After the post on where to find shelf edging, California Kathy wrote to show some in action. This is wonderful stuff for open shelves, glass cupboards, and as Kathy shows — for showing off collections of vintage bowls and dinnerware:

Hi Pam, California Kathy here. Just wanted to show you the upper portion of my kitchen china hutch with its shelf edging. I scored it on eBay a while ago and couldn’t be happier with how it looks! We’ve been doing a few things to our 1949 Calinfornia ranch kitchen and I’ll send you some pics as soon as we finish up a couple more easy things. Course the “easy” things are the ones that take the longest sometimes! Thanks for all you do! – Kathy

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Carrie writes:

Pam,

I was wondering if you have ever done any research on Shelf Edging and if so where could I get some.  I don’t think that I ever mentioned that the previous owner had placed shelf edging in the linen closet and also in certain cabinets in the kitchen.  Since I have lived in my house for almost a year now the shelf edging is starting to tear and I would like to have some more on hand when I am ready to put more up.  

.

Any information that you have would be greatly appreciated.  Always remember that you are doing a wonderful job in making Retro Renovation what is has become.  I appreciate more and more the smalls details of my house that everyone else would take for granted.  I sent you some pictures of the shelf edging in my cabinets I hope they help.

Carrie

Thanks for the question and for your lovely words of support, Carrie. This was a fun one to research. From what I can tell looking online, there were four waves of shelf edging design:

1. In the “early days” I am betting the major name making this was Meyercord. They are also known for their furniture and cabinet decals. The paper shelf edging was, I am quite sure, a way for women to dress up their farmhouse and apartment kitchen shelves without having to go to the expense of renovating.
2. In the postwar era, the big name seems to have been Royledge also marketed as Roylies and as Roylcraft. I also see some Betty Brite out there. You should also note that the edging came either as “just edging” or as edging attached to white shelf paper – but all still in one piece.
3. In the 60s, I am seeing plastic, pleated / ruffled , self-adhesive shelf edging from Contact. I like this idea a lot. As you demonstrate with your experience – that paper is going to tear in any high-use area. Also, the adhesive is pretty nifty. Otherwise, I am thinking that housewives earlier put the edging down with thumbtacks.
4. Today’s limited options “new”.

Where to get shelf edging and shelf paper?

Betty Brite "Edge 'n Lining" shelf paper from RetroRubbish. 12" deep, 15' wide, $10. Click on the image to go to the listing.

• Etsy seems to be a great source. The going price for a 15′ strip seems be $5 and up. Search terms: shelf edging, shelf paper, Royledge, Roylies, Meyercord, Betty Brite, Vintage Contact Paper

• You should also watch ebay. – I see only two sources. There is an Asian company making vinyl, self-adhesive lace style edging.

• New #1 — I found a company in Scotland — Diana Forrester — selling gorgeous fabric shelf edging embroidered in France.
  

  cotton and linen embroidered shelf edging from diana forrester

• New #2 — And a company that sells vinyl, pre-pasted, lace style edging.
• Finally, if you are handy, you could also make paper edging yourself out of wallpaper (new or vintage.) Create a decorative edge with scrapbooking scissors that you can find at Target; this is going to take a very steady hand, though. And, unlike the vintage edging – which is white where it sits on the shelf itself – your wallpaper-edging is going to be visible on the shelf, too. This may not be desirable. Trying to seam the decorative paper to a white piece of shelf paper may not work either as such a seam would be vulnerable to tearing.

This was a fun question to reseach, Carrie. Good luck!

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This is a vintage Chambers gas range. I am seriously in love with it, and want it so much that I could burst. For now, though, it is staying in the time capsule house. I am guessing — 60s. Any experts out there who can tell me for sure?

This is the built-in, pop-up griddle. And yes, folks, those are stainless steel (or aluminum?) 4″ tiles behind the stove.

This is the control panel. I am so seriously in love with this stove I cannot stand it.

Here is the vintage Chambers range upstairs. I am dating it 1952 — because that is when the kitchen went in.

Here is the porcelain cover folded down over the burners.

And here is the built-in stove. It’s all so wonderful, and there is still more to come from this house, I’ve barely made a dent.

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Since we’re on stoves this week, here’s one that I’ve been meaning to showcase for a while: The 39″ wide, two-oven Kenmore Elite range from Sears. Today, it’s priced at about $1,900 for gas, $1,800 for electric. That’s alotta dough, but not so much as the lovely Big Chills. And this stove has that nice, wide, retro stance. While I love vintage, I have to say there is one big thing that I do miss: A self-cleaning oven. This Kenmore, with its stainless steel finish, suits a retro renovation kitchen well. Pair it if you can with a “fitted” 24″ deep stainless steel fridge … edge your countertops with stainless steel… and go in any direction that you please with the cabinets, it would work out just fine, I think.  Online at Sears.

