VINTAGE IRONRITE ELECTRIC IRONER/MANGLE & HEALTH CHAIR - $175 (SHELTON, CONNECTICUT)

[ken]

HERE IS AN IRONRITE ELECTRIC IRONER IN REMARKABLY GOOD CONDITION.THIS IS MODEL 85. WHEN IN USE IT MEASURES 40 INCHES HIGH, 34 INCHES DEEP, AND 49 INCHES WIDE. CLOSED IT IS 36 INCHES HIGH, 20 INCHES DEEP, AND 30 INCHES WIDE. IT FEATURES ADJUSTABLE ROLL ABOUT CASTERS, AND COMES WITH EASY TO READ COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. IT IS EQUIPPED WITH 110 VOLT, 60 CYCLE, A.C. CURRENT. THE CABINET IS FINISHED IN CHIP-RESISTING BAKED ENAMEL STEEL. IT IRONS ANYTHING YOU CAN WASH. RHYTHMIC, RESTFUL, AUTOMATIC IRONING.

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/app/4551682898.html

 

[tomturbomatic]

That's like mine. The chair alone sells for that much. If you have to iron, this is the ironer to have.

 

[cuffs054]

Can someone explain how to use one of these, please. Does it only do flat work?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Flat work is easiest, but the book that comes with it shows how to iron shirts, pants, dresses, you name it. When you bought the ironer new, an Ironrite rep would come to your home to demonstrate how to use one. The Ironrite has a roll with two open ends so it was easier to do the fancy work and easier to do large pieces since they could be moved along the roller from right to left or left to right, depending. In other words, large pieces did not have to be folded to be ironed all the way across.

I keep a spray bottle of water close because if you iron a wrinkle into something, you just spray water on it to erase the wrinkle and reiron it. You do have to be careful to keep the fabric straight as it goes into the roll so that you don't get wrinkles or cat faces. I like to look between the two sections of the shoe and see the red hot heating element. You have to make sure that the chrome on the shoe is not damaged in any way when you are buying a used ironer.

 

[d-jones]

"The chair alone sells for that much."

Unfortunately, this is a true statement, but it says far more about foolish buyers and just plain dishonest sellers than it does about any actual value the chair has. Just about every seller on eBay mentions the name Herman Sperlich prominently in the listing, as if that's supposed to be something important. Herman Sperlich is no one of consequence. He's just a guy that helped found Ironrite and designed the chair to go along with the machine. Can anyone name any other creative or artistic endeavor of his that's received any form of critical acclaim? The short answer is no, consequently there's no reason whatsoever for anyone to mention his name in an ad. The guy wasn't Rembrandt, Monet, or even Raymond Loewy. He was just a businessman. Those blasted little chairs are worth about twenty five dollars and not a penny more. When I see those things listed(and selling) for two hundred dollars it makes me ill. The little chair sells for two hundred dollars to some clueless dork while the Ironrite machine goes for less than a hundred? It's a world gone mad! Sometimes I feel like I'm trapped in a perpetual Nickelodeon opposites sketch, wherein everyone goes about doing the exact opposite of what one would normally expect. Of course this all got started when The Museum of Modern Art put together an exhibit of clever mid century industrial design which included this chair and correctly credited Mr. Sperlich with its design, but so what. As a case in point, Raymond Loewy was a celebrated industrial designer whose team was responsible for some truly groundbreaking innovations, including the stunning 1953 Studebaker Coupe which in 1953 was actually displayed in the same Museum of Modern Art as a work of art, but no one cares. The 1953 Studebaker Coupes remain among the most overlooked of all the classic American mid century automobiles. Meanwhile, an endless stream of eBay sellers attempting to foist these little chairs off on an uneducated public run around chanting Herman Sperlich! Herman Sperlich! I'll leave it to the rest of you to try to make sense of it. I know I never will.[this post was last edited: 7/18/2014-20:56]