Here’s one we haven’t seen before — a GE bar cart on wheels with a built-in refrigerator — listed for sale in etsy shop Mod Makes It. This cart seems to be the Italian relative of our favorite vintage BBQ/oven, the GE Partio Cart — can you imagine having both of these amazing carts working together at your next summer party?
From the etsy listing:
Up for sale is a Mid-Century Bar Cart Refrigerator Combo by General Electric. This “swanky” piece will make a nice addition to any bar or patio. It’s a real “gem” … looks and runs great! The interior and exterior are in very good to excellent condition for their years. Includes all of it’s original accessories; egg tray, freezer tray and Ice tray. It was made in Italy (please see MFG label) and brought to Denver by a Military family in the 1960’s. I have researched it and cannot find another one anywhere.
A vintage mini-fridge on wheels! Yes, with this handy patio cart, you could keep the drinks cool and serve them up in style.
Hmmmm… Were these ever available in the US. Has anyone else ever seen one of these carts before?
Mega thanks to etsy shop owner Gina from Mod Makes It for letting us feature this fantastic find and reader April Ann for spotting it.
Amy Anderson says
Oh my gosh–my dad had one like this and I had forgotten all about it! The door on his was that lovely fake wood from the 70s, so not quite as cool.
Mary Elizabeth says
One question and one comment, Amy:
Was your dad in the service and stationed in Europe, and if not, where did he live? I’m very curious about where people got these refrigerators.
Actually, I think the 1970s “fake wood” would make this seem more cool to me. But of course, I was a young person then. 🙂
Jacki says
Having lived in Italy, I’m inclined to believe that this might have been the owners main refrigerator. In Europe refrigerators are small and back then even smaller than they are now. I would imagine being on a cart made them portable so they would have more than one use, or perhaps moving it with you when you moved to another home. Great idea about making one yourself. Love the turquoise.
JKM says
Ingenious yet so simple! It makes me want to have someone make a little mobile cart to hold a simple dorm refrigerator. We could move it all over the patio wherever we wanted. Hmmm…..
Penne says
This is exactly what I was thinking. My Mom has a dorm ‘fridge stored in her basement since one of us came home from college–at least 20 years. I need to show this to my brother who is handy with projects like that.
Mr Kim says
It’s years since I last thought about it, but the very first fridge I can remember, back in the seventies, was this exact shade of blue in the inside. Would you call it Robin egg blue?
I’m not very fond of pastel colours, however I have always felt something warm for this shade of blue. Maybe it was because of our first fridge, which I had forgotten.
Jay says
Interesting! I think the clue lies in the fact that it was a military person who obtained it. Made in Italy but not for European use – the voltage is US. Perhaps it was made to GE specs for American commercial/institutional use overseas such as military, State Dept. etc. Its construction and finish appears to lend it more to commercial rather then residential use. You never know what you are going to see.
Jacki says
:^) When we were stationed in Europe, almost 30 years ago, the base housing had U.S electrical specs. This allowed us to be able to use our appliances (vacuums, toasters, hair dryers etc.) and not have to re-buy everything. You could buy things like British electric tea kettles with U.S specs through the BX. It was pretty neat. If you lived off base you had to use a transformer which was bulky, heavy and a pain to drag around with you if you were vacuuming.
Mary Elizabeth says
Very, very cool, pun intended. Somebody in the Denver area has got to get this. No, I’ve never seen one before, but I have seen GE fridges from that era with the colored interior. I like that a military family liked it so much they brought it home with them.
I noticed that Mod Makes It has many other neat-o (that’s ’60s talk for awesome) vintage items in her shop.