Why did the Frigidaire Flair and Hotpoint Hallmark ranges….

[helicaldrive]

not become a mainstream design?

Seems like such a perfect idea to have the oven at eye level.

My hypotheses for failure of the design concept are:
People didn’t like the oven heat in their face when cooking
The stovetop would get damaged if food was dropped from the oven
Personal injuries could be worse if food was dropped when removing it from a higher oven

??????

Curious if anybody knows the real reason why they didn’t take off.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The ranges were introduced to give older kitchens a modern look without too much remodeling. This period is when new homes were being offered with built-in appliances. They failed for all of the reasons you gave, especially the height factor with shorter women and lifting heavy things from the oven like roasts and turkeys and the basting of same which could be more easily done on the extended oven shelf of an oven that was below the cook top. Also, if a lot of cookie baking was done, a full size cookie sheet could not fit into some of these ovens.

 

[vacerator]

I thought they actually

were fairly popular. Tappan had the 400 series, Kenmore had one too, but those required a lower base cabinet without drawers. Many were put in higher end new homes.
I think 30 inch drop in's replaced them, then island or peninsula mounted and also slide in's with all up front controls.
The Flair did come in a 30 incher, and Whirlpool also had one. I think maybe Westinghouse as well.

 

[steved]

And the big thing

No self-clean on a Flair type oven. You could buy a 30” range with a full size self- clean oven for less than the cost of a Flair.

 

[circlew]

My mom's friend Frances that lived up the street was the only person I knew that had a Frigidaire Flair. They purchased it right about the time they were introduced, and know they got a big discount on it due to it being a GM product (her brother owned a Chevrolet-Olds dealership). It replaced an early 50's Frigidaire 40" model, and they also got a new fridge to go with it. From her comments, she didn't like the Flair too well. She was short and heavy, so it was difficult for her to place and retrieve items in or out of that oven, especially if a surface unit was in use. Seems like they also had a problem a couple times with the door staying in place when open. They built a new house in '76, and it had a built-in wall oven and cooktop, which she found much handier.

My Aunt Julie got a Kenmore (Roper) in '65, and basically despised it. Said it was a piece of junk, but used it until their house was destroyed by fire in '88.

Westinghouse had a model called the "Continental", with a side opening door. In came in several variations through the years.

 

[sarahperdue]

Oven above cooktop

I've never used one of these ovens, but I don't think I'd like reaching over a cooktop with hot pots to get to my oven. I think a cooktop + wall ovens are a much more brilliant solution to the eye level oven. We've had that configuration for over fifteen years, and I'm never going back if I don't have to. I dislike leaning down to get in the oven. For a while I had a range in the country while simultaneously having the cooktop and wall ovens here in town. That's when I realized how much I disliked ranges. The new kitchen in the country house will have a five burner Thermador cooktop and a double Frigidaire Custom Imperial with French doors on the top oven. I hope I like those French doors as much as I think I will.

Sarah

 

[tomturbomatic]

Just make sure you open the doors all the way and pull out the rack so that you are not reaching into the oven cavity for the pan so that you don't bump one or both elbows against the doors if your elbows are extended while you are using the oven. I liked my French door Frigidaire and still have it in storage. It is all stainless and from the first year of production.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

"... especially the height factor with shorter women and lifting heavy things from the oven like roasts and turkeys ..."

" ...She was short and heavy, so it was difficult for her to place and retrieve items in or out of that oven, ..."

OTOH, if you're a tall guy with a bad back these are the exact reasons you DO want this design, lol! With a conventional range I'm always afraid I'm going to fall forward and plant my face into whatever I'm baking.

Years ago I used to cook Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house. Here was my routine to put the turkey into the oven:
- place turkey on counter next to range
- squat down next to range, open oven door and pull rack half way out
- reach up and grab turkey, squat and place it on the rack.
- reach up and grab counter at front corner of sink with one hand
- push in rack and close door with the other

Yes, a huge pain in the a**!!!

 

[turquoisedude]

I've been using a Frigidaire Flair, the 30-inch single-oven version, for just about 6 years now at the house in St-Liboire.  Yes, I voluntarily gave up a 21st-century smooth-top range with a self-cleaning oven, I very much enjoy cooking in the Flair.  I am not a tall person so the lower surface units are not a problem and I really like the eye-level controls.  I also really like the way the oven door swings up and over the oven cavity - for me, that means reaching into the oven is much easier than bending and lifting a pan up and out of the oven (my shaky hands are only going to get worse and trust me, the door of the GE oven in Ogden gets very well-splattered...).  I also like the way the surface units can be a 'landing pad' for a hot pan taken right out of the oven.  

There are some disadvantages, too - most notably that when the cooktop is fully extended it's just about impossible for me to reach anything from the cupoards above the Flair.  I guess this would be a reason why in ads for the Flair one rarely saw a set of cupboards above the range (and to be fair, I just muscled my Flair into the cut-out meant for a conventional 30-inch range).   Placement of a Flair in a kitchen could be problematic too - in my case, the Flair is adjacent to a corner cupboard and again, when the cooktop is fully extended,  reaching into that cupboard is not easy.  

Still, I have made this style of range work for me and full disclosure, there is a 30-inch conventional style 1964 turquoise GE range waiting in the wings should I get tired of the Flair!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

My sister’s friends had a Tappan Fabulous 400 and I think a Tappan parts store had one on display in its vestibule—it was a few miles away in Oak Park/Royal oak Township’s Industrial-Business District…

I’m visualizing one I saw at some antique store back long ago when I could frequent one and they had a lot of good stuff, and if you ever get to Elvis Presley’s Graceland, he has he got one there, too…

Some appliance store I once went to fairly frequently had the Frigidaire one and I even used to think a former next door neighbor’s Sears Kenmore was one because of the fluorescent light over the oven and the cooking surface until it got put outside on the side of the house to be discarded and saw it was a fancy double-oven upper/lower design in Coppertone and in gas…

— Dave

 

[frigidaireguy]

I have a 1962 - 30" Flair and I love it - I really like to oven at eye level and it works well for me
Bob

 

[helicaldrive]

Thanks

For all the responses.

