Growing up in the 70s we had a fridge that had a butter conditioner in it preventing the butter from being too hard or too soft. We also had a wall oven that had a warming drawer perfect for keeping food warm while the oven finished off a roast or some other thing. I miss those little conveniences. And why designers of appliances no longer include them in modern appliances is beyond me, they made so much sense.
Moon Pie. The butter conditioner was a small compartment inside the fridge that stayed at the temperature that you selected. It ensured that the butter was always spreadable no matter if it was winter or summer or how cold or warm the fridge was and the brand of fridge wasn't super expensive either. It's a feature that isn't available anymore due to the introduction of margarine and butter with olive oil etc. It was a really cool feature though.
The butter warmer thing - GE had in it’s 1940 Delux model - door had a thermometer in it - two aluminum well sealed veggie drawers with thick plate glass tops - in the middle of them was a carbon filter to keep the inside air fresh. It also had stainless steel racks - nice feature compared to the older nickel plated or sink plated shelving. As well as the butter warmer/softener. It was also heavy as all get out though - had to remove the door to get it out of the basement it was in when I bought it (for an extra fridge in the basement was the idea.). But it was still working when I moved from MPLS and donated it to a fraternity on the U of M campus.
@@jimm6386 Manafactured in a time when white goods were designed to last for almost a lifetime. I understand that modern appliances are design to be lighter, more efficient & cheaper but I often wonder why some of those really nifty & logical features have been discarded with more modern appliances. I miss the warming drawer that we had with our Frigidaire oven growing up; modern ovens are less inclined to include one, it seems.
I was raised on a small farm. We had an electric range and also had a 100 year old wood burning stove in the kitchen as electricity went out frequently. We had no indoor plumbing so an outhouse out the back door across the yard and down a hill to go to the restroom. Washing clothes took 7 trips from the well to fill up the washer on the front porch, then 7 more trips for rinse water. I am grateful every single day for indoor convinces.
They were actually discontinued because they were such an annoyance. They took up a cooking space, they constantly boiled over which became a b*tch to clean down inside the stove, and they were hard to lift and handle when hot.
I have that monotor top refrigerator and when your hands are full dayy holding an ice cube tray filled with water that pedal to open the door is a dream. No reaching in the back either. The shelves really do slide forward and solidly. No wiggle wobble glide in and out smoothly. Hope my monitor top runs till I'm gone from this world .
True. maybe because children/pets opened it accidentally? and get in trouble, I remember hese fridges were dangerous because children can get locked inside and die.
The toe activated door was nicknamed "the knee buster" by many who owned them. If you didn't quickly move back after unlatching the door it would swing open and hit you.
It had a locking mechanism that only worked from the outside as did many up to 1958 when the law required magnetic closing. The really dangerous refrigerators were those that were empty, not those with filled shelves. That's why the doors had to be taken off or tied shut or locks broken.
mustaine65686 - I thought that was when people got rid of the old fridge, and they would put it outside until pickup. Kids would play in it. Now you must take off the door. I didn't know it happened in the house.
It's nowhere as near as old as the appliances shown here but I have a still fully functioning electric clothes dryer made by Electrolux which my mother purchased from a catalogue in 1956.
Dishwashers were actually invented in 1850! It was a manual hand crank type. Josephine Cochran reinvented it to work automatically and in 1886 she was granted a U.S patent!
I would LOVE to have one of these fridges! The "touch of the toe" is such a cool idea! ( I loved it on my 1965 Chevy Impala too.) These are some good ideas for appliances. My Mom's best friend had one of those deep well stoves when I was a child. It was already 30-40 years old in the 70's and it was the coolest stove. She used that deep well to make soups and to stew cheap cuts of meat. It was awesome. These are some pretty cool kitchens.
Those 'Monitor Top' Refrigerators were VERY durable even though they were discontinued MORE than 50 years ago, many hundreds of models are STILL in use and some sell for thousands of dollars - PROOF that they can make durable products but would rather sell you something new every few years for a bigger profit.
I fixed one up found in the dump found a different control box that fit on the back right corner. It ran for a couple of years, the theater dept of Purdue wanted it for a prop. Then one day my house mate said something smells funny in the kitchen. Coming down the back stairs past the fridge I yelled at him to call the FD and tell them Sulfur Dioxide leaking from the fridge, I will see you outside. They bear hugged it with respirators on and took it outside. The refrigerant is toxic but natural (volcanoes) and does not screw with the air as much as Freon.
Very few people could afford these gadgets in the middle of the Depression. But this was really interesting; I wouldn't mind trading my "modern" appliances for some of these vintage beauties.
Don't fall for the hype women wore such outfits while cooking and cleaning house. Fur trimmed sleeves and high heels? That was only for the show of the commercial, in order to make housework more glamorous than it was.
You'll notice too that there was no mention of any soap product used for the washing. Seems the whole process depended on extremely hot water, likely straight out of the hot water heater without cold water added, and the force of the spray to clean the dishes. There were no "non-sudsing" dishwasher soap products made back then.
+Shari Davenport A lot of laundry powders were designed for cleaning dishes too, instructions were often on the board box and the option was mentioned in cinema and radio advertising.
I bought my G.E. dishwasher in 2017 and the full cycle takes almost three hours, depending on the size of the load. Of course that includes a full dry cycle that the one in this ad doesn't.
These clips in particular are from 1935. The Monitor Top featured in the picture is a 1935 CK type. Not to mention the fashion is mid 30s as well. '37 was the final year the Monitor Top was manufactured, however GE continued to make replacement tops for their Monitor Tops. Great clip, love this! I own a '35 GE Monitor Top!
iheartscaryclowns GE monitor tops are still easy to find and they were built to last. I got one for $50 from the mid 30s that still works. Only thing that goes is the door seals and the electrical cords. Everything else will work forever.
What a fun series of GE adverts! I have a 1934-35 Monitor top fridge, just defrosted it today. Yep---that toe treadle is mighty handy, as are the slide out shelves. When you make ice cubes, we use the old metal ice cube trays that need to "freeze in" on the freezer compartment. Not to worry---GE supplied a little bakelite tool with a wire handle that you slide under the lip of the tray to free it up. Works like a charm. Ours came with the original instruction card, cook book, etc etc, even rubber ice cube trays (which we do NOT use). I dread the day our fridge dies, it has been a delight for the past 20+ years..
