Woah. This is the most AMAZING kitchen faucet slash appliance: EVER! A 1963 Electro-Sink Center, spotted by reader oldgun31 on ebay and posted to our Forum (now closed). As oldgun31 points out:
For history’s sake, I will archive what the listing said:
To start off with, here is a link to see what a new one looked like when the door to door salesman came a knocking on your door in 1963. PHOTOS (of discussion on another Forum of same piece found at an estate sale by another person-Pam). This electronically controlled faucet that I have was installed in 1963 in a house in Portland Oregon. Looks like they paid 399.00 for it, but made payments of $13.08 a month for 36 months, ($470.88). I was at an auction at that house and found it in the basement in one of its many junk rooms.
It took me a while to find the items that went with it, but I wasn’t able to find everything. It did surprise me that I found the book and original receipt. I’m sure that the rest of it was there, but lost in the clutter, (These folks never threw anything away. It just went on a shelf in the basement, then later years, things were stored in one of the bedrooms or in the huge attic). Needless to say it is untested, and sold for parts or repair. The heavy glass bowl is in good condition, (No nips, chips, or cracks found). The ice cream maker also looks very good and appears complete.
AND, here is another link, which oldgun31 added, and which is referenced in the Photos link. It is for a 1964 Electro-Sink Center brochure!
Finally, someone mentions that perhaps Laura Petrie had this in her kitchen in one of the early episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show — ????? If anyone can spot this watching the show online — grab a screen shot, and I’ll post it.
Wonders!!!
Jake says
I know a gentlemen that has a couple of these! He had at one point a case of the ice cream makers.
Jake says
I just spoke with him he has three units. Two are in box one was a display and is out of box. The case he said is various attachments not just ice cream makers. So nice to see people still appreciate that classic look!
Jimmy says
Jake, do you think he still has one or the attachments? Thanks
Pam Kueber says
Give it a try, here’s the link: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/08/21/new-old-stock-electro-sink-centers-hippo-hardware/
Jim Shields says
My wife grew up with one in her house @ the Mt Tabor area of Portland. then when her family built a house in Gladstone (in the early 70’s) they brought the Electro-Sink-Center with them and had it installed. She has wanted one for the last 10 years or so and found out that Hippo Hardware might have some. Too late we arrived to find only parts. We did buy the sink center, power supply, ice cream maker and a few other parts but we don’t have the mixing bowl, beaters or the blender, juicer. If anyone has any parts or even a whole one of these,we would love to get the chance to buy them.
Pam Kueber says
Yes, I wrote about Hippo Hardware’s stash in 2017, and I think that after that, everything started selling out…
I suggest: Watch ebay like a hawk. I have purchased NOS accessories for one of my two Electro-Sink Centers there in the past.
Please note: No buying/selling here on the blog or it becomes chaos…
Joseph Griffin says
My Father use to sell and services these and we had one in our home in Denver, CO. – it was a awesome unit.
Gloria says
My dad owned one of the franchises in Omaha, NE. It was a hot item back in the day. Mom loved hers!
Janell says
Yes my mother bought this very same sink when they came out. I still remember the salesman opening that big black box that displayed the sink encased in red velvet. Believe it or not she is 93 and still uses this sink in her home. Only thing missing and not working is the sprayer. Amazing. And it had a lot of use. My mother raised 7 children.
Kay Slusarenko says
Hello, I have this amazing object in my kitchen and have used it every day for over the past four years. My son, Nate, found the 1963 Electro-Sink Center -never been used- still in the box-with all the written material plus recipes and all the different parts, such as the ice cream maker in boxes and all brand new. He installed the faucet when we first moved into our home in NE Portland Oregon.
First of all, to the comment about it being a challenge because you had to reach over the sink to use the blender or any of the other attachments clearly never used it! The genius part of this faucet (or at least one of the genius parts of it!) is the part that the attachment (such as the blender) fits into has a push button that when pushed in makes the base swing out over the sink. This means that if anything spills before, during or after using it, it all goes down the sink! So clever and makes cleanup a breeze.
I read another comment from someone who said this faucet wore out quickly. All I know is that our family gets up early (around 6 a.m.) and uses this amazing faucet from that time until retiring usually around 11 p.m. each night. It gets a lot of use and yet it has never as much had a drip, or any need of repair in all these years.
My whole family LOVES this stylish, clever, and functional faucet. We live in NE Portland and sadly are in the process of preparing our home to be put up for sale soon. Our home is a mid-century 1954 modern home that we just absolutely adore. However, my health is forcing me and my husband to move to a smaller cottage in an adult community.
I’ll miss this faucet dearly as well as the Flair oven/stove combo that the same son also found and fixed up for me to do all my cooking and baking on. It is the Flair Custom Imperial by Frigidaire and just like the faucet it is visually beautiful and is a workhorse.
Thank you for the opportunity for me to “…tell the rest of the story!”
Kevbo says
I had a memory of some childhood friends having one of these contraptions, and found this page by googling. It wasn’t especially practical, as you had to make the long reach over the sink to use the mixer or blender, but it sure seemed futuristic to me at the time. (70s)
The dad was a gadget freak. They were the only family in the neighborhood with a microwave oven or a remote controlled TV.(the kind with the un-powered chimes in the remote) I would have killed just for the powered lawn mower.
Pam says
We had one- our dad fell prey to the door-to-door salesman with a Scottish accent!
We Loved having it- it seemed so modern and cool!!! My dad used to demonstrate it for anyone who would come over (he also used to demonstrate our melmac dishes that wouldn’t break!! Haha!!!)