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For those of us living deprived of a self-cleaning oven, the Vermont Country Store offers a non-stick oven liner. You put it on the bottom of your oven to catch drips. You then can pull it out and wipe it clean. Guess I will have to get one of these. But, I will need to check, first, if it’s parakeet-friendly. Also, for who is going to make the pie. New this fall, $14.95 online at Vermont Country Store.

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George sent in these photos of his retro renovation kitchen — he very ingeniously “built in” his wall oven by creating a brick veneer surround. I’ve definitely seen precedents for this idea, and am so pleased to see a reader do it. George shares his experience, and a bit of the step-by-step his contractor and mason used to get the job done. And we get to see more of the adjacent vintage GE stove — a dumpster-dive! –>

First, George tells us about the range — it went in first:

…I had been reading “Atomic Home” by Whitney Matheson, and slowly designing my home in mid-century motif, after the pictures in this book…. The stove was a rescue from the San Francisco Mission District – the owner had the stove in the trash bin. When I came upon it… I thought, gosh, somebody is going to throw this thing away and it looked like it still had some life left in it…  Oh, yes, my research indicates that the stove is from 1959 in terms of model year….Love to gaze at the stove and play “Affair in Aruba” by Les Baxter to get the true feel of the mid-century…I swear by the stove, and it cooks wonderfully.

George does note that he had to do some work to replace inconsistently-heating burners….”Well, it took me about 2 years,” he admits.

Here’s the story on the wall oven and the brick veneer surround. George writes:

For the wall oven, I was lucky enough to find a couple who had purchased an Eichler knock-off in Palo Alto, CA, and were planning to rip-out the high-grade Formica countertops and remove the existing, GE turquoise appliances (original to the house). They were going to re-do the entire house and turn-around to sell it. Luckily they advertised the wall oven on Craigslist, one of my typical haunts for mid-century collecting.

It was here that I picked-up the GE wall oven to match the circa-1959 stove. The wall oven had been in very good condition, as the former owners of the house seldom used it (according to the buyers of the house, and people from whom I purchased the wall oven). The former owners of the home didn’t have any young children that might have rough-housed the oven. It was, however, quite dirty. So I purchased for approx. $100.00 and cleaned it up with some Easy-Off (slowly becoming my best friend), and some latex gloves.

After reading through some 1950-1960 mid-century magazines, I decided to add a brick enclosure for the wall oven to my already pretty-mid-century kitchen. I had a carpenter come in and add the build-out for not too much money ($400). A mason added the brick façade (thin-brick, available at a local stone factory) – this was a bit more ($1,000 altogether labor and materials). Walla, I think it made a nice addition to the beautiful stove.

There you have it, a keen, all-electric kitchen (AEK) with turquoise appliances by GE, circa 1959-1965.

Oops, almost forgot. I purchased the ceiling exhaust fan off E-Bay about four years ago (see top of photo) – this was $150; it was new-in-box. Simultaneously with installation of the wall oven and brick, I had an HVAC installer install the fan over the renovated stove ($350). Works great; the ceiling fan was manufactured by a company called National out of Ocala, FL (no longer in business – I looked for it). The model is “Chef-Aire.” The fan is circa 1970s, is 9-inches in diameter, and has metal blades and a heavy, metal crank-shaft inside built to last a lifetime (as long as you oil it each six-months according to the instructions). Guess they didn’t have Teflon ball-bearings back in those days. I had a damper installed to prevent back-flow of cold-air into the house during the winter. I forgot that these fans are a bit louder then those available today, ahhh but nostalgia….My aunt’s home in Miami, FL (circa 1964) had one of these near the kitchen stove.

Anyhow, take care and hope all is going well.

George – Pleasant Hill, CA

Thank you so much for sharing, George. The whole thing is genius. Adding brick veneer to a kitchen is a great – and not too expensive — way to add visual interest. And, I know you have more going on in that house of yours, so look forward to doing another feature soon.

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MIB NOS bathroom and kitchen items are still out there, readers. Reader Tami made a big score with this 1980 Mercury exhaust fan, which she found for $27 on craigslist. I asked her if she could tell us the whole story and some more about what’s going on in her kitchen:

Hi Pam,

Background – I’m planning on remodeling and moving my kitchen (just got the plan/engineering estimate today – $5k! Ouch! That doesn’t even include the permits yet, which will run another $2-3k). Since I’m into vintage/retro most everything except toilet paper (for obvious reasons), I will be putting a 1949 Tappan Deluxe in my new kitchen. I was just going to spruce up my current old exhuast fan and hood since it is 48″ wide to put over the Tappan. I routinely search Craigslist for building items, and saw an ad for a brand new in the box Mercury 621 vertical exhaust fan for $27, but didn’t call because I had planned on my old hood and cabinets over my stove.

