Vintage Revco Bilt-In refrigerators and freezes are the “holy grail” of refrigerators from the 1950s and 1960s, more even than the vintage GEs constructed like wall cabinets and even more than the Kelvinator Foodarama. Is this correct, you readers who are stalking them and so much more knowledgeable than me… who can name vintage fridges and their model years like car guys name cars? Here for your retro research pleasure is are 17 pages of a Revco catalog from 1958, which I scooped up know that we had some Revco fans out there. Here for your retro research pleasure is are 17 pages of a Revco catalog from 1958, which I scooped up know that we had some Revco fans out there.
Revco was based in Deerfield, Michigan. According to the brochure, in 1956 seems to have introduced custom colors as well as Stainless Steel and Antique Copper.
In addition to featuring great photos, these brochures always give us hints about the design ideas and trends — and of course, what the marketers were simply trying to sell us on — that were driving design changes and innovations in the home. For example, in this fabulous California kitchen, “built by Fred C. Von Guenther of Orina, Calif.” the text says:
California, the land of outdoor living, offers a fresh not in kitchen planning. Lost forever is the old-fashioned kitchen with its stark white appliances, separated from the rest of the house by barriers of walls and doors. In contrast — here under a spacious beam ceiling the copper-hooded open barbecue pit serves as a transitional wall between the open kitchen and the living room area of the house. The trend-setting interior textures, exterior brick, clay tile, the exposed wood beams, with all appliances recessed into the walls, provide a living room feeling to every area in this charming home.
Indeed, this opening of the kitchen into the main house… treating the kitchen like an extension of the living space and decorating it thus… was a key shift hot under way by 1956. As I’ve discussed before, this was likely one of the death knells of steel kitchen cabinets — over time, we wanted our kitchen cabinets and to look like “furniture.”
Tips to use slide show — click on any thumbnail and it should open large (up to 600 pixels wide) on your screen. Use arrows below image to move forward or back. You may start or stop on any image. If you are having trouble getting image to enlarge…hmmm, make sure your Java is updated?
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Hey, also be sure to see this vintage kitchen — with orange-laminate covered Revcos spotted in the wild here. Yum.
What cool refrigerators! I wish manufacturers today would take a look at some of these old designs. They were made to WORK.
I also love that not a single one of those kitchens was the glaring white wasteland of today’s modern horrors.
Oh dear, I’m not sure about these at all. I do love the built in, space saving idea. On the other hand, they seem a little…um…..how do I put this delicately…….morgue-ish. Especially the stainless one. Also, I wonder how difficult it was to have them serviced?
You’re so right. That line-up of four doors in number 7 is definitely “mourgish.”
Yep. I have to agree. They definitely look morgue-ish. I much prefer my grandmother’s hanging refrigerator.
Interesting use of pegboard in 5, and interesting use of tile in 7. Also, the oven in 7 is kind of interesting — it looks like a partial built-in. I like the green floor in 14, even though it is a hospital color. I’ve seen a lot of kitchens like 16 — I think this is a really workable design, everything is right there and you aren’t totally separated from the eating area.
My Aunt had one of these in a mid mod home in the 50′s and I always thought it was very cool!
Pam,
I have on my back porch a built in refrigerator and freezer made by Westinghouse. They are a beautiful seafoam green/ mint green color. I bought them on Craigslist hoping to use them, as my husband and I are renovating our kitchen to look like a 1940′s kitchen. I have the original pamphlet and am told everything is ready to install. I cannot find ANYTHING on the web about this refrigerator/freezer. If I sent pictures do you think you could ask your readers if they know anything about this beauty? The manual says it was made in Mansfield Ohio and is part of the Electric Appliance Division of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. There is no date on the manual. The model numbers are BRH-80 and BFH-60.
Thank you,
Jill
There is a George Westinghouse Museum near Pittsburgh that is staffed by volunteers that worked for the Westinghouse conglomerate in its heyday. You might contact them, as they seemed to have lots of catalogs and materials on the wide selection of appliances that were made with the Westinghouse name.
It appears that the Westinghouse Museum closed. The collection and archival material now resides at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
Revco had adopted the “cabinets as furniture” look as well by the mid-1960′s.
