apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've got an old 40's Tappan range that I love--but of course it has its problems. It will never burn as high or low as high-end ranges today; the oven temperature is slightly off, and the light went bad in there; it smells oh-so-slightly of gas (!). And yet--when you turn the knobs, they glow red! And it has cracker storage and dishrag hooks, as well as a scrolling bar to show how long to cook chicken, beef, pork. Plus: was cheap and adorable. must get it fixed one day.
Andy

i wonder - are those more green or less green the the new modern ones?

Several of my apartments have had vintage stoves. My all-time favorite was a Western Holly. It was like the cadillac of stoves and worked beautifully. I still miss it like an old friend. I also had an O'Keefe & Merritt which worked pretty well but the oven temp was off by 17 degrees. My current Blue Bonnet oven is off by 50 degrees. I suppose I could have it recalibrated, but I just rely on my oven thermometer. I don't really know what it's like to cook on a fancy new stove, and I imagine they must offer more control. However, I still dream about having another Western Holly or a Chambers (the one Rachel Ray has) someday. I'd love to be able to buy something at Antique Stove Heaven here in LA.

Can't say I've cooked on anything modern and high-end, but I've definitely preferred the 1940s-1950s vintage stoves in my rented apartments to the current modern, but low-end, one I have now, purely from an aesthetic point of view. As others have noted, sometimes the oven temps have been off, but an oven thermometer takes care of that.

I have a 1951 Kenmore electric double oven with a deep well. Adorable as hell. Temps are fine.

Might as well be new except for one thing: the front burners are about two inches from the edge. It's possible to burn yourself just standing by the stove or knock pots off the edge while walking by. I try to limit myself to the back burner and the well.

Previously had an old gas stove. It was equally awesome. Not good for stupid roomies however. Kaboom!

as much as i dream of a garland (mostly because of that continuous burner thing and the red knobs) i LOVE my o'keefe & merrit and i LOVE antique stove heaven because they will come over to your house and fix your stove and recalibrate the temp. one day i will my stove re-enameled in black.

chiffonade,
have you checked craig's list? a friend who loved my stove found one there and it was totally reasonably priced.

Abby, I'm not actually shopping for a vintage stove now (just dreaming!), as I rent and have a tiny kitchen, but thanks for the suggestion!

I don't have one but I saw many when I spent months house-hunting recently (often they were the only attractive things about the ancient, dim, and drear kitchens in my price range). Ironically, the stove in the apartment I finally made an offer for is new. Now I want a vintage stove badly, and I curse Rachel Ray's perky little behind for bringing them to the notice of the public and jacking up the prices.

We have a gorgeous 1939 Okeefe-Merritt stove. Our landlord had it re-chromed all over the top. It is fabulous. The one drawback, however, is that after cooking on the griddle a few times the chrome is now damaged. Anyone know of where we can get the top rechromed? Or possibly cast in iron…I think this would be the better option. Any advice?

I had a 40s stove in my 1900 apartment a few years back.
I don't really cook... so I used the stovetop far more than the oven. LOVED IT! If you don't cook, the appliance ought to fulfill it's asthetic role!

The stove was so great and in such great shape that I joked that everyone who has ever had that apartment, probably cooked as much as I did!

A friend of mine has a beautiful vintage kitchen with the original stove. When she and hubby bought the house she demanded that the stove stay or they wouldn't buy the house. the previous owner wanted to take it only because she heard those stoves were worth a lot of money!

Bond's in Long Beach specializes in restorations and sales
4th street I believe.

their work is super fab. I have a rechromed/referb'd piece myself is is so pretty and functional.

Hey I'll do a story follow up on them soon.

I live in LA and am reluctant to make the trek down to Long Beach (although will if I have to)…any LA restorers out there?

theblt: How about SAVON Appliance in Burbank? They specialize in restoration and also sell already restored model. I'm so in love with this one.

Here's a picture of my old O'Keeffe and Merrit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66783241@N00/1056850449/
It was/is a wonderful stove. One of the things I loved about it is that it basically comes apart for cleaning, the top comes down to cover the burners or raised up to hold stuff.

I currently use a Chambers cook top and hope to never use another stove. I love it.

Here's an online repair source in Montclair, CA
http://www.antiquegasstoves.com/pages/rechrome.html

Oops, here's the correct link for the stove I'm fond of.

Gregory, that stove is fabulous!

Wow! That is a gorgeous stove! I'm drooling. Thanks for the resources guys. I'll try the one in Burbank as I live in Los Feliz.
Thanks!

Got ours at Antique Stove Heaven in East LA. Love it--looks, cooks and all.

yeah, east l.a. has they stoves all over the place. my friend bought me one for $20!

I bought a 1953 Chambers stove in citrus yellow in ebay. It's my second Chambers stove. I bought my first one in the early 1980s. I have loved them. Yes, it's good to have an oven thermometer and they weigh as much as a locomotive. It took three guys to wrestle it up my front steps and into the kitchen. But, it make my happy every time I use it. I paid $270 for the first one and $1,700 for the second one. Don't even ask me what I paid for shipping. Ai yi yi!