Any info on this oven?

[joshv310]

Hi all,
We found this old oven in my great aunts basement. It says White Warner Co. Taunton Mass on the side and the front door says Household Liberty. However through doing some basic google research I could not find much information on the company or what I am guessing is the model.
The oven we think was the original oven when the house was built in the 1920's.
We are trying to figure out what to do with it so any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh
 

[hosman321]

Cool oven! These can go for good money when they are all cleaned up, pretty and ready for cookin'. From what I have seen, the white ones generally bring a bit more money. The other colors are pretty specialized and you'd kinda have to decorate the whole kitchen around that color. I'd say in it's current condition it's worth about $300. If you put some serious elbow grease into it and shined it up nice, maybe about $500. 1920s sounds just about right for when it was made. If you can find some sort of metal tag that has a serial number or other numbers, we'd probably be able to find an exact date.

[joshv310]

Thanks so much! I will see if I can find some sort of serial number on it.
We also found an old white oven that is newer. (Probably the oven that replaced this one) It looks like it is from the 50's maybe. I will take some pictures of that as well. It got overlooked since we were so interested in the older one.

[hosman321]

50s appliances are pretty hot right now, more so than the 20s one. But collectors want those to be in beautiful shape, too. A lot of guys like to use the refrigerators for garages and man caves. For an oven, the ladies would have more of an interest and they like the ones that have cool knobs and chrome and all the bells and whistles. Lookin' forward to seeing yours!

[sapphire]

Found a bit here.....

http://forums.homestead.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=5412&title=wood-stove-cooking-questions

"The Household Liberty is a combination stove of both gas and wood fuel sources. This vintage range features two wood cooklids, four gas cooklids, two ovens and a broiler. A temperature gauge is housed on the cream colored backsplash. The aqua green baked on enamel coloring makes this solid cast iron stove soothing yet striking. The Household Liberty is one lovely stove sure to delight the chef of the house.

Manufactured By White Warner Co.
Circa 1900-1920 "


The above quote from the forum link came from this site.......

http://www.goodtimestove.com/

[cogar]

joshv310, I wish I was about 15 years younger and lived within a 100 miles or so of you …… because I would buy that stove from you in a heartbeat if your asking price was within reason. I have a friend in the Mohawk Valley of Upstate NY who needs a stove like that one.

Now I hate to disagree with Hosman but iffen your stove is actually a Jadite green enamel like the picture of it implies, then that “color” was at one time the most sought after by home decorators.

Besides, yours is really a super great stove for a ‘Country Kitchen”, not only because it is green enamel, but because it is both “wood n’ gas”. A gas cooking stove for everyday use and a wood burning cook stove for a warm n’ comfy kitchen in the fall and wintertime.     

With a good cleaning up, the handles and trim re-nickeled and a Stove Black shine on the top surface …… and it would be a beauty to behold.   

Getting those parts re-nickeled could be costly though.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Here is the Web site of a company that does amazing stove restorations. They convert many of these to electric or gas and they resell for thousands in his shop. This might be good inspiration.
http://stovehospital.com/
Your stove is a treasure! Keep us informed of what you decide to do with it. If it were mine, I think I would have it inspected for safety and then get a gameplan for restoration so that it could be put back into use.

[KC]

I have to agree with cogar.  Although white has been a long-time favorite of many buyers....the jadites are highly sought after!

[hosman321]

Maybe we're just plain Janes in my neck of the woods.  The green is very pretty though. I gave a fairly low estimate with the money because it probably does need more than just a cleaning, it probably needs a bit of professional TLC which=$$$. They don't really move fast at thousands of dollars, I think that's more of a high end retail estimate and not what someone could get in a private party situation. They are heavy beasts and people have to REALLY want one to deal with that. Quite a few on ebay right now with 0 bids @$500.00. I just don't think this style is nearly as hot with my generation as it was in the 80s and 90s.

[mart]

I love it !! If I had room in the kitchen I would have one !! I agree that color would make it an easy sell if cleaned up !!

[cogar]

joshv310, I meant to ask, but forgot, ...... does that stove have the back-splash and shelf or "warming" closets that go with it ...... sitting somewhere there in the basement?

What I mean is, similar to the one pictured on this stove, to wit: