Vintage Kitchen Appliances

[Timeshare Von]

Has anyone else ever had to finally admit that some old appliance had seen its better days or had to be thrown out because it just didn't work right any more?

We had a wonderful skillet/broiler combo that was actually the second one I had owned. The first, my mom gave to me back in the early 80's. She she passed away in 1995, I acquired hers which was hardly used. I threw out my old one.

Well in our last household move in 2008, my DH and I agreed that "hers" was now no longer capable of functioning properly so we threw it out. We almost immediately regretted it, as we assumed we could easily replace it. WRONG!

Having spent a couple of years looking at Kohl's, Target and even upper end department stores, we gave up. We did try to find one on the internet or eBay but unfortunately we were distracted in our search because I thought it was a West Bend appliance. That is . . . until yesterday!

I found out through a Google search of "skillet broilers" and combing through more than 500 listings, what we had was a Hamilton Beach. Low & behold, there were TWO of them on eBay!

:whoopie: So happy days are ahead, as after a $40 spend, a "new" one is on its way to us today! HURRAY for all of those people who never throw anything away!


p.s. You know these things are vintage when they only came in harvest gold or avocado green. :hysterical:

 

[wackymother]

I have a magnificently avocado electric knife that I got at a garage sale. I never had one before I got this one. I love it!

We also just picked up a harvest gold electric can opener at a bazaar, still in its original box, for our left-handed child who could never learn to operate a regular hand-cranked can opener.

 

[pjrose]

I have and use a waffle iron and a Hamilton Beach mixer, both from the '30s, and our hosts at Thanksgiving carved the turkey with an electric knife that sounds like WackyMother's. Can't remember if it was harvest gold or avocado green, but definitely one of those . My harvest gold blender is an Osterizer Galaxie, complete with 60s stars and comets. I've also got some Club Aluminum pans - wonderful stuff. I've got lots more oldies but goodies that my dad (the cook in our family) used for decades, and I use some of them daily.

I AM going to get one of those pie makers, though - Heathpack's thread has had me wanting one for months!

 

[wackymother]

Last year I got a Vitamix blender (avocado green base) at a garage sale for $2. It came in the original shipping box. We just used it for the first time at Thanksgiving after my KitchenAid blender keeled over.

I'm not sure the seal at the bottom of the blender container is good; I think the gasket is shot, and you can't get the right ones for this particular model from Vitamix anymore. I'm going to try wrapping a rubber band around the bottom tightly, a trick an older friend taught me years ago.

But I envy your stars-and-planets blender!

 

[Timeshare Von]

Fun stuff!

I did do some more searching on eBay as I have a ToastMaster waffle iron I just love that is about 35 years old and about due to be replaced.

Also, I have the original set of Club Aluminum pots & pans I bought when I first moved away from my family home in 1975. Some of those are also going for a premium buck on eBay. (I love the turquoise blue . . . mine is harvest gold of course.)

 

[wackymother]

I had my MIL's GE waffle iron from the 1960s till a few years back, when I finally bought a Caphalon No-Peek. I have to tell you...the Caphalon is FANTASTIC. The plates are non-stick, it heats really evenly, and the waffles are terrific. So when the time comes for your ToastMaster to go to that big waffle iron graveyard in the sky...

 

[wackymother]

Also, I have the original set of Club Aluminum pots & pans I bought when I first moved away from my family home in 1975. Some of those are also going for a premium buck on eBay. (I love the turquoise blue . . . mine is harvest gold of course.)

Whoa! My MIL just begged us once again to take her old Club Aluminum pots. Now I have to look and see if hers are eBayable. I think they're no color, though--just aluminum color.

 

[bjones9942]

My mother had a small collection of Hazel Atlas State glasses hidden away in a cupboard when my sister and I were growing up. Needless to say, most of what she had didn't survive my sister and I when we rummaged. After my mother passed away I used eBay to complete her set. I now have all 48 (no AK/HI) in a mix of green, yellow and pink.