Some childhood friends lived in a Better Homes & Gardens show house that had Revco units with fronts customized with the same paneled look as the rest of the wood kitchen cabinets. They lasted until the late 1980′s. Apparently they were not very energy efficient (old compressor technology) and parts were hard to come by.
They were very sad to tear them out as they blended so well. Fitting a replacement freestanding fridge in the space was chore.
They also had a set of turquoise bilt-in units in their party-room kitchen.
I love this brochure! Maybe it’s because so many of the images are of real kitchens, so they tell us more about what was actually selling and being designed. That, and that they seem achievable on a more modest scale.
I specially love the pegboard kitchen…that designer must have talked to my Dad. He loved the stuff and used it all over our house!
Though number 7 with it’s pink yet industrial look is my favorite I love how most of the kitchens are slick, modern and yet, to me, homey. That isn’t an easy thing to accomplish,
And I love the handles that look exactly like the ones that were on the walk in fridge in my grandfather’s store. I’d buy the whole unit just for those handles but I’ve bought whole house for reasons equal to that so it’s not saying much.
I worked in an office that had a terrific circa 1959 galley kitchen with a stainless Revco fridge/freezer and a stainless Hobart dishwasher that cycled in about 15 minutes. My great regret isn’t leaving that job, but in not getting that kitchen!
By the way, within a year or so of this brochure, the units were more crisp and there were more models that looked like conventional built-in refrigerator/freezers – very elegant and tailored.
Thanks, Paul, for the info. I’ll watch for more brochures that continue to show the history!
I’m pretty sure my parents had a Revco Bilt-In refrigerator when they moved into their current home in 1976. It’s since been replaced by a more modern non-descript one when they started having trouble with the Revco. It was a lovely turquoise (of course, the only thing in the house that was not turquoise when they moved in were the fixtures in two of the bathrooms (the third had and still has all turquoise fixtures, although my mom wishes she could find a taller turqoise toilet to go in there – the thing is about a foot off the ground!) and the red rug (no idea why the previous residents popped that one in there) in the master bedroom. I’ll have to check to make sure, but as soon as I saw the name Revco, I thought of that refrigerator!
Many thanks for this posting. This has finally solved the refrigerator mystery in our home. Our current fridge (a non-descript Hotpoint from the early 1990s) rests in a built in shelf above the floor with a shallow shelf above. We wondered how a refrigerator could have previously been installed in this shelf and now we know.
However, this begs a question. Is anyone out there familiar with refrigerators similar to these awesome Revcos? Perhaps a custom fridge?
I just jumped out of my skin… the main photo is a picture of my kitchen! Unfortunately missing the cool refrigerator… I have a Scholtz home and the cabinets are identical and the brown color would have been right as the oven/toaster and the sink are both the same chocolate brown, and are still in the house and perfectly functional since 1957…
Very cool, Catherine — Can you send me some pics???? I’d love to share? retrorenovation [at] gmail [dot] com
Pam, when you share these brochures, I always feel a little sad when I get to the last slide! I covet the built in refrigerators…to me they make more sense, organizationally. The pink, yellow and blue Geneva kitchen made me smile (not sure it would if I woke up to it every morning though!) thanks so much for keeping us all informed and sharing eye-candy!
You’re welcome. Me love these too!
The holy grail of retro fridges is the GE Americana from the mid 60s, as seen here (pls post this on the blog so that someone will buy it and put me out of my misery looking at the ad every day):
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/clt/2753380324.html
Great Revco pix! I did have the opportunity to buy a stainless Revco set last year, but once I saw them in person I balked. Each unit is a three foot cube of steel, massively heavy and built like tanks. Yes, they probably last 4ever … but I like a fridge on casters.
FYI ALL.
Just saw this on Craiglist – Retro washer, stove, fridge and these are in amazing condition. Here is the link -
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/atq/2768839726.html
cool, JC, but take it over the to forum please – no buying/selling here on the main blog including links to finds, or it would be chaos: http://retrorenovation.com/forums thanks!!
Some people say we have the best kitchen Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed. Evelyn Gordon loved her very modern efficient workspace full of Wright innovations. Designed in 1957, built in 1963-64, Revco Gourmet refrigerator freezer intalled in 1963. We want to restore it back to working glory. The Gordon House and its kitchen is open to the public as a historic site with guided tours daily. Visit our website and call for a reservation at 503-874-6006 when you come to Oregon.