Vintage Kitchen Appliances

[peppersue]

Hello to Y'all!!! Finally found this place.

I wonder how many people still use some of the old quirky vintage appliances like I do.

I have an old egg cooker, fondu pot, kabob-it, waffler iron, among others and really enjoy using em.

What is your favorite?

[Suzy Wong]

A counter top Hamilton Beach mixer my parents got for their wedding 48 years ago.:)

[Envie]

When we purchased our home, I became the owner of a 1968 Hobart Superba diswasher. Does that count?

I can't seem to kill the thing. It sounds like armageddon when it turns on and I'm more than a little afraid of it.

Also, my gas water heater is original (1950).

[Alex]

I have a Crock pot that belonged to my wifes mother. It is at least 30 years old. I love it.

[Duke]

I have a bunch of old mixing bowls and other stuff that belonged to my grandmother, so they are roughly 1920s/30s vintage. My sister retains all the other stuff my mom had when she died, like the fondue stuff and the other 1950s/60s things.

...but the thing I'd really like to find is a 1970s invention called The Baconer. You'd drape the strips of bacon over this solid heating element, close the doors and hit the "on" button. It was adjustable like a toaster, so you could set your desired doneness. The grease drained into a trap on the bottom and you could either save it (the grease) or toss it.

My folks had one and it eventually died and I could never find another one for them. I thought it was a pretty nifty little device, even though your bacon came out in a U shape.

[café au lait]

Duke, a few years ago Ronco or somesuch came out with a Baconer type device, but it was for the microwave. My kids insisted on buying one, and they used it quite a bit as they didn't like the mess or potential grease pops of stove top bacon frying. It's stuffed in a cabinet somewhere. :rolleyes:

[Low-N-Slow]

I have one of those microwave ones with the T-bars. The story on the box says some 10 year-old girl invented it

There are a buch of uni-taskers boxed up in the barn. One I'll probably never use, but nostalgia won't let me throw away, is a a cast aluminum, wall-mount, hand-cranked ice crusher. The parents threw many a party back in the day that put it to good use.

I also want a set of those nesting, colored Pyrex mixing bowls like Grandma had.

[café au lait]

There are a buch of uni-taskers boxed up in the barn. One I'll probably never use, but nostalgia won't let me throw away, is a a cast aluminum, wall-mount, hand-cranked ice crusher. The parents threw many a party back in the day that put it to good use.

I also want a set of those nesting, colored Pyrex mixing bowls like Grandma had.

Everything you have in the barn and anything Grandma had is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The pyrex bowls are there along with the ice crusher and many other kitchen items from my childhood in the 60s.

[Low-N-Slow]

I actually saw a set of the bowls once, at the flea market on Jeff Hwy. Sticker price was crazy high, although I didn't stop to haggle.

[Duke]

Duke, a few years ago Ronco or somesuch came out with a Baconer type device, but it was for the microwave. My kids insisted on buying one, and they used it quite a bit as they didn't like the mess or potential grease pops of stove top bacon frying. It's stuffed in a cabinet somewhere. :rolleyes:

I suppose the reason this thing didn't catch on was because most consumers either did bacon the old way or opted to use the microwave. This was kinda a bridge between the old and the new. Back then, microwaves were huge and had dials and probes and cost hundreds and weighed like four tons.

[Pelican Six]

I suppose the reason this thing didn't catch on was because most consumers either did bacon the old way or opted to use the microwave. This was kinda a bridge between the old and the new. Back then, microwaves were huge and had dials and probes and cost hundreds and weighed like four tons.


Funny how each new invention in those days was "the next best thing" that would render your stove or oven obsolete. And no one was more susceptible than my mom.

So, when we got our first microwave, she got this cookbook of all-microwave recipes, which coincided with my stock smart-ass answer at the time to her queries of "what do you want for dinner tonight?"

What I wanted was lobster.

If you see where this is going, I will forgive you if you stop reading at this point.


My mom microwaved a lobster. A live lobster. A live, struggling lobster. And I had to eat it. I honestly can't recall how it tasted - it was about 25 years ago. What I remember is that as I choked each bite down, I could still see that lobster knocking the lid off the casserole dish with his claws as his molecules were superheated by the unholy microwave energy ripping through his body.

[Oyster]

What I remember is that as I choked each bite down, I could still see that lobster knocking the lid off the casserole dish with his claws as his molecules were superheated by the unholy microwave energy ripping through his body.

Thanks P6!

My daughters' b-day is tomorrow, and her dinner selection is Drago's for some big azz lobsters. If I have a visual of this ...