@@maggieleroy3184 Sad to say, we sold ours to an antique appliance collector a year ago when we had to sell the house. The GE is now an object in a collection and no longer being used and enjoyed. I'm sure it would still start right up if he plugs it in.
Awesome look back in time, when I actually watched this on the HD screen on my refrigerator door while cooking dinner. The things we take for granted today, that were true innovations in their time, makes one wonder how more difficult and inconvenient every day life was, even 80 years ago, as in this video.
I have heard of refrigerators that have computer screens on the doors. that is one of the stupidest GD things I have ever heard of. only a sap would buy something like that.
@@danielthoman7324Nothing stupid about it. I also have one and it gets used at least twice daily. The way our kitchen is setup it’s the perfect solution for us. It’s perfect when the wife is sitting down prepping (cutting food to prep for cooking, or mixing something) It’s right across from the breakfast nook I built. When we first bought it I questioned how much we’d really use it, now I can’t see being without it.
But those 1935 dishwashers were very inefficient in that they kept the water at an extremely high temp (costing whatever for the fuel needed to do that), but just splashed it around on the dishes....no detergent or soap, just scalding hot water.
These commercials were awesome. We take for granted how ground breaking most of this was back then. I want a toe-opening fridge and a five minute dishwasher. My father grew up poor in this era and had a bathtub in his kitchen and a toilet in the tenement building hallway.
Confirmation bias. The majority of appliances back then were unreliable and some were outright dangerous. You're only seeing the few rare one's that have survived.
Well, a "lifetime warranty" also depends on whose lifetime is being used. I went shopping with a 68 year old friend who was shown some patio furniture with a "Lifetime Warranty." She said she wasn't going to live that long and wanted something cheaper. She bought a set with a 5 year warranty and died 3 years later.
after watching these old commercials, I realize why jello salads were so popular. it was the first time women had the technology to create a dish so unique
fooling your stomach with jello. Gelatine for jello comes from ground up cow and horse's hooves. think about that. those hooves walked thru cow and horse piss and shit. no jello for me.
no jello for this boy. my mother loved the stuff and it was always in the fridge when i was growing up. i quit eating it in my teen years when i found out where it came from. i guess this is where the squeal goes to as well.
Looks great, no confusing digital controls. I can't figure out how to use half the controls in my new car, or change the settings on my dishwasher. I'm old school.
I like the toe touch opening and the slide out shelves on the fridge. The only thing I don't miss about old fridges is having to defrost them lol. I will be 54 next month n some of them old appliances lasted into the 70s. I loved the built in crock pot on the stove. Wish they would bring it back n add a built in griddle. My great great aunt had a fancy GE kitchen n a wood stove when the electric went out. But then again she lived in a house on an West Virginia mountain top. Lol she had the built in dish washer but she dumped it cause the pipes froze in the winter making a big mess. We found it stored in the storm cellar when she passed in the 1980s. They spent a mint on upgrading that kitchen in the late 30's a whole $700. She up graded once when she bought a new fridge with the built in freezer n added a washer n dryer n she cusde the whole time cause she spent $700 on 3 new appliances when her whole kitchen cost that much. Lol she still cooked bacon n pancakes on the wood stove cause it had the griddle n she kept water boiling in it until dinner she used it to wash dishes. You needed 2 pairs of rules beer gloves to wash dishes if you didn't want burns. So no worries about viruses in her kitchen. Lol she used bleach n boiling water to clean surfaces.
@@toddsmith1617 no they were not rich it was up graded in 1939. Were coming out of the depression and they sold some livestock as well as there vegetables. At the time we were gearing up for ww2. They had big wood stove too. They just switched to the range. Trust me if they were rich that kitchen would have had more than one upgrade in 30 years.
My grandmother had a dishwasher in the 1930's. She said the way it worked was that the water just ran and ran and ran. (She said she didn't particularly like the machine at the time.)
I had never heard of or seen a General Electric Lift-Top refrigerator till just now. It is conveniently compact, but is definitely not convenient to load or unload. All this stuff may look quaint, but except for microwaves, these are all the same appliances we still use.
Yeah, the lift top fridge was an absolutely terrible design. If you wanted a stick of butter that you left at the bottom you’d basically have to empty the fridge just to get to it.
@@swashbucklemchrue2323 you said exactly what I was going to say. why would anyone want one of those lift top fridges? got to dig everything out to get to the stuff on the bottom. what a pain in the ass that would be.
What sometimes happens with sliding shelves is a heavy item is put at the front of the shelf (maybe a 25 lb turkey sideways). Then, someone pulls the shelf out to get a small item at the back and the shelf breaks or bends or breaks the shelf support.
These films are not 1943, as WWII was in progress and the U.S. was heavily involved. The films are clearly from the 1930s; look at the clothing styles, the hairstyles, etc. I would say these are from the mid 1930s. They are a marvelous piece of history.
My family has purchased GE appliances for th past 70 years. You could't get rid of them because they never broke down. We have a 70 yr old frig in storage that would still start up if plugged in. Now, not so much barely can get use of them after warranty expires. I want that foot opener ob my new frig 😁
I think this was what is called nowadays a dish "sanitizer" -- which I saw a while back in a little rinky-dink diner. (The diner staff used it to quickly and easily wash coffee cups as they were needed.)
I remember my mom saying they had them in her day "30's" but all they did is spray hot water not clean with soap and rinse cycles. Today one of those could harbor Legionnaires. Def not sanitary. If steam OK but now more safety problems, assuming it was hooked up to the steam plant.
I believe it is from 1935, but timeworn aphorisms persist after the basis for then is gone. Consider how long after payphones went to 25 cents the sayings "It's your nickel" and "I'll drop a dime on you" persisted.
When we look at these short films, we think of them in terms of “Commercials,” as we see on TV. But these were shown before, and between feature films, and serials in movie theaters. Think about that for a while.
When I was in college in the late 60’s, the apartment I lived in had a 1932 GE Monitor top fridge - the coils were more open than what is seen here. Very small narrow (one ice cube tray’s width) freezing unit - but it worked and was very Deco looking. It also had the foot pedal for opening the door. It did not however, have slide out shelves. Nor did it have a vegetable crisper drawer. I’d love to have it now.