I think the 40” units look SO cool.

Also I meant to ask if there was a broiler in both the large and small ovens.

 

[luxflairguy]

Yes! Double broilers! I had a 40" for a long time and do miss it! Greg

 

[goatfarmer]

They also weigh about 5000 pounds each.....

 

[combo52]

Why Did Hi-Oven Ranges Dissapear ?

The largest reason was these were TOL products and expensive to build and buyers looking for hi-end TOL products mostly wanted the NEW self-cleaning ovens that everyone was excited about in the later 60s.

 

The design of Hi-Oven ranges were not adaptable to being built as a SCO due the the near impossibility of having enough insulation to allow a SCO to clean itself.

 

Then of course once one or two major manufactures discontinue something every other manufacturer follows suit.

 

John L.

 

[jamiel]

Good point--the high-ovens were an early-60s innovation, where self-cleaning was a mid-60s innovation and superseded the high-ovens. I recall seeing that the heat from the oven would cook a modacrylic wig (making it frizzy) if you wore it while cooking! Fashion...lol

 

[tomturbomatic]

Wasn't easing the oven cleaning the reason why Hotpoint used Teflon removable panels in the ovens?

 

[steved]

Hi-low ovens

Plus the introduction of the 30” hi-low ovens, like the GE Americana and Frigidaire Twin 30 allowed for a hi oven AND a self-clean lower oven.

 

[thomasortega]

A bit over 24 hours ago...

I moved a 2-oven Frigidaire Flair.

Issue number one: that thing is heavy. (Not that ranges are lightweight but that thing is much heavier than an average range.)
Issue number two: Honestly? Maybe I was expecting more, the oven size is somewhat "meh".
Issue number three: did I mention it is heavy? It destroyed us all, I mean, 2 big bears with strong "bellyceps" and a half big bear (a cub) with adamantium biceps and a 6-pack "not-a-bellyceps", future Mr. America.
Issue number four: it's a pain to clean (I discovered that today)
Issue number 5: it's complicated, too out of the beaten path, too exotic. it will require some "alteration" in my kitchen to make it fit (but first I need to restore it and I'll have it installed only after I can restore EVERYTHING, including the clocks, otherwise I won't abandon my beloved Eluxmore Elite.
Issue number six: that thing is freaking heavy. A few hours ago I told Darryl "everything hurts, even my hair" and honestly I didn't know exactly why. Only when I started writing this I realized it was because I moved that "thing" yesterday.
Issue number seven: it's impossible to deny it is a very handsome appliance. GM did their best, it's a bona-fide example of the golden years of American engineering. It's elegant, it's impotent but it's like a duck. It flies, swims and walks but can't swim well, it can't fly well and it can't walk well. It has some design issues that nowadays we (engineers) know that are horribly wrong. At that time engineers had no idea. Flair and ergonomics just go well in the same phrase if you put "terrible" somewhere between the two words. If you're a tall man like me, things may get even worse. From back pain to "roasted eggs and sausage" if you're using the front burners. Anyway, I still love it.
Issue number eight: It's HEAVY. OMG, that thing is heavy, so heavy for a second I thought I was going to see Kevin being squished just like a roach. That thing even injured his back, luckily very superficial and I have bleed-stop in my first aid kit (you know, that powder that stops bleeding instantly and also has the power to create a pain so strong that separates your soul from your body for 30 seconds and pay for all your sins in advance for the next 3 lives)
Issue number 9: That thing is so gigantic (almost like a certain part of my husband's body) but the oven is so ridiculously narrow that a cookie sheet doesn't fit in it. The door simply won't close. If the oven was deeper, then a pentola wouldn't fit on the burner. Horizontal space orientation is good, but they left vertical spacial orientation behind. And everybody needs to use tall pans at least once in a while.
Issue number ten: Just in case somebody didn't notice of if I wasn't very clear, that thing is horribly heavy.

Anyway, it has several negative points. Definitely there are much more to add to the list, but a Flair is unique. I wonder how many MILLIONS of Americans dreamed about owning a Flair but they couldn't afford. It was the Cadillac of the ranges, a massive (and heavy) symbol of status and why not say "Symbol of the American Dream". Even with a huge list of drawbacks, it was and it still is a conversation piece in ANY kitchen, modern or vintage. It has style, it has its own personality, it's one of a kind appliance that deserves full respect.
Since yesterday I have a Flair that I found on Facebook marketplace. The price couldn't be better: Free! And my dream of having a Flair was only possible thanks to Kevin and his adamantium biceps husband. Better than that, only if it was a 30-inch model, it would make things way easier in my tiny kitchen.

My biggest concern now is definitely have to hire a civil engineer to evaluate the structure and be sure the kitchen floor can stand that absurd weight concentrated in only 40 inches without collapsing. IDK the exact weight but I can imagine it's near 500 lbs.

Of course I'd love to see the Flair coming back and full of bells and whistles but, being very realistic, I'm sure it's not feasible. Production costs would be outrageous, logistics would be a nightmare, the retail price would have to be beyond scary. Maybe some people would love the idea, but even loving it, few would be able to afford and those fortunate people that could afford it would think twice and end up getting something cheaper like a TOL Wolf, Viking or Thermador. It would be a marketing disaster.