When I announced that Harvest Gold was Retro Renovation’s 2014 Color of the Year, I asked readers to be on the lookout for harvest gold kitchens for our archive. I’ve received many emails — thanks, all! — but this one is particularly notable: Robin spotted a virtually unused harvest gold kitchen — complete with cabinets and all appliances — including a harvest gold refrigerator and dishwasher — for sale at the ReStore in Worcester, Mass.
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I do not believe this kitchen is from 1963, as advertised. We did not see gold colors like this on kitchen appliances until 1968. And this one — with the shadowing around the edges: I’ll guess a few years later. In any case — what a fun find!
Robin wrote:
Hi Pam,
You said you were looking for some harvest gold appliances? I live in Worcester, MA, and I’ve taken some awesome photos of a complete and UNUSED harvest gold kitchen from 1963 that our Restore in Worcester has for sale. It’s a full suite of harvest gold wooden kitchen cabinets, harvest gold GE fridge and Kitchen Aid dishwasher. A chrome Westinghouse wall oven and cook top with NuTone range hood, stainless steel sink, and a brown/pink Wilsonart boomerang countertop and back splash with metal trim for the whole thing. They even have the original fluorescent ceiling fixture/light. The kitchen came out of a house in Worcester, and the Restore folks said it was a second kitchen in a finished basement that the owners had never used. They even have the manuals for the appliances! It photographs beautifully because it’s not in pieces… they have it all staged as a room (IKEA style, if you’ve ever been). They even have a little 70’s era kitchen table and fondue set in front of it, and a teapot on the stove! Super cute.
Thanks for your blog!
-Robin
Thank you, Robin! It is so great to see the Worcester ReStore celebrating this kitchen for what it is — having fun and playing it up, rather than apologizing for it.
Above: Interesting that the boomerang laminate countertop does not seem to have any gold or even avocado in it. I wonder — if this was for a basement kitchen — if the homeowners just chose “what they liked” rather than trying to be matchy matchy decorator-like.
From what I *think* I now about old refrigerators, the one above likely is an energy hog. The key to high energy usage on old fridges: Does the freezer have automatic defrosting? If so, that’s what uses so much energy — the freezer compressor is turning off and on all the time to repeatedly defrost. Old refrigerator-freezers that DO NOT have automatic defrost may not use excessive energy. The only true test: Put it on a meter; don’t assume.
Stainless steel wall oven. Yes: We do see stainless steel used on vintage appliances including all the way back to the 1950s.
These old dishwashers were absolute WORK HORSES!
Above: Sexy controls, even.
Above: A classic “Circline” ceiling fixture. Throws a lotta light, I bet!
Thank you, Robin. I live only an hour and a half from Worcester. If I were a decorator with a warehouse, I’d drive on over and snap these up for sure for a future project. However, I’d probably try to deal re: price. It’s hard to fit someone else’s kitchen into yours… the refrigerator likely uses a lot of energy… and despite my adoration of vintage colors, it’s going to take a special buyer to understand and embrace this kitchen.
Slide show of harvest gold kitchen
To use slide show, click on any image, use arrows below the photo to move forward to back. You may stop or start at any image:
Deb G. says
I have that KitchenAid dishwasher in that exact same color, or one almost identical to it! It is amazing – it works better than any other dishwasher I have ever had.
I had wanted to send in pictures of my Harvest Gold/yellow formica country kitchen but missed the original post back in December. I estimate that my fabulous harvest gold appliances are from ~1975, based on some permits I have for the house. There used to be wacky brown, pink, and gold flowered wallpaper too, but that was removed before I bought it.
Anna K. says
Pam, your posts on retro appliances in bold colors have vindicated me…when I was a child and had to draw pictures of my own house in school, my classmates would badger and harass me over the harvest gold refrigerator, loudly insisting that “refrigerators aren’t yellow!”
Well, ours sure was!
Here’s where it gets weird: everyone in my grade was born between 1979 and 1981 – old enough to have had colorful 1970s appliances in their homes. My family couldn’t be bothered to replace a perfectly usable appliance just because the color was no longer in vogue…yet everyone else’s parents must have bought a white fridge at some point. (My parents’ frugality paid off. We moved into a nicer neighborhood when I was in my teens, and only then did we give away the 1970s refrigerator – because the new house came with a nicer fridge.)
Last year I helped clean out my late grandmother’s house, which she bought in 1980. Her harvest-gold washer and dryer were still in working condition! (The harvest-gold dishwasher, however, wasn’t salvageable.)
Joe Felice says
Au contraire, GE produced canary-yellow appliances in the late ’50s & early ’60s, and floors, cabinets and counter tops were even produced in yellow. I liked the yellow appliances, but not an all-yellow kitchen. All of the same color is a bit much, in my opinion. I would love to have yellow appliances today. I still maintain that brightly-colored appliances would sell like hot cakes, if only someone would dare to make them.
Donna Corbin says
I sure could use this in a kitchen we are starting a redo on in a rental house that my daughter and her family are living in. Would be awesome. Please send me more information. Thanks!
pam kueber says
You need to click the links to the ReStore in Worcester — that is where the kitchen is. Good luck!
Wink says
Wow, that is the very same Harvest Gold, side by side GE refrigerator that I grew up with. It was already in the house which my parents bought in the summer of 1971, but we have no idea how long it was in place prior to our moving in. Oh, how I wish I had a photo of the matching, high-gloss vinyl wallpaper that my mom picked out in 1974!