 

[pjrose]

Whoops - Guardian Service not Club Aluminum!

I just took a look at my vintage aluminum, and realized it was actually Guardian Service.

When we were cleaning out our parents' kitchen and garage I took some b/c I love the way they cook - unfortunately I skipped the big deep pan with the domed glass lid
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GUARDIAN-SE...ultDomain_0&hash=item20bfed528e#ht_500wt_1284
and someone else in the family took it or it went to the Goodwill. Either way, I hope whoever has it appreciates it

Our big find at a flea market at a car show, of all places, was the clip-on handle that is interchangeable among several handle-less pieces
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guardian-Se...ltDomain_0&hash=item19c9bfc0e9#ht_1276wt_1141
We didn't have the handle and weren't even looking, but it practically jumped out at DH from a blanket on the ground, in the middle of a bunch of vintage junque, for all of 25 cents LOL!

And we got this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Foley-Yello...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51943c1703
at a friend's yard sale for 50 cents about 30 years ago, and use it regularly for draining water from the spaghetti pot.

 

[pjrose]

Whoa! My MIL just begged us once again to take her old Club Aluminum pots. Now I have to look and see if hers are eBayable. I think they're no color, though--just aluminum color.

Go for it - they are great quality!

 

[wackymother]

I like those glasses! I like the metal trays with similar graphics, too. I got some at a thrift store years ago and gave them to my office "roomie." We're still friends and she still collects the metal state trays. Here's an example--they're mostly in the $3 range, but this auction had a better picture.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-195...012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2569d13814

 

[wackymother]

Go for it - they are great quality!

I don't really need any more pots....I still have my Revere ware!

 

[camachinist]

My microwave is the one I bought when moving into the first house I bought back in 1984.

My toaster is a Sunbeam which my parents received as a wedding present in 1953.

I have oil lamps mounted on the walls that were my grandparents and date from the turn of the 20th century.

I could go on

Heck, the car I ordinarily drive is 47 1/2 years old.

 

[pjrose]

I don't really need any more pots....I still have my Revere ware!

Me too - is that vintage?

OMG, am I vintage?

I got my Revere Ware with cat food can labels in the late 60s early 70s.

My microwave is the one I bought when moving into the first house I bought back in 1984.

My toaster is a Sunbeam which my parents received as a wedding present in 1953.

I have oil lamps mounted on the walls that were my grandparents and date from the turn of the 20th century.

I could go on

Heck, the car I ordinarily drive is 47 1/2 years old.

A 1963? What is it?

 

[camachinist]

A 1963? What is it?

It's actually a 64 model, specifically a 64 1/2 Mustang, built April 18, 1964 in Dearborn. Part of my Ford collection.

 

[JudyH]

My mother used to make her own chopped chicken liver ( think Jewish holidays). I still have the old grinder, I guess it could be used for meat or other ground stuff....its metal with a wooden handle, I can't bring myself to get rid of it although I've never used it, Mom died in 1970 at age 53. I had her old Mixmaster, but the blades got bent and I couldn't find replacement ones.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I had my MIL's GE waffle iron from the 1960s till a few years back, when I finally bought a Caphalon No-Peek. I have to tell you...the Caphalon is FANTASTIC. The plates are non-stick, it heats really evenly, and the waffles are terrific. So when the time comes for your ToastMaster to go to that big waffle iron graveyard in the sky...

My DH says ours "is just fine" still. LOL. I think he may be more frugile than I am in terms of that sorta stuff. I will keep it in mind when ours does bite the dust.

 

[Timeshare Von]

My mother had a small collection of Hazel Atlas State glasses hidden away in a cupboard when my sister and I were growing up. Needless to say, most of what she had didn't survive my sister and I when we rummaged. After my mother passed away I used eBay to complete her set. I now have all 48 (no AK/HI) in a mix of green, yellow and pink.

