Yellow '57 GE Counter Depth Range (Cupertino)

[rp2813]

This is an interesting stove that fits flush with cabinet fronts.  Is it a rare model or size?

 

I like the stainless steel door liner.

 

On SF Bay Area CL.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/app/4305630109.html

 

[washdaddy]

Is very interesting looking stove. Curious setup for the burner controls- looks like the three small burners are button controlled and perhaps the large burner is the dial control on the left (although I don't see a temp sensor) hard to tell by pics. I'm in left field on this one.

Wonder what's the reason for the stainless liner?

 

[alr2903]

Very nice stove. Is that a griddle connection behind the L. rear burner?

 

[rp2813]

I didn't notice that there are only three burners controlled by the buttons on top.

 

It also looks like the GE "meatball" may light up to indicate a burner is in use.

 

I don't know what that receptacle behind LR is for either.  Would plugging a griddle into it trigger a safety override to keep the two left burners from operating?

 

This seems to be an unusual piece, and fairly well outfitted for its abbreviated depth.  Price has been reduced.  Seems like just the thing for a galley kitchen that's short on space.  I hope it's a perfect fit for somebody who wants to give it a loving home.

 

Let's see what the GE experts have to say about this one during waking hours tomorrow.

 

[norgeway]

I think its had a few modifications

The window on top had a slide lever to control the Automatic Calrod which ,not supprisingly, has been replaced, the outlet referred to is the griddle plug, what it does is connects both front and rear units together, and in a perfect world the automatic unit regulated both, I have never seen one that worked! LOL

 

[gansky1]

1957

Hans is correct, this has had some mods, the automatic Calrod control has been replaced and it looks as though they used the element size selector switch space in the panel to mount a new control for that front left element and removed the slide control.  On my 57 40" range, they kept the slide control for the new infinite switch. They may have disabled the griddle switch in the modifications. No current flowed through the plug, it was simply a switch to tie the left elements to the automatic slide control originally.  Mine is intact and still ties the element together but the benefit of the sensor is, sadly, gone.

 

This cabinet style came out in 1957, squared corners, flush installation to align with surrounding cabinets.  GE's Sheer Look  like Frigidaire except that Frigidaire wasn't flush with the front cabinet line as GE's was.

 

[danemodsandy]

Courtesy Of....

A photo originally posted here on AW by Ben swestoyz, you can see what this ultra-rare Spacemaker 30 looked like when new. As has been pointed out, the Automatic Calrod has been decommissioned on the CL range, and the griddle switch space used for a rotary control operating the former Automatic Calrod burner.

This is a rare range in any color, but the yellow makes it really special. It would be very expensive and difficult to find the parts needed to make this range 100% like new again, but it would be a wonderful thing if someone were able to make it happen....[this post was last edited: 1/27/2014-09:50]

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S. - Ralph:

This was a TOL range in its time. It had the Automatic Calrod front burner (forerunner of Sensi-Temp), the automatic meat probe, the thermostatically controlled griddle (controlled by the Automatic Calrod), and the Tel-A-Cook piano-key pushbuttons that lit up in color to tell you what setting was in use.

It has every cooking feature of a 40-inch Liberator except that it has only one large burner, instead of two large and two small units, like the 40-inch TOL ranges did. It's a very rare model; most houses of the day were able to accomodate 40-inch ranges, the most popular size at the time. 30-inchers quickly supplanted 40-inchers as the standard, but in 1957, when this range was new, that wasn't the case yet. Ben swestoyz had one of these in White, and that's the only one I've ever seen "in person," whereas I've seen many, many 40-inch Liberators and Stratoliners from that year.

The chrome (not stainless) oven door liner made the oven more efficient, due to reflectivity. GE put a lot of care into engineering its '57 Straight-Line Design ranges; it was very important that they were excellent performers, because they were hellaciously expensive ranges and in those days, companies actually understood that it is not good business to piss off your TOL customer. The basic design endured into the 1980s. [this post was last edited: 1/27/2014-09:19]

 

[danemodsandy]

One More Note:

If you'll look at that ad shot, you'll notice the mammoth turkey and the nine large baked potatoes surrounding it.

That was likely because GE was offering something Frigidaire didn't - a truly counter-depth range - and GE was probably anticipating claims from Frigidaire salesmen that GE ovens were "shallow" and "don't hold nothin'."

All GE range ads I know of from that era show the oven stuffed to the gills, even the Spacemaker 22.

 

[rp2813]

Too bad about the alterations, but I agree it's a very nice range and deserving of an appreciative home. 

 

For the money, though, I can't justify buying it just to store it.  I'll never have a use for it, but it is well worth saving.

 

Considering the asking price, I don't think this range will end up for free on the curb only to be snapped up by dimwit scrappers.  One can only hope.

 

[alr2903]

Sandy that is an excellent point,  $440.  was a sizable investment in 1957.  I doubt a customer would take too much flak from a service dept.  The quality is evident. It still "looks" great!