Sunday, April 8, 2012

1947 Philco - "The fridge that never quits"

     This article appeared in the West Prince Graphic a week ago - they don't make appliances like this anymore!
     http://peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/publication/fridge_never_quits

The fridge that never quits

peicanada.com -
Wed, 03/28/2012 - 04:15
Article and Photo by Cindy Chant / cindy@peicanada.com
     Long time Cascumpec resident Dorothy Raynor doesn’t quite know what all the excitement is about. She claims it isn’t that special it is just an old fridge. A 65 year old fridge to be exact and it still being used to this day.
     “I bought this Philco fridge in 1947...I can’t quite remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was around $150,” said Ms Raynor, who remembers the day well when the brand new fridge was wheeled in to replace a much smaller fridge that wasn’t very satisfactory.
     After Ms Raynor’s first husband passed away, she and second husband decided to move from Milton to Cascumpec in 1964.
     “I told my husband...I don’t think I will bother taking that old fridge with us...After all is was getting old, it was nearly 20 years old at that time,” said Ms Raynor, who went on the explain, “Oh he said you had better take it, you may like to have it...you might use it for a long time yet.”
     And that she did.
     “In those days on the farm, we had hired help, so my job was to cook for the men...So there was a lot of food that ran through that fridge.”
     Since the time Ms Raynor made the purchase from Charlottetown business Crockett and Storey in 1947, the Philco oval white fridge has not ever needed to be repaired or serviced.
     “It is a lovely machine...I was thrilled to death when I got it,” said Ms Raynor, who went on to say, “I don’t do anything to it...it just keeps running.”
     Philco Company started making refrigerators in 1939. The Company was later renamed Philco-Ford in 1966 and continued to make many original products until it was later sold in 1974.
     The 65 year old fridge proudly sits in Ms Raynor’s kitchen and looks as brand new today as it looked the day she bought it.
     “It certainly doesn’t owe me anything.”
The following is a Philco ad from Google Images.