VERY cool glasses! I have some old depression era jelly jar glasses that my mom made me promise to never sell. Not sure what they are worth, but for family nostalgia I kept them (packed away somewhere).

 

[MuranoJo]

And we got this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Foley-Yello...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51943c1703
at a friend's yard sale for 50 cents about 30 years ago, and use it regularly for draining water from the spaghetti pot.

PJ,
You just reminded me of another gift idea for my sis. She wants a similar strainer which would work like this on skillets. But, given the dimensions, this would work for skillets as well as sauce pans, large pasta cookware, etc.
I might have to grab it.

 

[wackymother]

Me too - is that vintage?

OMG, am I vintage?

I got my Revere Ware with cat food can labels in the late 60s early 70s.

People say the "old" Revere ware is thicker and better made than the "new" Revere ware. If you go take a look on eBay, you'll be amazed at the prices people are asking for pots and pans in good condition, especially large ones with lids. I just got a medium-size pan with a lid at a huge flea market in Pennsylvania (near you, probably, PJ ) last summer. That was the last piece I really needed b/c we had only a little egg pan and then a giant chicken-fryer pan.

 

[wackymother]

My mother used to make her own chopped chicken liver ( think Jewish holidays). I still have the old grinder, I guess it could be used for meat or other ground stuff....its metal with a wooden handle, I can't bring myself to get rid of it although I've never used it, Mom died in 1970 at age 53. I had her old Mixmaster, but the blades got bent and I couldn't find replacement ones.

Is it the kind that clamps on to the edge of the table? My grandmother had one of those and we made cranberry relish with it. I have many fond memories of doing that with her, and the way the cranberries popped when you turned the handle. I think hers had a wooden handle too...I had forgotten that....

They're really great if you ever want to make sausage or chopped liver (like your mom) or cranberry relish (like my grandmother). I would buy one of them if I could find it at a garage sale, but I've never found one.

Do you still have the Mixmaster? I notice on eBay that people sell old appliances for parts, too.

 

[bjones9942]

I have oil lamps mounted on the walls that were my grandparents and date from the turn of the 20th century.

I purchased two of the old oil lamps with mirrors on eBay several years ago to hang in my living room. During power outages they light up the room with enough light to read by.

My mother used to make her own chopped chicken liver ( think Jewish holidays). I still have the old grinder, I guess it could be used for meat or other ground stuff....its metal with a wooden handle, I can't bring myself to get rid of it although I've never used it

I had a meat grinder that I used until I bought my vintage (metal) grinder attachment for my kitchenaid mixer. I use it for hamburger and sausage. Chopped liver gets chopped by hand (Ah! That explains my recent tennis elbow)! The clamp-on grinder was given to the nephew's girlfriend - she's in culinary school. Are you a chopped liver with, or without, hard boiled egg? I prefer without I'm forced to make my own - you can't find it anywhere in Seattle.

 

[bjones9942]

I like those glasses! I like the metal trays with similar graphics, too. I got some at a thrift store years ago and gave them to my office "roomie." We're still friends and she still collects the metal state trays. Here's an example--they're mostly in the $3 range, but this auction had a better picture.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-195...012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2569d13814

Thankfully my mother didn't have any of those! The glasses fill the top of my buffet and have to be dusted!! I also completed my mother's silver and my grandmother's china collections from eBay. That process was a tad more costly

 

[wackymother]

My parents' good silver was stolen in the 1970s. It had been a gift to them from my grandmother. Fortunately I have no memory of what it looked like, or I would probably be hunting for it on eBay!

 

[Timeshare Von]

My parents' good silver was stolen in the 1970s. It had been a gift to them from my grandmother. Fortunately I have no memory of what it looked like, or I would probably be hunting for it on eBay!

Same outcome with our family silver in 1979 As I recall the story behind our set, it was a wedding gift to my parents in 1956.