Around Home : Old Stoves

OLD STOVES ARE hot--handsomer, more durable and efficient than new ones, aficionados claim. “They’re made better, of better, stronger materials,” says owner Winsor Williams of Antique Stove Heaven. “They cook faster on bigger burners. They maintain a minimum flame without shutting off.”

Vintage stove dealers collect and restore part of American history: cast-iron 1890s coal stoves; gas “half-and-halfs,” which burned wood to warm drafty kitchens; long-legged ‘20s two-tones; shorter-legged ‘30s heirlooms with high, shelved backboards and curved warming-ovens, and ‘40s and ‘50s “space savers” with rounded corners.

Favorite models are ‘30s to ‘50s O’Keefe & Merrits, Gaffers & Sattlers and Wedgewoods and ‘30s Magic Chefs with lots of chrome. Harvey J.R. DuPuis, supervisor of A-1 Stove Hospital, rates ‘50s Wolfs among “the best ever made.” Twenties Quick-Meals and ‘50s O’Keefe six-burners are hardest to find. Fully restored, DuPuis says, a free-standing ‘40s Magic Chef eight-burner “will go for $15,000.” But prices start at $150.

Restoration costs vary, Williams explains, depending on whether the customer wants repair, updating or customizing. For total restoration, the stove is stripped down, refinished inside and out with new insulation, all parts are acid-washed and mechanically checked. Almost all parts can be repaired or replaced from stock.

Trim can be rechromed or re-nickled, damaged panels refinished, entire stoves re-porcelained. Because old whites turn yellow, many customers have them redone in black, cobalt, cream or Easter-egg pastels. Burners are updated to light automatically. Even coal stoves can be adapted for present-day use.

Old-stove dealers seem unimpressed by the new $3,500 ‘20s look-alikes. Williams asks, “Why settle for a sheet-metal reproduction when you an own the original for less?” DuPuis says: “Old stoves are like old cars--built to last.”

Old stoves are sold and restored by Antique Stove Heaven, Greg’s Appliance and A-1 Stove Hospital, all in Los Angeles. They are sold as-is by Wertz Bros. in Van Nuys and serviced by A-1 Appliance Hospital in Alhambra. Parts are sold by Hughes Appliance Parts in Mar Vistaand Cal Sales Corp. in Oxnard.