Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Not Getting Any Younger


Kennekuk County Park, just west of Danville, IL, has a nice historic village which I visited this week. This stove (Skelgas Constellation) on display there had me repeating a lament I have heard from elders all my life. "That's not an antique; I had/used/saw that when I was young." I am saying that with alarming frequency. It is about 1950 vintage. Stoves like this one replaced wood cookstoves after WWII, and I moved and cleaned tons (literally) of stoves like this in my first job in an appliance store.
The stove in our kitchen, which we use every day, is a 1950 model Chambers range. You can get a glimpse of our treasure in the post about soap making (Education label). We have no intention of retiring this beauty; it works when the electricity goes off. Chambers used lots of cast iron in their stoves, and you do not move them about without forethought and several strong backs. Backs younger than mine.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a great vintage stove picture; the chrome trim on the control panel is especially interesting. I'll have to send you a picture of the find I made a few years ago... gsc1039