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Post by csulaguy on Oct 31, 2018 5:28:10 GMT
Well, I finally found it - the photos that got me started with these wonderful machines. And why is this in the DR section? The photos speak for themselves (and now I have 3 DR1s and my DR3). I'd love to get my hands on a DR2 or D2. drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LEAsnqkJr-trU0M7yFgDT_1KWa2csAes?usp=sharingThis refrigerator is at the Workman House, in City of Industry, CA. I took this Spring of 2008. When we did the walking tour of the house, I was told that all appliances were original and worked. The fridge was in great condition then, and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't doubt it worked quite well! |
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Post by ckfan on Oct 31, 2018 12:44:26 GMT
That’s very interesting. Did they use it regularly or was it just a show piece? It looks like that is a rebuilt model too. So at some point it wasn’t working so well...
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Post by turbokinetic on Oct 31, 2018 15:27:03 GMT
Paul, it's great you found the pictures! That is a clean looking DR.
I don't have any pictures of the refrigerators which got me interested in this hobby. I had a latent interest since I was in gradeschool. One of the reasons for the interest was family vacations to my uncle's ranch in the TX Hill Country.
We lived in the city of Dallas at the time, and I didn't get a lot countryside time. Our house was modern and we had an 80's GE fridge.
The ranch house was from the early 1900's and it had a small outbuilding which was originally a hired workers' quarters. It was called a "Wetback house" back in the day. The ranchers would hire help from Mexico to do the manual labor. They would live in this small apartment-sized house on the ranch. In those days, it may have been legal for them to come and go between US and Mexico, I'm not sure. They were called "wetbacks" since they so often crossed into and out of the country from Mexico. It was said they travelled back and forth so much that their clothes were still wet from swimming across the Rio Grande river from Mexico to TX. LOL
Since this ranch was now just a weekend property, no hired help lived in the little house. It was just for storage. In there were two very old refrigerators. One was a Frigidaire, of the 40's vintage; and the other was an International Harvester of similar vintage. Whenever we would visit the ranch house, there was always a supply of ice cold Orange Crush soda, Coke, and other refreshments stored in there.
One reason for this arrangement was that the ranch house was not air conditioned, and people didn't want to have the extra heat put in the house. Also, there wasn't a lot of room in the kitchen.
The thing I remember about the two old fridges is how quiet they were. The compressor and coils were painted black, and looked "old" even though this was 25 years ago. They looked foreign and ancient and sounded different from anything else I had seen. Everything about them looked old and rotten and rusted, yet they both kept ice cold, year after year, without fail.
It's been many years since we have visited that ranch. I wish I could go back, but times change, family changed, and it wouldn't be the same now. I do wonder if the old refrigerators are still in operation, though.
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Post by Travis on Oct 31, 2018 18:01:46 GMT
That's a nice D2 and rebuilt in 46 and looks to be sporting a newer coat of paint.
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Post by csulaguy on Oct 31, 2018 21:40:52 GMT
Paul, it's great you found the pictures! That is a clean looking DR. VERY clean. I forgot I took pictures of it specifically and only seem to remember the kitchen, but apparently, I was mesmerized by them back then as well! Where? I actually live in the heart of Hill Country. I've always wondered if I'd see one of these pop up at a local estate sale, but I'm told that electricity didn't get to a lot of Hill Country (of which most is still quite rural) until the 40s and 50s. An old guy I used to buy feed from told me how his parents walked across the Rio Grande when he moved here in the 1940s or 1950s, but he had papers. He said that someone referred to Mexicans as "wetbacks" at a job he got when he was out of the Army and asked if he would be offended. He said that since his family crossed when the river was dry, but "if someone refers to me as a dust butt, I'll be all up in their shit!" This guy was a real crackup (and had 100% no filters whatsoever, especially with female customers who came to buy livestock feed). So now I'm curious where this led to Monitor Tops, specifically, since it seems like you have more Monitor Tops than old Frigidaires (like my first antique fridge). |
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Post by turbokinetic on Oct 31, 2018 22:59:16 GMT
Paul, it's great you found the pictures! That is a clean looking DR. VERY clean. I forgot I took pictures of it specifically and only seem to remember the kitchen, but apparently, I was mesmerized by them back then as well! Where? I actually live in the heart of Hill Country. I've always wondered if I'd see one of these pop up at a local estate sale, but I'm told that electricity didn't get to a lot of Hill Country (of which most is still quite rural) until the 40s and 50s. An old guy I used to buy feed from told me how his parents walked across the Rio Grande when he moved here in the 1940s or 1950s, but he had papers. He said that someone referred to Mexicans as "wetbacks" at a job he got when he was out of the Army and asked if he would be offended. He said that since his family crossed when the river was dry, but "if someone refers to me as a dust butt, I'll be all up in their shit!" This guy was a real crackup (and had 100% no filters whatsoever, especially with female customers who came to buy livestock feed). So now I'm curious where this led to Monitor Tops, specifically, since it seems like you have more Monitor Tops than old Frigidaires (like my first antique fridge).
You gave me a great laugh with "Dust Butt" crossing the dry river bed! That's great!
My uncle's place is near Fredericksburg, TX. The sign was M.E. Bennett Ranch but I don't know if that sign is still there by now. His children have inherited it now.
As far as how this lead to Monitor Top fridges, that's a tough one. I really don't know how exactly.
I love sharing my repair stories on the Internet and it seems this forum was the most active for old fridges, with all brands included. I shared my Frigidaire repair here... the one with the punctured evaporator.
My friend Andrew who lives near where the punctured one came from (and actually pointed me in its direction) wanted a fridge after appreciating my porcelain Frigidaire and how well it worked. He found his CK and purchased it. It got the broken line and gassed us out. I felt horrible about it and started a thread about repairing it. During this repair, I realized how unusual and amazingly well built it is.
I'm an "opportunist" and can't resist saving things that are about to get trashed. I end up with the ones everyone else has given up on. I actually only own 3 monitor tops. I have the DR D2 with rusty cabinet, my CK with rusty cabinet and missing control, and now a seized up CA, with two spare cooling units.
Aside from those, I have two Westinghouses, both work well. Three Frigidaire Meter-Miser fridges, a Frigidaire belt drive, two Norge Rollators, and an International Harvester.
As said, I love Monitor Tops, but also all the other antiques. The more obscure the better.
Interestingly, all my "technical" minded friends have been most enthralled by the belt-drive Frigidaire. They are fascinated with it; from the shape of the cabinet; to the industrial, bolted together evaporator; to iron compressor with spinning flywheel and fan belt. It's been the best conversation piece.
Next in conversation starting power is the DR D2. It's most interesting to non-technical folks who are "wowed" by the open coils of the condenser.
So, that's sort of how my fridge hobby progressed! 
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