A dishwasher that cleans in 5 minutes and uses 1¢ of electricity. I'll take one! About four years ago my mother moved, so she got rid of her second refrigerator that was from the war, and it still worked. Some refrigerators today don't last a year without breaking and they can cost as much as a *_house_* did back when my mother bought her fridge - and that's not an exaggeration!
Now, these are, in my opinion, dream kitchens. Ahh the days when things were built to last a lifetime and then some. Now, everything is built to be replaced or coast a fortune to fix. I would SOOO love to have some of the appliances in these kitchens. Especially a dishwasher that actually got hot enough to really do it's job and oh my goodness the stoves.
I was all set to tell them the date was wrong but it looks like that has been well handled already. :) Since a museum posted this, I sincerely hope the date is correct in their records, at least. -- another Monitor Top owner
Thanks for sharing these films but they were made between 1932 when GE first offered a dishwasher under its own name and 1938 when the GE Monitor Top was discontinued in 1938.
Spihk heartbust!? Spihk heartbust tell Sarah From The Holy Bible to tell Jonah from the holy Bible to explain how can falcon Server Clarence brake Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's Look aLike's brother's Wrist during the moment a Female was Present so as a result how could Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's Look aLike's brother go to jail or have a big fine or have any Fines !!!¡!!!¡!!!!
Each one of these originally was shown by itself in a movie theater in the midst of other short movies. No audience ever saw them all together at one time like this, so you only heard the fanfare once in real life.
my mother used to yell to close the door on the fridge. I think that probably came from back when she was young they had an icebox. the more you would keep it open the faster the ice would melt and you'd have to buy some more. now I'm an old man and I am still in the habit of closing the door real fast. I guess I was brainwashed.
Enjoyed watching. I don't think too many people had dishwashers back then. If you were rich enough to have one you were rich enough to hire help. My mother got her first dishwasher in thr early seventies and they were still considered a status symbol at that time.
Well my grandmother had one, but they weren't rich. But they did have rare security being public school teachers. But in 1932, the Calif. state government ran out of money and teachers didn't get paid for three months. That's when they literally had to eat oatmeal three times a day.
None of my relatives nor I ever owned a Dishwasher until the last 15 years even though they've been around so long they were always considered to be too frivolous an expense - LEARN TO WASH A DISH AND QUIT BEING SO LAZY my parents always said. MANY appliances we have today are really OLD but most people until the last 30 years or so could not really afford them - we did not get a color T. V. until the mid 1970's when they had been around for nearly two decades.
All three Networks started Filming all new programs or episodes of existing programs in COLOR in the fall of 1968 with ABC and its affiliates last - HOWEVER, many of the stations that broadcast the programs did not have color broadcasting equipment and many were still paying off their existing equipment so unless you lived in a large market like New York or Chicago you didn't get color broadcasts until years later and few consumers could afford to shell out money for a Color Set when their current one was still being paid for. Color Sets did not become the de-facto standard until well into the late 1970's with Black and White Sets STILL being sold until the late 1980's
Considering these were filmed at the height of the Depression, I think it's safe to say they catered to a limited audience, yet because it was still the Depression hired help was probably still a luxury for only the real rich.
Great piece of history from General Electric.🌚 I love the old-school films.😀 I wish and want to own some of the GE appliances, as well as to dress-up like some of the housewives and little daughters in the film!😍💖💋👗
I was in Home Depot checking refrigerators recently I could not believe how much cheap-ass thin easy-break plastic was in those Brand Name $2400 refrigerators.
*Michael Hartman -* Damn... fridges are dying like that now?? I will stick with what I have. I have 4 fridges, one in My kitchen 14 yrs, upstairs rental 20 yrs, basement 20 yrs & a compact one in My bedrm closet 33+ yrs. I'm not exactly sure how old that compact fridge is My Mother got it from someone used she had it for about 5 years before she gave it to Me.
You are right on the money. Today the are made in China. I thought everything was to be cheaper for customers to buy when NAFTA was passed. Heck, the refrigerators are larger than ever but many are bare because we cannot afford both refrigerator and food. Some are near empty because no one will take time to cook a meal.
I can't believe people shell out $2,400 for those things. All you get is one or 2 stupid drawer instead of a top or side freezer. They look like a total pain and half the space is taken up by the drawer guides. That design also makes the ice dispenser much harder to plumb and more complicated. There's a lot less to go wrong in a $600 fridge.
@@janicethomas3775 my old landlord kept insisting that the GE refrigerator in my kitchen was made in USA. I told him I would bet him $100 that it wasn't. there was a little aluminum plate on the inside with serial numbers and it also said at the bottom made in China. he wouldn't bet with me because he knew I was probably right.
What a wonderful video. We crow about microwave ovens, but these were miracles in their time. Haul, split, and carry wood to start and maintain a fire to can food in July, and you would be at the store the next day. Haul ice or use a cool water trough to keep your milk. I'm fairly sure that dishwasher was appreciated. Opening the door with your foot and sliding shelves may still be a good idea. "Built for a lifetime" wasn't an exaggeration. Can't say that today.
This was produced during the heart of the Great Depression With all this happy talk of modern kitchen appliances ,there were many people in 1935 who didn't even have a home of their own - migrant farm labor camps of California. My grandparents with 6 kids in tow,moved to Cali and stayed at 2 different labor camps
Things back them were built to last!! I have a 1935 GE Monitor Top refrigerator in my kitchen, It works like the day it was new! The foot opener, sliding shelves and everyother feature are great! I do not have the GR electric range, I have a 1927 Glenwood "OurWay" gas range. These appliances will outlast anything thats made today...
My father's parents had that type of dishwasher. Not sure why they currently open front. And my father got a used fridge like that from a friend and it lasted a total of about 50 or so years.
I have a 2 year old GE range with calrod burners. I love it, it ranks right up there with the best stove I have ever had, a Frigidaire with the thick coil burners
Mighty few people in the middle 1930s could possibly have afforded a brand new sleek kitchen with all new electric appliances like the idealized one in these little movies. Dishwashers in particular were a luxury almost nobody had in those days.
The confusion over the dates of these clips is because these were put together as a compilation of old movie theater ads. They're from different years. Just compiled to present here on TH-cam.
