Thanks, Mom! Here’s a fantastic fridge woddity — a GE Americana refrigerator freezer for sale in Louisville, Kentucky, spotted by Pam’s Mom. This fridge-on-top, freezer-on-bottom beauty has an ingenious built-in countertop area. It’s even covered in sparkle laminate. We suspect: It was made in Louisville, longtime home to GE Appliances.
From the Craigslist post:
Vintage GE Americana Refrigerator
1964-1965
From what I have read, it was on display at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. Very cool looking refrigerator in great condition! French doors on top with bottom freezer & ice maker. Has countertop with a light and outlet. Everything works! Have the manual, warranty card and schematics. Local pick up only.
Here’s a close up of the built-in countertop with electrical plug — do you see what I see? The countertop appears to be a slightly crazed (but aren’t we all) sparkle laminate.
Gotta love those cool details on the inside of the refrigerator too — from the text on the cheese and butter compartments to the decorative pattern on the metal shelves.
There’s even a decorative snowflake pattern in the freezer.
The refrigerator comes with the original literature too, including this numbered diagram. Very neat!
There’s even an original warranty card.
The GE American appears to be a less complex version of the circa-1957 GE Refrigeration Center — a behemoth of American engineering, to be sure.
And of course, don’t forget the famous GE wall refrigerator-freezer, the design we see most frequently in vintage homes.
Mega thanks to craigslist seller Cindy for letting us feature this fantastic vintage refrigerator.
If you want a retro refrigerator, I count at least 10 ways to get one!
la573 says
Here’s the laundry equivalent:
http://yaleappliance.com/blog_pics/frig_stack0208.jpg
These were made about 5-10 years ago by Frigidaire. Nice little countertop above the washer, useful for folding clothes if the stacked machine (which is a single unit) is in a laundry closet with no countertop nearby. The usual way to do this is by stacking a dryer over a washer, and I think there are a few brands that now that offer a slide-out shelf that slots in between them.
I’ve never seen this GE fridge. Neat, but I can see why it didn’t catch on – most fridges are right next to a countertop anyway, and this design robs space that most people would rather have to keep their food cold. There were only a few French-door refrigerators available back then, and years ago I read a Consumer Reports test from about 1965 that included two FD fridges and recommended against them, noting the seals between the two doors didn’t work well.
I’ve seen a few of the wall-hung GE fridges but never that Refrigeration Center. At first I thought the lower slide-out units were the 30″ wide slide-out dishwashers that GE sold in the late ’50s and early ’60s. I doubt I’ll every see one of those again.
Katie says
This is the same interior layout as my new French door, bottom freezer fridge. The only difference is that I have aa second shelf and small meat drawer where the counter is. Everything old is new again!
Mary Elizabeth says
Lovely! Want the pink wall fridge and the double freezer drawers. Then I wouldn’t have to keep going up and down to the freezer in the basement. But tell me, are there any appliance repair people out there who can get parts for these beauties?
Sixteventies says
Neat! I had a 1970s GE Americana stove (with a double oven!) and have always wondered about the Americana appliances. I have seen the refrigerator in many colors, including a light blue! My stove had a brown finish on it from what I remember.
Katie says
The GE Americana is what first brought me to RetroRenovation! Along with our time-capsule bungalow, we were the lucky recipients of a GE Americana range in Coppertone Brown, and I’d love to have the matching fridge. This one is a beauty!
mimi says
Let’s see that range, please!
52PostnBeam says
This was my “holy grail” fridge for many years until I got a chance to buy one and decided it was too big for my kitchen. This model fridge replaced the GE wall mount fridge (which had teensy freezer space) and was made in the colors white, pale pink, turquoise, and the most common color is terra cotta with “burnt edges” – as seen here (with the matching range):
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?51847_36
pam kueber says
Awesome link! What a fantastic indoor/outdoor kitchen! Me want! Although not with aqua cabinets; I have enough of those already 😉
Janet in ME says
I agree with Pam – what a fantastic kitchen. I think the range next to the fridge is also a model in the deluxe Americana line. I just missed out on one similar to it in Boston in turquoise. Before I got to contact them, it was gone, darn it!
Justin says
That would be my outdoor kitchen. Although, since we moved, it is a new set-up at our current house. I belived I’ve posted these to one of the “photo uploads” on here, in the past.
In addition to the white and brown, i’ve also seen these in avocado green and turquoise.
Speaking of the photo uploads, are you going to have any, in the near future?
