# What's the oldest working appliance in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886 "2004-09-24T15:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/1 "2004-09-24T15:47:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/2 "2004-09-24T16:07:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/3 "2004-09-24T16:22:20Z")
I have my grandmother’s Sunbeam stand mixer from the 30’s or 40’s. It works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/4 "2004-09-24T16:52:44Z")
I have a [candlestick phone](http://www.eurocosm.com/Application/Products/Teleph/candlestick-telephones-1GB.asp) from 1919 that works fine. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/5 "2004-09-24T17:20:05Z")
Another microwave here, we have had for as long as I remember and I’m 19 the brand is Emerson ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/6 "2004-09-24T17:42:27Z")
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. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/7 "2004-09-24T17:43:12Z")
I have a Craftsman circular saw from the '50s that still works great. It’s chromed! ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/8 "2004-09-24T18:07:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/9 "2004-09-24T18:20:08Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/10 "2004-09-24T18:33:46Z")
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. StG ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/11 "2004-09-24T20:49:57Z")
> [@Judith Prietht](#): > > 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.” 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. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/12 "2004-09-24T20:52:48Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/13 "2004-09-24T20:54:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/14 "2004-09-24T20:57:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bangiadore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Bangiadore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bangiadore)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/15 "2004-09-24T21:21:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/16 "2004-09-24T21:56:01Z")
My 22 year old GE fridge. The icemaker goes mental now and again, but it functions well otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/17 "2004-09-25T01:24:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/18 "2004-09-25T01:28:53Z")
A Nesco roaster from 1954. My folks got it as a wedding present. A deep fryer and a mixer may both be older. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/19 "2004-09-25T01:33:52Z")
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. Here’s a [picture](http://www.toastercentral.com/2mb1225.jpg) of it. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886/20 "2004-09-25T01:34:23Z")
The Whirlpool washer and dryer are both about 20 years old, as is the GE dishwasher. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-working-appliance-in-your-house/265886.md?page=2)