I really like the "lift top" refrigerator. People actually do a DIY using a deep freezer. I never thought of having it as a part of the counter, and I like that. It just conserves cold so sensibly. Dairy & meat on the bottom, misc, then fruit and veg on top. At a money sparse time in my life I was going to build one. People give away freezers all the time, so it would just cost me parts and little bits of electricity after. I didn't know that this was once a real appliance.
Interesting how these things were made so much better. And how far back you could have such wonderful things if you had enough money. Sad that our ability to have basic niceties is so difficult now.
What time, 1935, the depth of the Great Depression? When our fertile top soil was blowing away and people were terrified that capitalism was at an end, factories were closing or downsizing, labor was striking, and FDR was telling the nation that we would just have to get used to a lower standard of living because we would never be able to reach those heights again? I'd say not only was everything good not made in the USA but very little of anything was being made. Detroit tried to lure buyers with gimmicks, such as the wonderful free-wheeling feature that had the habit of dropping the back axle off the car. Yeah, good old days. :)
Those GE refrigerator were horrible which makes no difference even today's GE products are still horrible but those old GE refrigerator would fail after 2 years and we only focus on the good things that where made in the past. They made a bunch of horrible quality products and these were the days when asbestos and lead use to be safe.
HERPY DERPEDY not true. I have a GE monitor top from 1929 and its still running away, nothing was ever opened, repaired, or replaced. That's almost 100 years of functionality.
Growing up in the 70s we had a fridge that had a butter conditioner in it preventing the butter from being too hard or too soft. We also had a wall oven that had a warming drawer perfect for keeping food warm while the oven finished off a roast or some other thing. I miss those little conveniences. And why designers of appliances no longer include them in modern appliances is beyond me, they made so much sense.
Moon Pie. The butter conditioner was a small compartment inside the fridge that stayed at the temperature that you selected. It ensured that the butter was always spreadable no matter if it was winter or summer or how cold or warm the fridge was and the brand of fridge wasn't super expensive either. It's a feature that isn't available anymore due to the introduction of margarine and butter with olive oil etc. It was a really cool feature though.
I miss the built in electric ovens with a rotisserie in it. That was really useful. Why they ever discontinued that I'll never know.
I remember that butter conditioner compartment too!!
The butter warmer thing - GE had in it’s 1940 Delux model - door had a thermometer in it - two aluminum well sealed veggie drawers with thick plate glass tops - in the middle of them was a carbon filter to keep the inside air fresh. It also had stainless steel racks - nice feature compared to the older nickel plated or sink plated shelving. As well as the butter warmer/softener. It was also heavy as all get out though - had to remove the door to get it out of the basement it was in when I bought it (for an extra fridge in the basement was the idea.). But it was still working when I moved from MPLS and donated it to a fraternity on the U of M campus.
@@jimm6386 Manafactured in a time when white goods were designed to last for almost a lifetime. I understand that modern appliances are design to be lighter, more efficient & cheaper but I often wonder why some of those really nifty & logical features have been discarded with more modern appliances. I miss the warming drawer that we had with our Frigidaire oven growing up; modern ovens are less inclined to include one, it seems.
Sliding shelves in the refrigerator??? Oh I would love that.
that is still a thing that's offered on refrigerators
Sounds like a good deal, where do I sign up? I haven't seen savings like this in a very long time!
KMF I’ve got a GE fridge that I bought 6 years ago and it still has sliding shelves
@@redeemedandreadytofly1423 really? Cool
It's not very common because the shelves couldn't take the weight of a lot of food, so when you pulled it out, it fell.
I was raised on a small farm. We had an electric range and also had a 100 year old wood burning stove in the kitchen as electricity went out frequently. We had no indoor plumbing so an outhouse out the back door across the yard and down a hill to go to the restroom. Washing clothes took 7 trips from the well to fill up the washer on the front porch, then 7 more trips for rinse water. I am grateful every single day for indoor convinces.
Loved the recessed range for the stock pot.
A real good safety feature I wish they had these days.
They were actually discontinued because they were such an annoyance. They took up a cooking space, they constantly boiled over which became a b*tch to clean down inside the stove, and they were hard to lift and handle when hot.
Good point
Still, I think I'd love that,!
I view that feature as a precursor to the modern day crock pot.
@@YT4Me57I have a circa 1952 Sunbeam deep fryer that is also a "slow cooker" with temperature settings as low as 150°F (65°C)
I have that monotor top refrigerator and when your hands are full dayy holding an ice cube tray filled with water that pedal to open the door is a dream. No reaching in the back either. The shelves really do slide forward and solidly. No wiggle wobble glide in and out smoothly. Hope my monitor top runs till I'm gone from this world .
Where did the "with the touch of a toe" feature on fridges go? Seems so progressive.
True. maybe because children/pets opened it accidentally? and get in trouble, I remember hese fridges were dangerous because children can get locked inside and die.
The toe activated door was nicknamed "the knee buster" by many who owned them. If you didn't quickly move back after unlatching the door it would swing open and hit you.
It had a locking mechanism that only worked from the outside as did many up to 1958 when the law required magnetic closing. The really dangerous refrigerators were those that were empty, not those with filled shelves. That's why the doors had to be taken off or tied shut or locks broken.
Nick Soper - love the toe touch. Ingenious!
mustaine65686 - I thought that was when people got rid of the old fridge, and they would put it outside until pickup. Kids would play in it. Now you must take off the door. I didn't know it happened in the house.
It's nowhere as near as old as the appliances shown here but I have a still fully functioning electric clothes dryer made by Electrolux which my mother purchased from a catalogue in 1956.
I never knew that dishwashers were available in 1935.
This was the year after John Dillinger was killed.
Prior to this video I was under the impression they were invented in the early 50's. Not sure where I got that idea though.
Dishwashers were actually invented in 1850! It was a manual hand crank type. Josephine Cochran reinvented it to work automatically and in 1886 she was granted a U.S patent!
Only took 5 mins to wash . Today's dishwashers run for two hours. What a waste of electricity,water , time and money
@@harmonypaige It would be easier to wash by hand.
I want the strong pull-out shelves in the fridge like those in the video not the flimsy, cheap plastic ones of today that break so soon.
mine are sturdy tempered glass
@@cornjobb So are mine. I have an almost 2 year old LG. It's fabulous.
Trilby Wilby don’t get a cheap fridge then
They were not made in China and were not made with so much plastic to make them cheaper to buy. Ditto with automobiles now vs then...