For the topic, I have all of my grandma's porcelin pans. Used to use them to plop the oysters in when shucking. White ones with red or black trim on the rim, speckled gray ones with black trim, all sizes. Tons of very old Magnalite. Turquoise (!) Club Aluminum post from the early 60's.

My sister has a built in Chambers oven. Man, is that a piece of work!

[Low-N-Slow]

Heh, we had the original Amana RadaRange back in 1970. They would demo it in appliance stores, and pop popcorn in a brown paper bag. I tried it one Sunday afternoon. The corn popped alright, but suddenly, the bag burst into flames. Dad was enjoying a frosty schooner, while watching the game on TV. He bolted to the kitchen, pulled the plug, threw open the door, and doused it with his beer. But it was too late; the top inside melted. The manufacturer gave us a new one, with their apologies. Future demos included moistening the bag beforehand.

[jodyrah]

I have a kitchen aid stand mixer from 1975 (when the kitchen aid brand was made by Hobart). Still works great.

[expatorleanian]

Weird, I posted a reply yesterday, but it hasn't shown up. Anyway, what I said was something like:

I refuse to replace my waffle iron, which was a shower gift when my mother was about to get married in 1951. I had her Waring blender too, but it finally died a few years ago.

[Schuarta]

We have a ceramic fondue pot, with stand and burner, from the 1960's. Miraculously it has never cracked or broken although we use it regularly. All of the other fondue pots I have ever seen have been metal. I never considered it as "vintage", but it might be such.

Picture on request.

[Jerry]

Everything you have in the barn and anything Grandma had is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The pyrex bowls are there along with the ice crusher and many other kitchen items from my childhood in the 60s.

I made it a must see on my only trip to DC a few years ago.
I especially wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen....moved there in it's entirety.

[PNG]

We have several "old" appliances around the house. My favorite is an old fondue pot from back when that was first cool. It is avacado green of course.

[Isabella Maja]

We have a ceramic fondue pot, with stand and burner, from the 1960's. Miraculously it has never cracked or broken although we use it regularly. All of the other fondue pots I have ever seen have been metal. I never considered it as "vintage", but it might be such.

Picture on request.

My fondue pot was a heavy clay pot - not glazed but more of a bisque.
Is that what you have? Someone decided to wash it by hand & chipped it. :mad:

[Schuarta]

Mine is still hanging together. (Knock on wood.) ;)


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1352/9723635/20105753/326728069.jpg

BTW the ceramic handle is hollow, and never gets hot.

[Pelican Six]

Is that Buffalo Trace Bourbon next to the Bombay Sapphire?

[LiveOak]

http://www.antiquegasstoves.com/images/OKMwhite/small.gif

I have this exact O'Keefe and Merritt range. Actually it's sitting in a shed since my kitchen remodel (and re-remodel post Katrina). I'm finding it hard to contemplate getting rid of it. It was in excellent shape when I bought it. I used it for years.

[Jeeves]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/2693985580_ee914ed637.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2693171259_6b15cb2e59.jpg


Here's a collection of old kitchen utensils and appliances in the Durac Terrebonne home on the second story of the Westwego Historical Museum.

[Schuarta]

Is that Buffalo Trace Bourbon next to the Bombay Sapphire?

No, just EARLY TIMES Kentucky Whiskey. :p

I tend to keep two levels of quality in my beverages. When my (adult) daughters (3) visit with their SO's, the better stuff gets hidden. They wouldn't appreciate it anyway. ;)

[Hadacol]

No, just EARLY TIMES Kentucky Whiskey. :p

I tend to keep two levels of quality in my beverages. When my (adult) daughters (3) visit with their SO's, the better stuff gets hidden. They wouldn't appreciate it anyway. ;)

Hah! We knew it. And you wonder why we don't visit more often.

[Schuarta]

Jeeves, that stove is a beauty! Until my mother passed about six years ago, we had such a stove in the basement of the family home in PA.

The stove was actually in the kitchen, in 1948, when we bought the house. One of my fathers first projects was a completely new kitchen, and the old stove was relocated to the basement, and hooked up to the gas line.

It was used regularly each summer, when a galvenized wash tub was placed over all four burners. The tub was then filled with crabs, or lobsters, serving about a dozen adults and as many children for a back yard gala. :D

P.S.: My mother also had the "grinder" in the middle of the table. I spent many hours turning the handle and feeding in HAM, onions, and peppers for a ham salad thing (deviled ham?) she made for sandwiches. Also I made bushels of bread crumbs in that thing.

[café au lait]

schuarta, I haven't had a good homemade ham salad in a long, long time.