate on a late 40s or early 50s GE refrigerator

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and thank you all in advance for your help. I have a late 40s or early 50s GE refrigerator that has been in my wife's family since new. It has been stored in a barn for over 35 years. It works great but the paint, especially on the door needs repainted. Where will I find the data plate so that I can find the manual, parts, ect.... Also, do the letters on the door and logo bolt on or are they glued?
 
Thanks for the response. I found the data plate. I took off the lower plate and it was on the back wall. According to the date code it is from January 1947. I am excited to start the restoration of the outside. The interior is in perfect condition with the exception that one of the glass shelves did not make our recent move to Mobile unscathed. Easy to have new glass cut.
 
I like the paint job on your 1953 GE very much....

red is my favorite color.........and I have always liked the 1953 GE fridges because of their one year door handle design (the ’52 models used a horizontal door handle design not a vertical one like your fridge has)....PAT COFFEY
 
1955 Hotpoint upright freezer

Hello, I have a 50th Anniversary Hotpoint upright freezer that I purchased a couple of months ago. Besides a small bit of rust it works perfectly. The only part missing is the cap/insert that goes in the door handle that has the Hotpoint logo. I believe it is made out of glass. I will attach a picture below. It's not the same type of handle but the Hotpoint emblem with the gold is the same insert that would go into mine. I need help finding this part or something similar that would fit that opening.

Also as I work to restore this what concerns should I have? Does the electric typically need to be updated? Do I need to be concerned with the insulation - health hazard? Which items would you all recommend that I definitely replace before using this in my home or garage? I want it to look good which I think will be the easier part, but I also want it to be safe.

itmike78-2017092010262904575_1.jpg

itmike78-2017092010262904575_2.jpg

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Unknown age Hotpoint Refrigerator acquired recently

Hello everyone, My name is Levi and I am new to this forum but I've always had a soft spot for vintage appliances. a little over a year ago I bought a house that was built in 1921 that is a single story bungalow with a walk-up attic and a full unfinished basement, and my house came with all of the appliances (and I'm only the third owner of the house by the way because the original owners of the house who built the house lived in the house until 1995 when the original owner's widow passed away at the age of 100, and the people who owned the house before me bought the house from the original owner's family in 1995 and lived in it until last year when I bought it from them.)

I bought earlier this year a what I was assuming (and also the person I bought it from assumed as well) was a 1950s Hotpoint Refrigerator that was all complete minus what I'm assuming is one shelf (the shelf that I'm assuming held the meat/cheese drawer) and that's it, and its still working like a charm yet (it keeps my foods kold yet and the freezer compartment I have yet to defrost it yet because it hasn't developed a whole lot of frost inside it yet, just a thin layer of frost on the top and that's it.)

I have no idea how you can tell how old these refrigerators are and I've noticed that most of your threads in this forum have exact years for when your refrigerators were made, but I don't know when my refrigerator was made exactly, is there any way to figure out the exact year a vintage refrigerator was made by looking at the model or serial number, or is there another way to tell?

Also I've attempted to look up my exact model of refrigerator and I have yet to come across one just like mine, I've seen some that were similar but not the exact same model.

I would appreciate any help you guys could give me with this.

pictures below.

captainclock88-2023122712551108600_1.jpg

captainclock88-2023122712551108600_2.jpg

captainclock88-2023122712551108600_3.jpg
 
So what's the little bracket on the upper right hand corner of my refrigerator for? I would assume it must of went to a shelf that also held the meat drawer? And Does anyone here have a picture of what that would of looked like? So I could hunt one down?
 
Levi...

this is what you are looking for.

I have had this for a long time, knowing that a member would need it someday.

I knew that I would never use it and wanted to save it, I think it was a Goodwill find.

My email is in my profile, message me your address and I will send it off to you.

Your fridge and kitchen really look nice.

Regards, Bill

wiskybill-2023123111090207742_1.jpg
 

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