Patrick Coffey says
The wall fridge was offered in White, Turquoise Green, Petal Pink Canary Yellow and Woodtone Brown, the Americana Fridge which came out circa 1963 was offered in those colors plus Coppertone not Terra Cotta
pam kueber says
Thanks, Patrick!!!
Debbie in Portland says
And I Spy With My Little Eye….our beloved Armstrong 5352 underneath this beauty!
Penne says
I went to an estate sale three weeks ago and ended up with a contract on the house. lol. It is a time capsule from 1965. There was a wall-mounted GE refrigerator/freezer running in the basement recreation room. Yellow with pink interior. It sold on the estate sale before I could get a contract on the house. At first I thought they moved this to the basement after getting a new appliance for the kitchen, but now I believe it was original to the basement.The oven in the kitchen appears to be an original GE built-in and then a newer GE counter-top stove, both white. The existing refrigerator also sold on the estate sale, so another GE purchase by me is in order. I would love to have a refrigerator like this one found by Pam’s Mom, but the space between cabinet/counter and a built-in desk is only large enough for a “standard” size appliance. I have been following RetroRenovation for several years and currently have a very nice, but small post-war home. I am so excited to own a larger home, but still a time-capsule. The inspector walked in and said, “whoa, going to need some updating”. I quickly set him straight. He got into to spirit when he found out the house was born the same year as him. We got a huge laugh when he picked up one of the toilet lids and exlaimed “this toilet was born the same day as me, 6/3/65”. I think I converted him.
Janet in ME says
I love stories like this! Too bad you missed out on the wall fridge. The nicest one I ever saw listed was in a laundry room of all places, and therefore it was in excellent condition due to its location and lack of use compared to a kitchen fridge. I am happy to hear that you are going to keep the spirit of your 1965 home intact! As for the fridge, it is a behemoth indeed. That beast weighs a ton and if I remember right, it is really wide at 40″ or more and most kitchens cannot accommodate it. I really had to laugh at the service warrantee renewal. My father refused to sell those. He was old school and said that the extended warrantee suggested the GE appliance you were buying was likely to break down and was not reliable beyond its original warrantee. He never sold one of these to my knowledge. It was a really deluxe model that most likely went into newly built homes and was too fancy for the homes in our small farming community. And of course it would have been back breaking to deliver.
Penne says
That wall refrigerator was pristine-clean and no rust. I think it sold on the third day of the sale, so probably for about $235. This house appears to have had central air conditioning from the time it was built. My Dad helped build houses in the late 50s and early 60s and saw many of these appliances. He said they did well in houses with central air, but they tended to “sweat” in houses without air. Perhaps that is the reason for the excellent condition. So much was going through my mind at this sale. I now wish that I had purchased that ‘fridge outright. If I got the house I would move it right back in–crazy! But if I didn’t get the house I would not have a place for it and then would probably have to resell it–sad!
Joe says
Janet, you comments about your dad’s reasons for not selling extended warranties on appliances really brought back memories of a funny incident involving me. Back in the early 70’s, my parents went to a certain nationwide big-box department store (where all of suburbia shopped during the 50’s through the 80’s) to purchase new appliances. What really surprised me at the time was how the salesman kept alternating between telling my parents “you can’t find a better appliance than a K—–e” and “I know smart shoppers like you will want the peace of mind of an extended warranty”. He saw that my parents were definitely there to buy, but were hesitant about spending extra $ on extended warranties, so for some reason he decided that I would help him sell those warranties. Here I am, at age 10, being asked “young man, don’t you see the wisdom of spending a little more money for added peace of mind?”, to which I responded with “if your stuff is so great, how come you keep talking about how they’re gonna be breaking down all the time?” Stunned silence, followed by the salesman telling my parents “I see you have yourselves a Danny Partridge of your own”; followed by my mom replying “my Joey is a smart shopper, just like me!”
Patrick Coffey says
Penne that wall fridge was not original to the home….it was from 1957…I know because they only made the wall fridge freezer with a pink interior in 1957 and if my research is accurate they stopped making them circa 1960
Serenity says
Why didn’t these truly catch on because I want this!
Justin says
Part of the problem is the refrigerator has only limited space. It isn’t real deep either. That and the ice maker in the freezer had numerous problems of it’s own.
They do show up from time to time. All but one that I’ve seen had the ice maker missing.
Steve H says
This would be a nice match to a Frigidaire Flair range.
Justin says
G.E. had an Americana range to match with the fridge. It had the oven above. The range was more popular than the fridge was and lasted for quite a few years.
delaine zody says
My mother bought the range and it was still working in 2000 when we sold her house. It had a pull-out range top. Loved that stove.