I saw the ad reposted two more times…and still I didn’t call – can you believe that? What was I thinking? Then one day I was playing around with my house plan software and decided to see how things looked by deleting the cabinets over the stove which would really be no loss to me since I’m only 5′ 2″ and can never reach anything up there unless it is in very front of the cabinet, and I’m on tiptoes. My software has a 3D view so I could see what things looked like – and wow! I loved it without those cabinets…..then I remembered that Mercury fan, which I would just place in the soffit above the stove. Could I be so lucky that it was still available? I searched CL for “mercury fan” and there it was again, posted for the 4th (or maybe 5th or 6th) time! I called the owner, and picked it up the next day leaving $27 poorer, and one brand new clean and shiny Mercury fan richer.

Two pictures attached – grill and directions. Interesting, this was shipped to a hardware store in Oakland CA – I’ll have to look them up to see if they are still in business! Also, the fan direction sheet said at the very bottom, tiny print: Rev. 4/80 – so this fan is no older than April of 1980.

Tami

Thanks, Tami, for sharing. Good luck with the kitchen reno. Buckle your seatbelts, you know it’s always…bumpy.

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Sherri read this Time Warp Wives post from last year and asks, “What is the gizmo above the stove??” Does anyone know? How about some wild and wacky guesses? Meanwhile, remember the vintage “Teasmade” – as in ‘tea is made’ combo alarm clock, radio, and tea maker that I spotted on ebay last year? tea hee, those wacky brits.

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READER STEPHANIE sent in photos of her wonderful vintage stove — an O’Keefe and Merritt newly restored by Antique Stove Heaven. Doesn’t it look great with her vintage chrome crackle ice vinyl and laminate dinette. I just wanna pull up a chair and have a cuppa with her right this very minute.

Stephanie writes:

Pam –

Your recent email about your birthday present reminded me to share my birthday present, due to be delivered next week: a completely restored and working 1946 O’Keefe and Merritt stove: gleaming chrome, salt and pepper shakers, and all!  It has red trim and knobs, which will go with my mother’s kitchen (now my kitchen), where we are taking everything back to the 50’s.  Just bought light fixtures from Rejuvenation.

As we have been cleaning, renovating, and stripping down my parent’s home, my favorite time capsules have been the little notes written by my father found inside appliances, electrical boxes, and tacked inside cupboard doors — !  Things like, “garage door opens best when spring is adjusted…” and “this outlet is connected to the bedroom system, because…etc, etc.” Our current stove even has a note inside the storage space, stating when it was purchased, how much it cost (including taxes and other hidden fees), and where it was purchased.  What a dad, huh?

Regards,

Stephanie

Thanks, Stephanie – love that floor, too. We can’t wait to see the rest of the kitchen when you are done. Even more importantly: What wonderful time capsule messages left by your father. You are so lucky… and your house is lucky, too, to have you updating it with so much thoughtfulness and care.  See Stephanie’s blog, dollymamas.blogspot.com here.

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LAST YEAR Nutone discontinued the satin chrome grille its classic ceiling / wall exhaust fan, replacing it with an unexciting plastic housing. It’s taken me a while – but here are two other options to dash ahead of Nutone on our selection list.

First: The Marley 1080 (first, leading image). No chrome. But that’s a powder-coated steel grille…much better…and I like that brassy knob in the center.There is also a wall-mount model with pull switch. Marley sells their fans nationally through electrical distributors such as GrayBar, Cresent Electric, AllPhase, for example. You can find the fans via online retailers, as well, and there may be some price competition… but I’ll tell you, I like dealing with folks I can talk to. Marley’s website does not have unique url’s for each page. Get to this (and other fans) via: Ventilation/Bathroom/Residential/General Home and Kitchen.

Second: The Trade-Wind AF7 from Universal Metal Industries. It also has a steel grille with a powder coated paint finish – nice. This fan is a legacy of the Trade-Wind brand, which has been around for decades. I see lots of Trade-Wind ads in my vintage marketing materials.  I did not ask the company for its distributors, but I am assuming that as with Marley fans, you can get them from local electrical distributors. Link to the Trade-Wind site here.

Be careful when specifying these exhaust fans for your kitchens. There are usually building codes with air flow requirements; check with your Building Department or another professional, or you may not pass inspection. Marley’s spec sheet for the model I show says it handles 280 cfm. The Trade-Wind AF7 says 290 cfm. One Nutone model is 210 cfm, other models are less. Note: If you use one of these, property specified, you do not need a range hood. Some folks continue to prefer the range hood, though, to catch grease as well.

Drum roll, please. These two options hereforeto move ahead of Nutone on the retro recommendation list.

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