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Home / Kitchen / Appliances & Decor

American Beauties: 25 vintage stoves and refrigerators from readers’ kitchens

Kate - October 9, 2012, Updated: August 31, 2021

1961 vintage Hotpoint refrigerator and stove in aquaReader recently uploaded 208 pictures of antique stoves, refrigerators and other major kitchen appliances — and in this story, I had fun trying to pick out my favorites. These photos show that retro kitchens come in many design flavors. Above: April’s 1961 kitchen — with its lovely blue Hotpoint refrigerator and stove — is sleek and modern — but friendly at the same time. Droooooooool.

1963 kitchen with wood cabinets and aqua appliances and sinkCool and colorful

Out of all the appliances that were uploaded, the colorful stoves, ranges, vent hoods just had me squealing with delight. Aqua, pink, brown, green — I love them all. Above: Anonymous’ 1963 kitchen, complete with turquoise and bronze starburst flecked countertops.

vintage turquoise stove in a knotty pine kitchenAbove: Reader and fellow blogger Betty Crafter’s swoon-worthy aqua stove in her knotty pine kitchen — complete with aqua laminate countertops. We’re a huge fan of Betty’s kitchen — which we have featured before.

vintage dual level stoveAbove: This reader also has an aqua stove and aqua countertops just a slightly lighter shade. I’m loving how the vintage stove meshes with the metal cabinets and funky pulls — retrolicious! [Pam interjects: I think this kitchen  is one of Bizarro Twin Pam’s six kitchens.]

Frigidaire Custom Imperial Double OvenThen there is the pink — ohhh the pink! I think Susie O’s pink kitchen above might just be my dream kitchen — a pink Frigidaire Custom Imperial Double Oven and a dishwasher — is your fridge pink, too, Susie?

1960s ge pink wall oven with little windowSince my kitchen doesn’t have room for a full range, I’d settle for this cute, original 1960’s GE pink wall oven, above — love the pink laminate countertops, too, we need a close up!

avocado green wall oven by frigidaireMore a fan of the 1970s? This avocado green wall oven from Frigidaire might just do the trick. “I love the fonts,” says anonymous uploader.

Western Holly stoveI’ll admit — I’m not usually a fan of brown appliances — but reader Adam’s super built-in Western Holly range (complete with cute owl decor) might just change my mind. I’m really digging the circular oven window.

frigidaire flair in avocadoAnother reader whose stove (and kitchen) made me happy was Wendy’s 1960’s Frigidaire Flair with 1970’s avocado green cabinet. Wendy — your kitchen is fabulous and your stove is the crowning glory.

Wonderful whites

1949 Kenmore stoveAbove: Reader Jeff’s 1949 Kenmore stove is pretty awesome — as is his cookware collection. He topped it all off with one heck of a cool aqua range hood complete with silver starbursts. His cabinets and pulls are tiki-tastic too.

1950s Roper stoveSpeaking about cool handles, check out the handles on Heather’s 1950’s Roper stove that she found on Freecycle — for free. What a score Heather!

1960s Westinghouse 2 level stoveHere’s another 1960’s Westinghouse 2 level stove — just as cool in white. I didn’t realize there was an outlet on it until just now — is that safe?

beautiful vintage Okeefe and Merritt stove Above: Reader JoAnn’s vintage white O’Keefe & Merritt stove looks so pretty in her house. My favorite part is the red knobs and handles and the cool work light (that is a work light, right?). JoAnn — you have quite the snazzy house.

1930s Spark StoveHere’s another gem, Chutti’s 1930’s spark stove — which looks to be in perfect condition. They just don’t make ’em like they used to, do they?

Fabulous Fridges

1934 White Seal Ice BoxPerhaps a perfect pair to Chutti’s Spark stove — the 1934 White Seal Ice Box above also looks to be in mint condition too.

1967 Limited Edition Sears Coldspot Designed by Sundberg-FerarAbove: The 1967 Limited Edition Sears Coldspot Designed by Sundberg-Ferar is cool to begin with. What makes it arctic level cool? The fridge came with a nameplate inscribed for the original owner — Flora. She was a Scottish schoolteacher according to the fridge’s new owner, reader 52 PostnBeam.