I'm sold! I want one of those GE Monitor refrigerator. Sealed in steel!
That opening jingle would make a heck of a ringtone for Presidential Alerts.
I would LOVE to have one of these fridges! The "touch of the toe" is such a cool idea! ( I loved it on my 1965 Chevy Impala too.) These are some good ideas for appliances. My Mom's best friend had one of those deep well stoves when I was a child. It was already 30-40 years old in the 70's and it was the coolest stove. She used that deep well to make soups and to stew cheap cuts of meat. It was awesome. These are some pretty cool kitchens.
Those 'Monitor Top' Refrigerators were VERY durable even though they were discontinued MORE than 50 years ago, many hundreds of models are STILL in use and some sell for thousands of dollars - PROOF that they can make durable products but would rather sell you something new every few years for a bigger profit.
50 years ago was 1971!
I did say MORE than 50 years ago - about 1955.
50 years ago was actually 1968. Only three years off!
Planned obsolescence fills our dumps, drains our budgets, doesn't allow us to buy different things, and is actually harder on lesser incomes.
I fixed one up found in the dump found a different control box that fit on the back right corner. It ran for a couple of years, the theater dept of Purdue wanted it for a prop. Then one day my house mate said something smells funny in the kitchen. Coming down the back stairs past the fridge I yelled at him to call the FD and tell them Sulfur Dioxide leaking from the fridge, I will see you outside. They bear hugged it with respirators on and took it outside. The refrigerant is toxic but natural (volcanoes) and does not screw with the air as much as Freon.
To be honest I would sure like a 1935 kitchen on my house, I just love vintage!!!
Me too!
Very few people could afford these gadgets in the middle of the Depression. But this was really interesting; I wouldn't mind trading my "modern" appliances for some of these vintage beauties.
I would love a kitchen like that so big and comfertable with tons of counter space
My new home back east this is mine !! Thank you General Electric. Oh and so are those lovely outfits and hair do’s!! lol❤️🌹🐞
Loved the kitchens and all the women's fashions look gorgeous!
But not for roasting meats.
Don't fall for the hype women wore such outfits while cooking and cleaning house. Fur trimmed sleeves and high heels? That was only for the show of the commercial, in order to make housework more glamorous than it was.
Yeah but they definitely weren’t wearing dirty yoga pants....
How exciting all that new technology must have been for them 😊
Yep, lol, probably cost more than the house
That touch of a toe open door needs to be a thing for fridges nowadays too
I like the dishwasher, it seems like it's more heavy duty while fitting into the counter space like more modern ones.
The dishwasher only took 5 minutes? mine needs an hour...
You'll notice too that there was no mention of any soap product used for the washing. Seems the whole process depended on extremely hot water, likely straight out of the hot water heater without cold water added, and the force of the spray to clean the dishes. There were no "non-sudsing" dishwasher soap products made back then.
+Shari Davenport A lot of laundry powders were designed for cleaning dishes too, instructions were often on the board box and the option was mentioned in cinema and radio advertising.
not quite. some are indeed better than others
I bought my G.E. dishwasher in 2017 and the full cycle takes almost three hours, depending on the size of the load. Of course that includes a full dry cycle that the one in this ad doesn't.
Many commercial dishwashers made today only take 30 seconds.
these appliances are more thoughtful than the ones we get today!
These clips in particular are from 1935. The Monitor Top featured in the picture is a 1935 CK type. Not to mention the fashion is mid 30s as well. '37 was the final year the Monitor Top was manufactured, however GE continued to make replacement tops for their Monitor Tops. Great clip, love this! I own a '35 GE Monitor Top!
35GEmonitorT GoodPoint.
This is awesome. I moved into a 1930s home and I want to give the kitchen the vintage look with antique restored appluances.
Thanks!
iheartscaryclowns GE monitor tops are still easy to find and they were built to last. I got one for $50 from the mid 30s that still works. Only thing that goes is the door seals and the electrical cords. Everything else will work forever.
WHY OH WHY?????
Robert Fencl why not?
This stuff seems more “modern” than our modern stuff.
FACTS
That’s what I was thinking..lol
I LOVE the old things 😍
First thing I said was why don't my refrigerator shelves slide out? Lol
I bet they would still work better than what we have now. Things were built to last instead of just throwing them away.
What a fun series of GE adverts! I have a 1934-35 Monitor top fridge, just defrosted it today. Yep---that toe treadle is mighty handy, as are the slide out shelves. When you make ice cubes, we use the old metal ice cube trays that need to "freeze in" on the freezer compartment. Not to worry---GE supplied a little bakelite tool with a wire handle that you slide under the lip of the tray to free it up. Works like a charm. Ours came with the original instruction card, cook book, etc etc, even rubber ice cube trays (which we do NOT use). I dread the day our fridge dies, it has been a delight for the past 20+ years..
Kirk Palmatier I'm jealous, just plain jealous!!!! 😂 I wish I had a fridge like that! I hope you will enjoy yours for a long long time!
As long as that baby doesn't spring a leak one night, come morning, you'll still be breathing .
Would love to see it.
About the only thing that goes wrong with them is the cold control and they're still available. I just replaced mine a couple of months ago.
@@maggieleroy3184 Sad to say, we sold ours to an antique appliance collector a year ago when we had to sell the house. The GE is now an object in a collection and no longer being used and enjoyed. I'm sure it would still start right up if he plugs it in.
Awesome look back in time, when I actually watched this on the HD screen on my refrigerator door while cooking dinner.
The things we take for granted today, that were true innovations in their time, makes one wonder how more difficult and inconvenient every day life was, even 80 years ago, as in this video.
an HD screen on a refrigerator?
@canuckrcp You REALLY needed that screen on the fridge, eh? What'll crap out first? the compressor or the android version that can't update?
Lol yeah, I didn’t know you had to oil fridges back then. Must’ve made the food smell/taste terrible.
I have heard of refrigerators that have computer screens on the doors. that is one of the stupidest GD things I have ever heard of. only a sap would buy something like that.
@@danielthoman7324Nothing stupid about it. I also have one and it gets used at least twice daily. The way our kitchen is setup it’s the perfect solution for us.
It’s perfect when the wife is sitting down prepping (cutting food to prep for cooking, or mixing something)
It’s right across from the breakfast nook I built.
