If you are looking for antiques in the Berkshires… and want to find some great midcentury stuff… be sure to stop at Berkshire County Used Furniture on 4th Street in Pittsfield. My friend Ron — who helped me get the kitchen cabinets out of Gotham — runs this treasure trove. Ron empties out houses ’round the clock, it seems. He takes everything — so you never know what you will find at his store. I swear, if I were doing another kitchen, I would for sure buy up these avocado green GE appliances — they were in fantastic shape. Read on for 13 photos in all… including an 40s Kenmore washing machine… and a Witco tiki throne.
Click the photos twice to get to their largest size.
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- This vintage Kenmore washing machine from the 40s (?) looked to be in awesome shape. I would have brought it home but the husband would most certainly have killed me – and a jury of his peers would have let him off.
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- The insides of the vintage Kenmore. I presume this… agitates.
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- But then – you have to put the clothes through the wringer manually.
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- Aren’t the graphics just wonderful!
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- Harvest gold appliances were on site, too.
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- A late 40s or early 50s Glenwood gas stove.
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- A vintage Witco tiki throne. A little bit of damage on the left arm…
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- Gosh, look at the back of the Witco. Wow. That’s Ron. I taught him a new collecting category: Tiki!
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- Loved these matching coppertone Mediterranean lights – one dangling, one not.
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- Pretty on the bottom, too. I love my wacky angles…
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- Cast iron. Hmmmm. I might need to buy these and paint them red.
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- The drama!
Oooo…If I lived anywhere near there, I be in there every week! I’m looking for a set of 50′s washer and dryer in just about any color but white! This looks like the kinda place I just love. I bet they’re reasonably priced too! There’s probably some place like that here in St. Louis Mo. that I just haven’t found yet.
Chris.
Yup, St. Christopher. Ron’s stuff is priced great. His goal is to keep it moving. I know that quite a few people come up from Hudson, NY ($$$$$ mcm shopping there) to pick from his stock.
Look around for salvage stores and auctions, St. Christopher. Also, drive south into the smaller towns around the Ozarks if you ever get a chance! Tons of stuff around there for some odd reason…
I grew up with avocado green appliances……….and I want them! Too bad my kitchen is done, too. But Pam, I’m going to call you to schedule a Pittsfield recon trip! I’m looking for abstract mid century artwork.
Oh no, not the green!!
Haha, I think we had those exact appliances when I was growing up.
Oooh, I LOVE that Kenmore washing machine….do you remember how expensive it was? My husband would freak out if I brought one home too, but I may just do it one day!
missvintagelove – $50, can you believe it?
The avocado GE fridge and stove are the exact color and models that I grew up with! I miss those a lot.
Um…can I pipe up here and say that I actually USED a wringer washer when I was younger (much) and had kids in diapers? We were “back-to-the-landers” in wild W. Va. and had to fill the washer with cold water from our hand pump.
By the way, we had an outhouse, too.
OK, hate to be Fun Sheriff, but I have to warn anyone thinking of buying an older gas stove…you might have trouble finding someone to install it. They can be dangerous if they don’t have certain mechanisms. We learned this lesson the hard way. Bought a $200 stove, drove 11 hours total to get it here, no one would install it. Well, we DID find one guy, but he wanted us to sign a release form that didn’t hold him liable if anything…unsavory happened. Not a good sign. With our Spidey senses tingling we donated the stove and got serious: we bought a totally restored O’Keefe and Merritt 900 series from dreamstoves.com My husband agreed to buy me one, but I can tell you…I’m NEVER going to hear the end of it.
At The Lounge, I had a similar experience with a vintage gas stove. Here is Mass. they cannot be installed unless they feature an “automatic safety pilot.” On vintage stoves, while I do show them for the aesthetics: Consult with a professional.
Pam, I almost forgot…you mentioned the tiki item…the Retro Cocktail Hour at Kansas City Radio is great streaming listening for anyone who wants to blare it from super fine computer audio during their retro cocktail party.
http://www.kpr.ku.edu/retro/listen.html
BTW, all the (FREE) Les Baxter you can handle:
http://www.baxmusic.com/
I think that stove and fridge came from my parents house ! ;:)
This is a GREAT place to buy good inexpensive things. We bought a sofa and chair and had next day delivery!! Love the nice clean items. Better service than if I bought at ten times the price. AAA+
Where is Pittsfield, NH? You say the Berkshires, but isn’t that in MASS? The Berkshires (MASS) aren’t too far from NYC (we used to do day-trip skiing there), but I thought NH was the White Mountains.
As a New Yorker, I must say that EVERYTING costs at least 50% more within communting distance of NYC than it does anywhere else. It sucks! I can actually purchase to-die-for vintage Danish Modern furniture shipped from Denmark to CA for less than I can get a not-as-awesome piece here (and to think that furniture probably stopped at JFK along the way!).
I probably would if they didn’t have to be shipped back here!
Not that I have actually purchased these pieces, but just saying
I’m considering a nice steel kitchen way way way Upstate, NY, and I just realized that it is actually as far a drive as it is to get to Maine or even Florida!
I think I’ll soon be doing an out-of NY road trip! Lower taxes, too!
I’m in Mass., natschultz.
Ooh, I just realized that my brother invited us to join him and his girlfriend’s family on their annual “luxury camping trip” (whatever that means) in Portsmouth, NH. I said “No way!” but maybe now I’ll reconsider! I can go MCM shopping while they go lobster trapping!
what is the stove year and model in the last pic? I know its a GE looks like a P7, do you know what year? I have one that Im renovating my kitchen around!
sorry, i do not know, i took this photo in an antique shop…
Its ok Thank you!