Click on any image to see it larger

Vintage Gas Stoves

I have a special love for vintage gas stoves of the 30's, 40's, and 50's. Maybe its because I enjoy cooking and spend so much time in the kitchen. The stoves of today are pretty ugly compared to the art deco inspired beauties of yesterday.

Below are a few images of one of my favorite models of old gas stove:

O'keefe & Merritt

This is an O'keefe & Merritt Gas Stove built around 1955. As is typical of the era, there's lots of sleekness, style, and chrome! The stove (overall) stands 40" wide, 57"high, and 30" deep.

This model of O'keefe & Merritt came with four 9" diameter cooktop burners, full size chrome splash pans, and under burner pull out drip pans. In addition, you can see the large fully chromed griddle in the center of the cooktop. It had its own temperature gauge and full length drip pan. As an added bonus, the front right burner on the cooktop was a "timed burner". A built in mechanical (non-electrical) kitchen timer would automatically shut off the flame to this burner at a preset time. No more over-boiling the potatoes!

O'keefe and Merritt had, as its signature, the "Vanishing Shelf". A double hinged cover was used to protect the range top, and children, when the cooking surface was not in use. This cover could be folded up and locked in place as shown here to form a shelf at the level of the electrical outlets on the headpiece. This way, you had a place to set small electrical appliances that ran off the timed and untimed electrical outlets found there.

This is how the top cover folds back. When fully folded back against the backsplash, the cover/shelf seemed to disappear.

Here is a close up of the decorative headpiece showing the electrical control and the clock. As mentioned earlier, both timed and untimed electrical outlets were located here. This was an ideal place for toasters, electric percolators, etc. to function.

A view of the front from above showing the doors to the oven (right) and broiler (left) open. The oven was 2.5 cu ft with a four position rack. The broiler on the left was known as the "Grillevator". It was an oven sized fully height adjustable broiler that could be converted easily to a second oven. Underneath the standard oven was a traditional short broiler that used the heat from the ovens bottom burners.

Finally, the small door beneath the Grillevator concealed storage for racks, pots, and pans.

Here is another shot with the cover down and the built in light illuminating the work surface.

Back to the Virtual Vintage Museum Page

Back to the Nostalgia Diner Main Page