When we first bought it I questioned how much we’d really use it, now I can’t see being without it.
love the pullout shelves in the fridge
My grandfather was a GE fan. All of our appliances were GE, USA made. Never had anything go wrong with them for 30+ years. This was in the 70s.
"Your dishes washed in five minutes!" We've obviously gone backwards. Even the "express" choice on my 2015 dishwasher is a half hour.
But those 1935 dishwashers were very inefficient in that they kept the water at an extremely high temp (costing whatever for the fuel needed to do that), but just splashed it around on the dishes....no detergent or soap, just scalding hot water.
@@jb6712 You are wrong Joyce, detergents were used with those dishwashers back then. Dishes were as clean then as they are today using the dishwasher
These commercials were awesome. We take for granted how ground breaking most of this was back then. I want a toe-opening fridge and a five minute dishwasher.
My father grew up poor in this era and had a bathtub in his kitchen and a toilet in the tenement building hallway.
I could do without that tootling coronet at the beginning of every segment. Otherwise very cool and simple.
The male chauvinism is on point though.
Amazing that this is 1935! Still coming out of the depression, really. America is an amazing place of ingenuity.
These "commercials" were originally shown in movie theaters; the "tag" (as seen at 2:07) featured the name- and address- of the local G.E. dealer.
“Good for a lifetime” was actually true in those days, many of those monitor top fridges are still working today.
Really? Eighty five years later? I find that hard to believe.
Confirmation bias. The majority of appliances back then were unreliable and some were outright dangerous. You're only seeing the few rare one's that have survived.
Very true! My friend has 2 of them one in the kitchen and the other one in the garage
Well, a "lifetime warranty" also depends on whose lifetime is being used. I went shopping with a 68 year old friend who was shown some patio furniture with a "Lifetime Warranty." She said she wasn't going to live that long and wanted something cheaper. She bought a set with a 5 year warranty and died 3 years later.
after watching these old commercials, I realize why jello salads were so popular. it was the first time women had the technology to create a dish so unique
fooling your stomach with jello. Gelatine for jello comes from ground up cow and horse's hooves. think about that. those hooves walked thru cow and horse piss and shit. no jello for me.
I'm sure they wash them 😂😂😂
no jello for this boy. my mother loved the stuff and it was always in the fridge when i was growing up. i quit eating it in my teen years when i found out where it came from. i guess this is where the squeal goes to as well.
Most countries use all the parts of the animals they eat. The US is rich enough to squander our resources but I'm glad Jello utilizes what it can.
you can have my share of jello
Looks great, no confusing digital controls. I can't figure out how to use half the controls in my new car, or change the settings on my dishwasher. I'm old school.
Love those early years' Appliances.
I like the toe touch opening and the slide out shelves on the fridge. The only thing I don't miss about old fridges is having to defrost them lol. I will be 54 next month n some of them old appliances lasted into the 70s. I loved the built in crock pot on the stove. Wish they would bring it back n add a built in griddle. My great great aunt had a fancy GE kitchen n a wood stove when the electric went out. But then again she lived in a house on an West Virginia mountain top. Lol she had the built in dish washer but she dumped it cause the pipes froze in the winter making a big mess. We found it stored in the storm cellar when she passed in the 1980s. They spent a mint on upgrading that kitchen in the late 30's a whole $700. She up graded once when she bought a new fridge with the built in freezer n added a washer n dryer n she cusde the whole time cause she spent $700 on 3 new appliances when her whole kitchen cost that much. Lol she still cooked bacon n pancakes on the wood stove cause it had the griddle n she kept water boiling in it until dinner she used it to wash dishes. You needed 2 pairs of rules beer gloves to wash dishes if you didn't want burns. So no worries about viruses in her kitchen. Lol she used bleach n boiling water to clean surfaces.
Happy birthday month. We're same age, and just turned 54 two weeks ago
She must have been rich. My mother is 90 and she told me back then was the depression and my grandmother and everyone else had a coal stove.
@@toddsmith1617 no they were not rich it was up graded in 1939. Were coming out of the depression and they sold some livestock as well as there vegetables. At the time we were gearing up for ww2. They had big wood stove too. They just switched to the range. Trust me if they were rich that kitchen would have had more than one upgrade in 30 years.
I need that fridge with the toe opener!
I have the same refrigerator! Didn't know what the pedal was for. Now I do, and yes it works.
Linda Brown, Great! Now, you can actually open it! lol
If it works how could you have possibly not known what the peddle was for? It opened the door when you stepped on it so you did know.
I would presume that the operating manual for this 1935 refrigerator was lost say 4 decades ago.
"Just a touch of the toe!"
@@mottbone it also has a handle
My grandmother had a dishwasher in the 1930's. She said the way it worked was that the water just ran and ran and ran. (She said she didn't particularly like the machine at the time.)
medwardb1976 that’s not the way GE dishwashers worked. The water power dishwashers were inexpensive didn’t work well and they had them as late as 1970
I had never heard of or seen a General Electric Lift-Top refrigerator till just now. It is conveniently compact, but is definitely not convenient to load or unload. All this stuff may look quaint, but except for microwaves, these are all the same appliances we still use.
Yeah, but they were groundbreaking then. Must have seemed amazing.
Yeah, the lift top fridge was an absolutely terrible design. If you wanted a stick of butter that you left at the bottom you’d basically have to empty the fridge just to get to it.
@@swashbucklemchrue2323 It wasn't for stupid people. But those who were in no position to have the ice man lug a chunk up five stories would love it.
@@swashbucklemchrue2323 you said exactly what I was going to say. why would anyone want one of those lift top fridges? got to dig everything out to get to the stuff on the bottom. what a pain in the ass that would be.
What the heck! Why did they get rid of sliding shelves in refrigerators?!?! That's genius!
All hail the wire rack. It takes me an hour and a half to clean my refrigerator taking apart all the shelving, Etc.
What sometimes happens with sliding shelves is a heavy item is put at the front of the shelf (maybe a 25 lb turkey sideways). Then, someone pulls the shelf out to get a small item at the back and the shelf breaks or bends or breaks the shelf support.
These films are not 1943, as WWII was in progress and the U.S. was heavily involved. The films are clearly from the 1930s; look at the clothing styles, the hairstyles, etc. I would say these are from the mid 1930s. They are a marvelous piece of history.
nothing but good quality
I agree as, well
The description says 1935.
