Got their money's worth!

[Gob]

An elderly couple are getting rid of household appliances they bought more than 50 years ago.



Sydney Saunders, 83, and wife Rachel, 81, from Exeter, have a tumble dryer, water boiler, cooker and washing machine, all in recent working order.
They bought some of the items when they got married in 1956 and have been using most of them since.
They say they are "not interested" in money and hope a museum or collector will take them.


The couple bought some of the items when they got married in 1956
Included in the items for sale is a Servis washing machine which the couple bought for £60 when they first got married.
"It was a lot of money in those days," said Mrs Saunders.
All of the items operate, but Mr Saunders said the washing machine does "have the slightest of leaks".


The tumble dryer was bought when their first daughter was born 55 years ago and was used until a couple of months ago.
They also have a Baby Belling cooker bought in 1956 for £19 and a five-gallon boiler bought in 1959 for about £15.
The couple decided to get rid of the appliances after "having a clear out".


"It would be an awful shame to throw them away or to take them to the tip," said Mrs Saunders.
"We've been here for 60 years and we've kept them for spares for years, but now we'll never use them again.
"I'm not bothered about the price - I'd like them to go to a museum or something like that so they can be preserved."

[dales]

They sound like the world's greatest tightwads.

[datsunaholic]

Yeah, they have my grandparents beat hands down. My grandfather kept an old late 40s fridge as a beer fridge in the basement until the late 80s. Their 1972 Coldspot kitchen fridge was finally replaced in 2014, and my grandmother HATES the replacement as it's too loud (the Coldspot, while quiet, made all the lights in the house dim when it cycled. She pays almost $30 a month less in electricity with the new one).

My appliances aren't quite that old- my washer and dryer are from 1982 and I paid $10 for the pair (which aren't matched, Maytag washer and GE dryer). Dishwasher is f a portable from 1990, and I paid $10 for it at the same auction I got the laundry equipment. Fridge was given to me by my Sister- mid 90s, but smaller than normal, which is OK. Only my stove I bought new, and only because my old 1950s Hotpoint finally burnt the wiring to the front burners. All the appliances I moved with me to Monroe except the fridge, as I left the old one in Tacoma and moved the Monroe appliances to Tacoma when I sold the house because I liked the ones I had.

[Jarlaxle]

When I sold my house, the place I moved to had no fridge. So, fridge shopping time. I carefully considered what was available, then bought one. I put it in my old house, loaded my 20+ year old Kenmore in my uncle's Ranger, and took it with me! I fully expect it to outlast the one I bought...my mother's 10-year-old fridge has needed at least four repair calls (at least $200 each) in the last 3 years.

I also still have my washer and dryer...mid-80's Kenmore and 70's Speed Queen, respectively. I might have to replace the dryer soon, it seems to be (finally) wearing out.

I left it when I moved, but my mother did finally concede that my 30+ year old Glenwood stove WAS better than her new $2000+ dual-fuel for stove-top cooking.

[Burning Petard]

When my new wife and I moved into an unfurnished house in Michigan, we bought a used refrigerator. It was built in 1938. Frigedaire. It still worked when we moved out of Michigan five years later, in '72, with no service at all. Sold it for what we paid for it--$25
I have been told by experts that the consumer model kitchen range or refrigerator of today can be expected to work for only five years. The difference in price among the various models is based on selection of bells and whistles, not durability or reliability.

snailgate.

[RayThom]

They sound like the world's greatest tightwads.

I was raised by a Yorkshireman. He would have railed about their extravagant lifestyle.

"You can always tell a Yorkshireman, but you can't tell him much."

[Bicycle Bill]

Need I say it?  These were made in an era when things were 1) designed and built to last; 2) built by people who actually gave a shit about the quality of what they were producing; and 3) could be repaired if something did go wrong.

Now look at today.  $1000 for an iPhone X — and if the battery goes to hell it's not user replaceable, so unless you are carrying some sort of insurance or extended warranty you're fucked.  But did you see these neat new emojis it comes with?

And we, like the sheeple we are, meekly put up with it.

-"BB"-

[dales]

And we, like the sheeple we are, meekly put up with it

Some do and some don't.

I don't want a "smart" phone.

My TracPhone flip phone does all I want.

And only a moron would pay $1000 for a gawdammed phone!

[datsunaholic]

I still use a flip phone as well, though I carry a Galaxy (with no SIM card) for WiFi access. Plus it has a better camera than the flip phone. Brother in law gave it to me to "get with the times" but it's locked to the wrong network and was never activated (so T-mobile won't let me unlock it). So it's just a small tablet, more or less.

Using old stuff is second nature to me. Only reason I have a big flatscreen TV is my Sister bought it for me. Otherwise I'd still be using a tube TV. Almost all my furniture is older than I am- bedroom set belonged to my GREAT Grandfather. My couch was my folks first couch when they got married. Arm chairs were my grandparents. Dining room set was my Great Grandmothers, along with a hutch. So many people nowadays want all new stuff, so when I was offered the furnishings I took the offer.

Of course, anyone who knows me knows what I drive...