1960s GE combination refrigerator freezerAbove: Reader Amy F’s Mid 60’s GE Combination Fridge with turquoise and yellow interior and swing out shelves. We’d love to see pictures of that interior Am — and the exterior is lovely.

inside of a 1962 GE refrigerator with swing out shelvesReader Ann-Marie Meyers wasn’t afraid to open up her 1962 GE Fridge to show us how cool the insides are. (Though it could be because it is empty)

vintage Philco fridgeGailsmile was also kind enough to open up her retro Philco fridge — love the aqua accents on the inside.

Crosley Shelvador 10And here’s a really brave reader — who let us peek inside their fridge with food inside! JD Log’s Crosley Shelvador “10” is not your typical Crosley — this is the Australian version — complete with Vegemite in the yellow jar!

restored Frigidaire refrigerator and Tumblair clothes drierT&J from This Atomic Life has two restored retro cool appliances in their London apartment. A vintage Frigidaire with the most awesome handle ever and this super neat Tumblair clothes dryer.

1938 Hotpoint refrigerator All of these cool refrigerators are making me sad that they just don’t design new appliances with all these fun details anymore. Reader Ali’s 1938 Hotpoint oozes cool — look at all that chrome!

Crazy Chrome

1956 Caloric cook top

There were loads of Chrome-tastic details sprinkled throughout your vintage large appliances. In particular, I loved Peggy W’s 1956 Caloric stovetop — check out those knobs. They look like little radios built right into the cabinet.

Ultramatic Caloric stove top

Here’s another fabulous Ultramatic Caloric stovetop with knobs in front — this looks great with the steel trimmed retro laminate counters!

Tappan 400 Fabulous range

Michelle in Iowa’s Tappan Fabulous 400 is a shiny space-saver indeed. I can imagine baking something in that fabulous oven, just sitting back and admiring this cool retro stove while I wait for my cake to rise.

Readers — you’ve really blown me away with this one! I’m so glad to see so many of you are loving, using and maintaining your vintage large appliances. In today’s world full of streamlined, energy efficient stoves and refrigerators it is easy to believe that “upgrading” to a shiny new appliance is the thing to do, but honestly — what the cool old appliances might lack in technology they more than make up for with their charming and quirky design.

CATEGORIES:
Appliances & Decor Kitchen

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Reader Interactions

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113 comments

Comments

  1. Erma Parra says

    August 11, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    I have a Tappan Fabulous 400, that needs repairs, oven not working and oven just gave out on me. Please i like to have it repaired. Anyone know of someone?
    Thank you

    • pam kueber says

      August 12, 2020 at 8:38 am

      You can also try The Old Appliance Club to see if they have any advice.

  2. Phyllis says

    July 14, 2019 at 9:28 am

    There is one I’ll mention that I didn’t see, GE fridge Model LH12N G1 from the 50’s with semi-circular swing out shelves. The parents of my college boyfriend had one in their summer cottage. It was in mint condition because they were only there a few weeks each summer and it was barely used. The exterior was white and the interior was turquoise with anodized aluminum trim and shelves in a copper color. Stunning!

  3. Evan Degenfelder says

    June 23, 2019 at 11:41 am

    I LOVE old appliances! Here’s the conundrum: I prefer cooking with gas, but our old house has a counter top cooker—electric. We’ve plumbed for gas but talk about hen’s teeth! Finding a gas cooktop (like the couple toward the end of the photos here) has proven to be virtually impossible. I’ve contacted many of the retro appliance restoration companies and they all say the same thing. Keep looking on Craigslist (which we’ve done) and ReStore (which we’ve done). They say that yes, they were made but not nearly as much as electric and oddly, will be more easily found on the east coast. *sigh* We live in Oregon!

    • Pam Kueber says

      June 23, 2019 at 11:51 am

      Yes, and also check local building codes.

  4. Mariela Garza says

    June 1, 2019 at 8:50 pm

    I have a wedgewood-holly stove. I cannot find any information on it. It has 2 doors that opens to the side. On one side its storage (I think-well at least thats what I use it for) other side is a oven and broiler on bottom. I think it was a built in cause doesnt have a panels on the side of it.

  5. Contessa says

    April 1, 2019 at 4:32 pm

    We have the same ultramatic caloric stainless steel stove top with knobs in front and I need the drop pans.. anyone know exact model or where to find? It still works great and is so pretty

    • Pam Kueber says

      April 2, 2019 at 6:36 am

      Hi Contessa, I don’t know the answer to this. But, some readers have reported getting info via The Old Appliance Club and you could also try one of these companies — https://retrorenovation.com/2011/11/04/13-places-to-buy-restored-vintage-stoves/

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