Sean Bryant you are correct, clothing, hair, progress all says mid thirties
The video title indicates 1935.
My family has purchased GE appliances for th past 70 years. You could't get rid of them because they never broke down. We have a 70 yr old frig in storage that would still start up if plugged in. Now, not so much barely can get use of them after warranty expires. I want that foot opener ob my new frig 😁
I hear you! 😀
The horn is very bothersome but awesome video this is amazing!
5 minutes? My modern dishwasher takes 2 hours!!!!
I think this was what is called nowadays a dish "sanitizer" -- which I saw a while back in a little rinky-dink diner. (The diner staff used it to quickly and easily wash coffee cups as they were needed.)
something used in a bar to clean glasses now.
I remember my mom saying they had them in her day "30's" but all they did is spray hot water not clean with soap and rinse cycles. Today one of those could harbor Legionnaires. Def not sanitary. If steam OK but now more safety problems, assuming it was hooked up to the steam plant.
KMF they mean 5 minutes of your time not the machine time.
Might be embellishment.
"all ready to serve for the price of a two cent stamp"
Postage stamps went to 3 cents in July of 1932.
This must pre-date that.
I believe it is from 1935, but timeworn aphorisms persist after the basis for then is gone. Consider how long after payphones went to 25 cents the sayings "It's your nickel" and "I'll drop a dime on you" persisted.
Sharon Walker no it was in the mid thirties
When we look at these short films, we think of them in terms of “Commercials,” as we see on TV. But these were shown before, and between feature films, and serials in movie theaters. Think about that for a while.
I love opening the dishwasher from the top. The pull out shelves from refrigerator
I WISH THEY WOULD REPRODUCE THESE APPLIANCES !!! THE REFRIGERATORS ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!
When I was in college in the late 60’s, the apartment I lived in had a 1932 GE Monitor top fridge - the coils were more open than what is seen here. Very small narrow (one ice cube tray’s width) freezing unit - but it worked and was very Deco looking. It also had the foot pedal for opening the door. It did not however, have slide out shelves. Nor did it have a vegetable crisper drawer. I’d love to have it now.
A dishwasher that cleans in 5 minutes and uses 1¢ of electricity. I'll take one! About four years ago my mother moved, so she got rid of her second refrigerator that was from the war, and it still worked. Some refrigerators today don't last a year without breaking and they can cost as much as a *_house_* did back when my mother bought her fridge - and that's not an exaggeration!
Its 2018 and my rental kitchen isn't that modern. Newer appliances maybe but where did the function go?
We had one of those monitor top refrigerators when I was a very young lad.
With the kitchen from the 30 is better than my kitchen nowadays
"Electric cooking seals in the vitamins and minerals." I love it.
I wish we had modern sliding shelves in OUR refrigerators today!
we do
Now, these are, in my opinion, dream kitchens. Ahh the days when things were built to last a lifetime and then some. Now, everything is built to be replaced or coast a fortune to fix.
I would SOOO love to have some of the appliances in these kitchens. Especially a dishwasher that actually got hot enough to really do it's job and oh my goodness the stoves.
I was all set to tell them the date was wrong but it looks like that has been well handled already. :) Since a museum posted this, I sincerely hope the date is correct in their records, at least. -- another Monitor Top owner
I know they made things to last. I love the stove with the pot built in.
Amazing! I didn't even have kitchens like this in the 1980s here in the UK.
9:12 "...And remember...
Electric cookery seals in all the essential health-giving values of every volbolugh!"
That seemed to be a recurring theme.
Thanks for sharing these films but they were made between 1932 when GE first offered a dishwasher under its own name and 1938 when the GE Monitor Top was discontinued in 1938.
Spihk heartbust!? Spihk heartbust tell Sarah From The Holy Bible to tell Jonah from the holy Bible to explain how can falcon Server Clarence brake Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's Look aLike's brother's Wrist during the moment a Female was Present so as a result how could Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's Look aLike's brother go to jail or have a big fine or have any Fines !!!¡!!!¡!!!!
Looks great but I wouldn't want that annoying bugle blaring everytime.
Now I am cracking up every time I hear it.
Haha- he was starting to poop out near the end!
Ikr, every time I step into the kitchen. 🙄
Each one of these originally was shown by itself in a movie theater in the midst of other short movies. No audience ever saw them all together at one time like this, so you only heard the fanfare once in real life.
It's 2020 and I'm still scrubbing dishes by hand!
GE stopped making monitor top refrigerators in 1937.
Wow the "little wife" must have been thrilled to get a stove for her birthday.
I still can hear my dad yelling "Close the refrigerator door!".
my mother used to yell to close the door on the fridge. I think that probably came from back when she was young they had an icebox. the more you would keep it open the faster the ice would melt and you'd have to buy some more. now I'm an old man and I am still in the habit of closing the door real fast. I guess I was brainwashed.
I didn't know they had dishwashers back in 1935.
Enjoyed watching. I don't think too many people had dishwashers back then. If you were rich enough to have one you were rich enough to hire help. My mother got her first dishwasher in thr early seventies and they were still considered a status symbol at that time.
Well my grandmother had one, but they weren't rich. But they did have rare security being public school teachers. But in 1932, the Calif. state government ran out of money and teachers didn't get paid for three months. That's when they literally had to eat oatmeal three times a day.
P.S. After that first dishwasher, which she said she didn't like, she didn't have one again until she was in her seventies, too.
None of my relatives nor I ever owned a Dishwasher until the last 15 years even though they've been around so long they were always considered to be too frivolous an expense - LEARN TO WASH A DISH AND QUIT BEING SO LAZY my parents always said. MANY appliances we have today are really OLD but most people until the last 30 years or so could not really afford them - we did not get a color T. V. until the mid 1970's when they had been around for nearly two decades.
All three Networks started Filming all new programs or episodes of existing programs in COLOR in the fall of 1968 with ABC and its affiliates last - HOWEVER, many of the stations that broadcast the programs did not have color broadcasting equipment and many were still paying off their existing equipment so unless you lived in a large market like New York or Chicago you didn't get color broadcasts until years later and few consumers could afford to shell out money for a Color Set when their current one was still being paid for. Color Sets did not become the de-facto standard until well into the late 1970's with Black and White Sets STILL being sold until the late 1980's
Considering these were filmed at the height of the Depression, I think it's safe to say they catered to a limited audience, yet because it was still the Depression hired help was probably still a luxury for only the real rich.