[rubato]

Some appliances should last for 50 years. A refrigerator is just a heat pump attached to an insulated box. A clothes dryer just blows hot air through a turning drum. We have a dryer we bought 21 years ago and it works fine.


yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

Every four years or so, my wife wants to get rid of our washing machine and buy a new one. I usefully say something like has the relationship has turned sour; you want something sexier. She wants to brain me, but says it is broke! I replace a minor part and it is good for another four years. What is this compulsion women have to unnecessarily spend money?

[dales]

What is this compulsion women have to unnecessarily spend money?

You sexist pig!

Men like to spend money on all kinds of crap.

Hunting/fishing gear, sports equipment, cars/performance mods, you name it!

[liberty]

What is this compulsion women have to unnecessarily spend money?

You sexist pig!

Men like to spend money on all kinds of crap.

Hunting/fishing gear, sports equipment, cars/performance mods, you name it!

I don’t, I used an axe for years before I felt I could justify buying my first chain saw. Maybe I should modify that statement to read as: What is this compulsion that normal people have to unnecessarily spend money?

[BoSoxGal]

My fridge is one my cousin inherited from her grandmother; I’d have to see if I can find any markings but it’s a Frigidaire that is probably from the 40s or maybe 50s. It’s ugly as sin because it wasn’t properly cared for and so the exterior is pockmarked with rust and discoloration, plus the bottom front panel is all dented. The thing I hate most is that the freezer box is the size of a breadbox and doesn’t keep ice cream frozen - but freezes ice cubes and most food - and has to be manually defrosted on a regular basis or the breadbox size shrinks to toaster size.

I’ve been wanting to get a new fridge but the space is small so we have to get an apartment sized and the Frigidaire model of today is $500 and has mixed reviews on Home Depot; I’m certain it won’t last 60 or 70 years.

Maybe I’ll cover this fridge with contact paper and buy a baby chest freezer instead.

[Big RR]

They also have a Baby Belling cooker bought in 1956 for £19 and a five-gallon boiler bought in 1959 for about £15.

I don't know what these are, but at an exchange rate of just less than $3.00 per pound, each of those were pretty close to a week's wages for most people in those years (even in the US). Perhaps you pay that much for lasting quality?

[Jarlaxle]

My fridge is one my cousin inherited from her grandmother; I’d have to see if I can find any markings but it’s a Frigidaire that is probably from the 40s or maybe 50s. It’s ugly as sin because it wasn’t properly cared for and so the exterior is pockmarked with rust and discoloration, plus the bottom front panel is all dented. The thing I hate most is that the freezer box is the size of a breadbox and doesn’t keep ice cream frozen - but freezes ice cubes and most food - and has to be manually defrosted on a regular basis or the breadbox size shrinks to toaster size.

I’ve been wanting to get a new fridge but the space is small so we have to get an apartment sized and the Frigidaire model of today is $500 and has mixed reviews on Home Depot; I’m certain it won’t last 60 or 70 years.

Maybe I’ll cover this fridge with contact paper and buy a baby chest freezer instead.

Try Craigslist, a secondhand store or even Goodwill. Look for one using R12 or R22.

[Big RR]

I agree, even though the current refrigerators are not as mechanically durable as your current one, they are far more efficient and better insulated, with the better insulators allowing for far more interior space for the same size unit as compared to the old ones. It's costing you a lot more to run this old fridge than a new one would cost.

[ex-khobar Andy]

They also have a Baby Belling cooker bought in 1956 for £19 and a five-gallon boiler bought in 1959 for about £15.

I don't know what these are, but at an exchange rate of just less than $3.00 per pound, each of those were pretty close to a week's wages for most people in those years (even in the US). Perhaps you pay that much for lasting quality?

Exchange rate for most of the 50s was $2.80 to the pound; and you are right - an average industrial wage in those days would have less than £20. My first pay as a junior assistant deputy acting temporary intern lab tech in 1966 was £9 per week. I thought I was Croesus.

Edited to correct date to 1966.

[MGMcAnick]

There was a fridge in the basement of the house I grew up in that had its compressor on the top. The door latched with a heavy duty throw over handle. I think it was about 1938 vintage. It did not bring a bid at the auction when my folks sold almost everything and moved into a retirement community, plugged in and working. Some museum should have bought it in 1990.

I have a lovely yellow fridge in my basement for the extra food (and beer occasionally) that won't fit upstairs. I gave $75 for it, well used, in 1980. The upstairs fridge is a replacement for the avocado green 1974 model that came with the house when we bought it in 1983. It was a side-by-side that would not hold a frozen pizza laid flat in the freezer. I bought the "new" one at a damaged freight sale in 2007. It has a small scratch near the bottom. I gave $300. REALLY DENTED, but working, ones were $100. Unscratched ones just like them were $900 at Sears.

I figured I could get at least $100 for the used green one. I took it out the back door, laying down on the dolly. That was my mistake. If you lay a fridge down, oil can get into capillary tubes where it shouldn't. You must stand it up for a day or so before you plug it in or risk it never working again. I didn't. It didn't.

[RayThom]

My nephew grabbed up an old Coldspot for free from a garage sale, removed the shelves, threw in a keg of beer, and ran a tap through the door. Five, six, years later it's still running. Yep, the old ones run forever.