Habitat for Humanity ReStore MetroWest/Greater Worcester says
Wow! I recently discovered this blog and boy am I glad that I did!
Thank you so much for your comments…at our ReStore, we are all lovers of the unique, dramatic, and sublime. We understand that every donation has a story and the one around this kitchen is no exception.
Ah, the memories this Kitchen as awakened in the minds of everyone who sees it!
The way the contractor who meticulously took this kitchen out of the home and subsequently donated it to us said that the kitchen was barely used…it was more the entertaining, hey-look-at-me space while the real kitchen was kept away from eyes of visitors. The SS appliances were all part of the original kitchen…upon closer inspection of the manuals, which we still have, these appliances are from 1963 while the Harvest Gold Dishwasher and Refrigerator were purchased to match the cabinets which were redone in place in the late 60’s. After the cabinets were redone, the kitchen was not used again…so it sat idle as an attractive display for at least 45 years.
The display has become quite the attention grabber and whoever purchases it will sure have a true bit of history.
Our ReStore has a great staff and volunteers who understand the effect a proper vignette has on a customer or visitor…we treat all of the special pieces, such as this kitchen, as the works of art that they are…and we cherish that these donations, when purchased, will ultimately help us build homes in our community.
I invite everyone to come in often and discover the treasures that we receive and display at our ReStore.
Louis Garcia
Floor Manager
ReStore of MetroWest/Greater Worcester
Patrick Coffey says
This kitchen is not from 1963 and there are 3 reasons that it is not. The first being that GE’s first side by side refrigerator (which was actually outsourced from The Franklin Appliance Company) was not introduced until 1967. The second reason is that GE did not introduce the style of side by side in this kitchen (which was a pure GE design made by GE) until 1968 which is the same year GE introduced the shaded color called “Harvest” (GE never called Harvest Gold)
Patrick Coffey says
Oh one other thing I forgot to mention. The style of Kitchen Aid Dishwasher that is in this kitchen was not introduced until circa 1967
Mary Elizabeth says
Maybe Mr. Garcia’s comment was posted after yours. What he said, in part, was: “The SS [stainless steel] appliances were all part of the original kitchen…upon closer inspection of the manuals, which we still have, these [stainless steel] appliances are from 1963 while the Harvest Gold Dishwasher and Refrigerator were purchased to match the cabinets which were redone in place in the late 60′s.” So he is saying exactly what you said–the dishwasher and fridge are from the late ’60s, when the cabinets were refinished in Harvest (gold).
Hope this clears it up for everyone.
Anne-Marie says
Thanks so much for that info. This kitchen is a treasure.
Jonny says
Love the countertops and the chevron shape of the cabinet handles. I think the price is pretty reasonable too, considering the completeness, if you can make everything fit.
A question about the “energy hog” fridge, how much difference would the energy bills be on a fridge like that vs a new one? I painted mine red (similar to the red painted fridge featured recently, same color, too) and put on some big chrome handles, but I’d like to find a legit vintage fridge to replace it at some point. I’m just afraid that I’ll either be forced to defrost the freezer every month, or spend a fortune on power for an early 60’s frost-free model (the type I prefer).
Anyone got some insight for me?
Habitat for Humanity ReStore MetroWest/Greater Worcester says
Good Evening, Jonny,
The refrigerator is, indeed, an energy hog! While a recently purchased Energy efficient refrigerator averages a yearly running cost of around $49, A refrigerator from this era (Late 60’s-Early 70’s) have a yearly running cost averaging $250. This is an appliance not to be purchased lightly.
I hope that this info helped! Let us know if you have other questions.
Louis Garcia
Floor Manager
ReStore of MetroWest/Greater Worcester
Diane says
Mr. Garcia, thank you for your replies to this post! I don’t know if you saw my earlier question – is it possible to swap out the DOORS of these older appliances with similarly sized new appliances? (thereby gaining the ‘look’ whilst keeping energy efficiency?) Thanks for your reply!
Barb S. says
We had that same fridge when I was a kid. We had the “upscale” model with an ice bucket in the door. Not an ice maker.. just a bucket… I remember my dad used to keep an old frozen pie in the very bottom of the freezer (you can see the space in the photo), under which he would stash an envelope of cash. I wonder how many years that pie was in there!
oh Holland says
I see references to harvest gold, poppy red and chocolate brown appliances, but anyone have appliances like our big, squared fridge with a freezer drawer at bottom in a coppery, shimmery root-beer brown? It was new in 1957.
dkzody says
Although it was white, my mother bought that Amana refrigerator/freezer with the pull out drawer on the bottom. She loved that freezer.
Jay says
Kudos to the Restore for doing a nice display job, it makes it easier for prospective customers to visualize and measure the layout. Methinks the appliances are worth more to people then the whole kitchen set-up. Wahhh! I want that Westingouse oven. The oven would be a great replacement for my original to 57 house “STAINLESS” Westinghouse oven. I see the design evolution.
I think the stainless ovens are a good neutral finish/color for any period style of kitchen; it only starts to grate when you hear it in the same breath as the g word.
Jay says
That would be the design evoltion of the oven styling/controls. There is nothing like the old simple electro mechanical dials, they just wear out gradually instead of failing outright like the digital controls.
Drew says
The wall oven brings back a lot of memories as my grandmother had the same oven in chocolate brown in her custom birch kitchen built in 1964. Her cooktop and wall oven were still working perfectly when she died in 2007.