This would be great as a shots game. Every time you hear the trumpet...take a shot. Everytime you hear GE...Take a shot.
LOL
Grandparents 1948 Norge refrigerator is still working in the garage where it's been since the early 60s.
On the hunt for antique stoves!
That “ lift top refrigerator “ must have been….awkward. I’d swoon to have one of those awesome stoves.
that open the fridge with your toe is brilliant!
I want that 5 minute dishwasher and the fridge with the foot pedal opener!
I have one of those old dishwashers. They're not great, but it is 90 years old. It came with my house!
Great piece of history from General Electric.🌚
I love the old-school films.😀
I wish and want to own some of the GE appliances, as well as to dress-up like some of the housewives and little daughters in the film!😍💖💋👗
A steel fridge? Sign me up! I want one of these old fridges!
I was in Home Depot checking refrigerators recently I could not believe how much cheap-ass thin easy-break plastic was in those Brand Name $2400 refrigerators.
Be prepared to replace it in 5-7 years. Open a freezer door in 5 years and find 22 cubic feet of ruined food then do it all over again. I know.
*Michael Hartman -* Damn... fridges are dying like that now?? I will stick with what I have.
I have 4 fridges, one in My kitchen 14 yrs, upstairs rental 20 yrs, basement 20 yrs & a compact one in My bedrm closet 33+ yrs. I'm not exactly sure how old that compact fridge is My Mother got it from someone used she had it for about 5 years before she gave it to Me.
You are right on the money. Today the are made in China. I thought everything was to be cheaper for customers to buy when NAFTA was passed. Heck, the refrigerators are larger than ever but many are bare because we cannot afford both refrigerator and food. Some are near empty because no one will take time to cook a meal.
I can't believe people shell out $2,400 for those things. All you get is one or 2 stupid drawer instead of a top or side freezer. They look like a total pain and half the space is taken up by the drawer guides. That design also makes the ice dispenser much harder to plumb and more complicated. There's a lot less to go wrong in a $600 fridge.
@@janicethomas3775 my old landlord kept insisting that the GE refrigerator in my kitchen was made in USA. I told him I would bet him $100 that it wasn't. there was a little aluminum plate on the inside with serial numbers and it also said at the bottom made in China. he wouldn't bet with me because he knew I was probably right.
What a wonderful video. We crow about microwave ovens, but these were miracles in their time. Haul, split, and carry wood to start and maintain a fire to can food in July, and you would be at the store the next day. Haul ice or use a cool water trough to keep your milk. I'm fairly sure that dishwasher was appreciated. Opening the door with your foot and sliding shelves may still be a good idea. "Built for a lifetime" wasn't an exaggeration. Can't say that today.
OMG! My mother who is going to be 90 years old in December was 5 years old when this video was taken!! 😱
This was produced during the heart of the Great Depression With all this happy talk of modern kitchen appliances ,there were many people in 1935 who didn't even have a home of their own - migrant farm labor camps of California. My grandparents with 6 kids in tow,moved to Cali and stayed at 2 different labor camps
Things back them were built to last!! I have a 1935 GE Monitor Top refrigerator in my kitchen, It works like the day it was new! The foot opener, sliding shelves and everyother feature are great! I do not have the GR electric range, I have a 1927 Glenwood "OurWay" gas range. These appliances will outlast anything thats made today...
My father's parents had that type of dishwasher. Not sure why they currently open front. And my father got a used fridge like that from a friend and it lasted a total of about 50 or so years.
I like that one of the stove tops is a built in pot for boiling stuff.
Umm I still use hands to open my fridge! Wth 😂
I think we will soon be using our cellphones to open our refrigerators...
I'm guessing they didn't figure out doors that stayed open with hands full yet lol
My most favorite decade. Love the 30s. My grandparents time. Paid $3500 for their first home.
Household appliances used to be called durable goods. Not anymore.
I have a 2 year old GE range with calrod burners. I love it, it ranks right up there with the best stove I have ever had, a Frigidaire with the thick coil burners
Love these videos! I show my kids n there Amazed 👏
That trumpet fanfare!
Mighty few people in the middle 1930s could possibly have afforded a brand new sleek kitchen with all new electric appliances like the idealized one in these little movies. Dishwashers in particular were a luxury almost nobody had in those days.
The confusion over the dates of these clips is because these were put together as a compilation of old movie theater ads. They're from different years. Just compiled to present here on TH-cam.
I really like the "lift top" refrigerator. People actually do a DIY using a deep freezer. I never thought of having it as a part of the counter, and I like that. It just conserves cold so sensibly. Dairy & meat on the bottom, misc, then fruit and veg on top. At a money sparse time in my life I was going to build one. People give away freezers all the time, so it would just cost me parts and little bits of electricity after. I didn't know that this was once a real appliance.
Great-my class enjoyed this.
Ok that trumpet is really starting to piss me off!
Every time the horn blows the horses start running .”Ice Cream “ won .
At least that old stuff lasted longer than modern crap.
Interesting how these things were made so much better. And how far back you could have such wonderful things if you had enough money. Sad that our ability to have basic niceties is so difficult now.
At that time everything good was made in usa
What time, 1935, the depth of the Great Depression? When our fertile top soil was blowing away and people were terrified that capitalism was at an end, factories were closing or downsizing, labor was striking, and FDR was telling the nation that we would just have to get used to a lower standard of living because we would never be able to reach those heights again? I'd say not only was everything good not made in the USA but very little of anything was being made. Detroit tried to lure buyers with gimmicks, such as the wonderful free-wheeling feature that had the habit of dropping the back axle off the car. Yeah, good old days. :)
Those GE refrigerator were horrible which makes no difference even today's GE products are still horrible but those old GE refrigerator would fail after 2 years and we only focus on the good things that where made in the past. They made a bunch of horrible quality products and these were the days when asbestos and lead use to be safe.
HERPY DERPEDY not true. I have a GE monitor top from 1929 and its still running away, nothing was ever opened, repaired, or replaced. That's almost 100 years of functionality.
@HERPY DERPEDY - It's not like most of these companies intentionally tried to hurt people. We just didn't know better yet.
K Kr
The beginning of the video states these advertisements are from 1943.