I won a Litton Generation II microwave at work the year before I got married. I’ve been married for 18 years now.
This microwave is HUUUGE and has great wattage. It was made back in the days when manufacturers thought people would actually cook with a microwave, so it’s big enough to fit a 20lb turkey. The lightbulb going out two months ago is the only problem we’ve ever had with it.
Still, when the bulb went out, hubby said it was time for a new microwave. The reason being that the bulb went out and it was almost 20 years old. He’s still trying to find one that’s as big. I don’t think he ever will.
I have my mom’s blender, which was made in the '70s. I can’t think of the last time I used it, but it worked then.
This may fall out of the category of appliances, but we have a fan unlike any I’ve ever seen before. It’s about the size of a footstool, round, and has the motor and blade mounted horizontally inside the wooden case. It looks like it could be furniture. At first glance, I don’t suppose anybody would identify it as a fan! You’re supposed to put it in a corner, and it creates fairly massive wind all over the room. I’m guessing that it was made in the 1940s. It was given to us as a wedding present. We tried it once, went ooh! aah!, and now it lives in the garage.
I inherited the first microwave my parents ever bought. A few years ago, on a trip to Memphis, I went to Graceland. The microwave in Elvis’ kitchen is the same model I used to make my dinner last night.
My apartment was built in the '70s and all the appliances (microwave, dishwasher, washer and dryer, oven, etc) are original. The dishwasher sucks compared to the brand-new one I had at my last apartment, but other than that they all work just fine.
I have a lot of non-electrical things from the '50s (an ice-o-mat, a can-o-mat, etc) and I used to have a 1950s hair dryer that still worked, but I left it at my mom’s when I moved because I never actually used it.
I have a toaster my mother received when she first left home to go to nursing school, which must have been when she was in her early twenties. It’s about forty years old. It still works, and does my toast a nice golden brown, but my friends refer to it as “The Firetrap.”
When I moved into my farmhouse, I found an envelope with the paperwork for the waterheater. It was installed in 1960, before I was born. It still works well, although I plan on replacing it. I’m sure i can find something much more energy efficient.
Well, this isn’t something I own, but my grandmother still has the toaster she was given as a wedding present, in the mid 1930’s, which still cooks toast every day, and is famous for being so overexuberant that when it pops the toast up, it shoots the toast right out of the toaster and through the air.
The double oven and range in our kitchen. They are original equipment in a house built in 1959 or 1960. I just replaced “the dinosaur” - a central air unit with a date stamp on the motor of 1963.
If we’re going to include power tools, I have my grandfather’s palm sander and drill that he bought in the late 40’s or eary 50’s. I still use them both often. They, too, are chromed. So “modern” looking!
I’ve got a hand mixer and an electric drill that my parents received as wedding presents in 1968. I think I have to replace the mixer, though - it still works, but I can’t find replacement beaters for it.
I have a waffle iron that my ex-wife bought at a garage sale. I’d guess it is from the early '50’s. It is devoid of any safety mechanisms and there are pieces of my skin baked on to it in several places.
My ex was a crap collector, and I have gradually disposed of the hundreds of knick-knacks she left behind, but I keep that one, just for looks. The handle is a metal bar surrounded by a steel coil, which gets just as hot as the cooking surface, only slower, lulling you into false sense of security.
I’ve got a McGraw toaster that was made in July, 1936. At some point I was curious enough to google the serial number – B 392354 – and found some arcane website that actually tracked the dates of manufacture on these things. It still works fine, and I use it all the time. The timer is mechanical, and it ticks as it toasts.
Got a couple of electric radiant space heaters that I found in the trash, and one of them has a patent date of 1919. Oddly, it only uses 600 watts, but seems to produce as much heat as a modern 1100 watt heater. I don’t really use them a whole lot, though.
We inherited a Sears “Coldspot” freezer from my parents. I remember when they first bought it about 30 years ago or so. It has never had any parts replaced on it (to my knowledge) and it still runs like a champ.
I have a my Grandmother’s Manning-Bowman toaster from 1920’s. It looks nothing like a toaster - more like a tiny space heater. It makes toast perfectly and I’ve never had a problem with it, although it heats up the entire kitchen.
