Who's old enough to remember when THIS was brand new?

[veg-o-matic]

LOVE that Americana fridge! Why can't anyone make creative, interesting designs like that any more?

All this talk about Americana has me thinking. Isn't that the name GE uses now for the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel appliances they sell at Home Depot? My memory's not great, but I think I'm right. A pity, really.

veg

 

[joeekaitis]

Americana: Builder's specials for the rest of us

Veg:

Yes, Americana is now GE's sub-Hotpoint line and sold only at Home Depot. They come in pretty handy if you don't want to leave a beloved stove or dishwasher behind while allowing you to claim "KITCHEN W/ALL-NEW MAJOR APPLS." on your house's "for sale" listing.

 

[westytoploader]

How ironic that Americana switched from a TOL to a BOL appliance label. I saw an Americana dishwasher at Lowe's and that was more BOL than you could believe...OY.

 

[westytoploader]

Oops...I meant Home Depot...LOL

 

[retromom]

GE plummeting from grace....

Yuk. GE has reached an alltime low when it comes to quality. I seriously have second thoughts about buying anything they make. Unfortunately, the ice/beverage dispenser on the the GE SxS fridges are taller than those of Whirlpool or Frigidaire, and therefore more practical. I may have to consider a GE refrigerator unless I happen upon a vintage Frigidaire Custom Imperial or similar (perhaps in Poppy Red or Stainless; do you hear that Patrick and Cory?).

 

[DADoES]

Venus, I was a friend's mother's house Sat evening who has a KA SxS with ice/water. Took a couple pizzas over there, had a look at his house remodel in-progress, etc. I iced the glasses for soda pop, and a medium-size glass wouldn't fit in the dispenser without hitting it at an angle. As you know, it would fit in my Arctica.

 

[kenmore1978]

Turquoise Americana

So, MK, did you ever find the ice cube tray for the icemakder for that frige? I remember you saying it was cracking.

 

[thirtyater]

Oooh! That turquoise Americana frig is the ultimate! Have been looking for one of those forever. One of my two favorite models and my favorite color. Way to go.

 

[alr2903]

something new everyday.

I always believed the "americana" was from the mid seventies. Thank you, I never realized it was out and about so much earlier. LBcarguy that is a Wonderful refrigerator, Thank you for posting the pic. alr2903.

 

[lbcarguy]

Auto-Fill Ice Service

Hi Kenmore 78,

Yes, my very good friend filter-flo found an excellent ice tray and a missing trim piece for the fridge. All is well and the ice cubes come out perfect.

For those who may not know, the Americana has a hinged ice tray. After you swing it over to the ice cube storage tray to empty, you put it back and it sits high on a spring loaded lever. When the ice service rack is pushed in, the high level of the ice tray activates a switch to turn on the water solenoid valve and refill the ice tray. When the water level in the tray is high enough, the weight of the water overcomes the spring loaded lever under the tray and it drops down. This opens the switch to the water solenoid and the water stops.

A very cool feature to show your friends. This option was available in most upper end GE refrigerators of the early 60s, and standard on the Americana.

MK in LBC

 

[kenmore1978]

Turquoise GE range

"The house where I found my Maytag wringer washer and a mint 806 dryer had a GE model just like this in turquoise. I tried to wriggle it out of them but the house had just sold with the range in it so there was nothing they could do but give the new owners my name & number."

Did you ever follow up? Names and numbers get lost, people forget.

 

[lbcarguy]

One More Tid-Bit

The name "Americana" was created for the NY worlds fair GE exhibit. The exhibit featured GE's new Americana line of appliances and was later moved or replicated at Disneyland and later Disneyworld as the GE carousel of progress.

I am sure some folks here have an even better recollection of this, as I was only 2.5 yrs old when my parents took me to the fair and I really only remember being at my grandmother's apartment in Greatneck NY for some odd reason.

I of course saw the carousel of progress at both Disneyland and Disneyworld and it was very sad for me when they ripped it out several years ago. I remember when visiting in Florida around 1973, the modern/current line-up of appliances were Avacado Green.

My last visit to the carousel of progress out here at Disneyland would have been in the mid to late 80's and you could tell it was at the end of it's life. I think the appliances were still avacado, but don't quote me on that. I am not a Disney expert so I will defer those kind of details to the experts.

There were also a couple of accidents on the "ride" where people tried to leave while the theater rotated and they got squashed.

MK in LBC

 

[frontaloadotmy]

P #61298

MK,
It's a great big beautiful tomorrow......! I saw C o P
@ DL during Easter Vacation in 1968, as I recall Pirates of the Caribbean was the latest rage. The most vivid recall of C o P was in one of the first few scenes a vacuum cleaner being pumped by the "lady of the house" operator. I was transfixed with the circa mid/late fifties Canary Yellow All electric kitchen with the top loading drawer dish washer slowly rolling out on cue. I do remember thinking this certainly could be a good "squash-o-matic" I loved it!!!

 

[coldspot66]

Hi Mike,

I was 11 when we went to the World's Fair in NY in 1965. I well remember GE Progressland. I can't remember if the stage rotated or the audience!lol I do remember looking at the exhibits of appliances after the show was over. They showed a GE wall oven all dirty; closed the door and a few seconds later, presto, the oven was clean! I, too, thought Americana was a late 60's moniker. I do remember getting an Americana portable dishwasher from a friend. It had cycle adjustments for wash time, cycle selection, rinse time, AND dry time! The ultimate in choices, but alas, the same old crappy bottom rack and tower to deal with!

 

[coldspot66]

Was "Versatronic" TOL appliances from GE also "Americana"?

 

[kenmore1978]

GE Carousel Of Progress

It was one of my favorite rides at Disneyland, I was really annoyed when they took out, though the thing that replaced it (America Sings) was cute.

One of the scenarios had a character that said "There's a new company calles General Electric that's working to bring the power that runs the trolleys, into our homes". And there was a catch phrase at the end of every scenario except the last one, "things just couldn't be better than they are today"

 

[toggleswitch]

size of fridge?

Lbcarguy:

How wide is that fridge? Was the compressor perhaps behind the couter-height shelf that is pictred with stuff on it?

 

[tlee618]

They still have the Carousel of Progress at Disney World in Florida. It is one of my favorite attractions there. I rode through it several times last summer. Terry

 

[wendy]

Americana Stove

I have a similar stove to the one pictured above. However, mine has push button range controls on the top and a window on bottom oven door. The stove came with the house we just bought. The house was build in 1967. Anyone know how old this appliance is? Look forward to hearing from someone!

 

[maytagbear]

Wendy--

First, glad you found our little club of appliance fans and freaks.

Secondly, that stove is contemporary to the house--it's either original to the house, or within a year or so. Statistically, I would say it's original.

Hope you stay around!

Lawrence/Maytagbear